The Dog of the Lord: The Feast of St. Dominic
Saturday, August 8th Readings Reflection: Memorial of Saint Dominic, Priest
“[A]men I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Remove from hence hither, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you” (Mt 17:29 DRB).
With this beautiful reminder in today’s Gospel, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Dominic de Guzmán, founder of the Dominican Order. St. Dominic was born to Spanish noble parents in 1170. His mother, Bl. Jane of Aza, was a very holy woman whose own piety has been recognized by the Church.
According to tradition, Bl. Jane experienced a vision in a dream before conceiving St. Dominic. In this vision, she saw herself give birth to a dog who leapt from her womb with a burning torch in his mouth, with which he set the whole world on fire. According to the account of Bl. Jordan of Saxony, who succeeded St. Dominic as Master of the Order of Preachers, this vision of the dog signified “the distinguished preacher who would awaken sleeping souls and spread over the universe the fire that the Lord Jesus had come to cast upon earth” (Vicaire, Saint Dominic and His Times). When St. Dominic was baptized soon after his birth, his godmother experienced a vision of a bright star shining on the infant’s forehead. Because of these two visions, sacred art often depicts St. Dominic with a star and a dog with a torch in its mouth.
At the age of 24, St. Dominic was ordained a priest as a Canon Regular of the Order of St. Augustine. During his ten years as a Canon, he encountered the Albigensian heresy that had spread around the area of Toulouse in France. Albigensianism falsely taught that the material world, including the human body, is evil. Pope Innocent III gave St. Dominic permission to preach to the heretics in France. A gifted preacher, St. Dominic truly set countless hearts on fire, leading to many conversions.
During this time, St. Dominic answered God’s call to found a new religious order devoted to preaching. He received approval for this new order, called the Order of Friars Preachers (also known as the Dominican Order), on 22 December 1217. The Dominican Order, with its charism of contemplating and sharing with others the fruits of contemplation, immediately continued St. Dominic’s work of preaching to the heretics and leading souls to the truth found only in Christ. The Order grew quickly, and when St. Dominic died in 1221, there were 500 friars spread throughout western Europe.
St. Dominic was particularly devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and he once experienced a vision in which he saw that Our Lady personally protects the Order he founded. In the year 1214, he experienced another vision in which Our Lady gave him the Holy Rosary and the Fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary. To this day, the Dominicans remain deeply devoted to the Rosary, which they zealously promote as a sure means of growing closer to Christ through Mary.
While St. Dominic only lived fifty-one years on this earth, his life truly exemplifies Our Lord’s words in today’s Gospel that nothing is impossible for those who have faith like a mustard seed. St. Dominic never doubted what God could accomplish through him but instead humbly submitted himself to the divine will in all things, earnestly seeking to lead souls back to the truth. Through his Order, St. Dominic has given the Church some of the most important and influential theologians and philosophers throughout the centuries, one of whom is the great St. Thomas Aquinas. Through the Dominican Order, St. Dominic, the so-called “Dog of the Lord,” continues to light the world on fire by leading souls to the truth found only in Christ and His Church.
St. Dominic, ora pro nobis!
