He was the founder of the great Dominican Order known as the Order of Preachers. He was born in 1170 in Spain and died when he was only fifty-one years old. His mother, also a saint — Blessed Jane of Aza (August 8) — had two sons who became priests, and wanted a third son who would be her heir. She prayed to Saint Dominic of Silos, whose holy death occurred in 1073 and whose feast day is December 20, and by his intercession her son was born. That is why he was called Dominic. She also saw at once that he was meant to be God’s heir and not her own.
Saint Dominic had his Order approved in 1216. Saint Dominic’s full name was Dominic de Guzman. The great apostolate of Saint Dominic was that of the most Holy Rosary. Saint Dominic was given the Holy Rosary by the Blessed Virgin Mary herself, in Toulouse, in France. Every time any Catholic says the rosary it is somehow an honor to the great Saint Dominic. Saint Dominic raised the dead to life and rescued Christians from the Albigenses.
Two hundred and ninety members of the Dominican Order — two hundred and sixty-six men and twenty-four women — have been declared blessed by the Catholic Church. And there are nineteen Dominican canonized saints — fourteen men and five women. Here are their names: Saint Dominic, Saint Raymond of Pennafort, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Albertus Magnus, Saint Peter the Martyr, Saint Hyacinth, Saint Antoninus, Saint Vincent Ferrer, Saint Pius V, Saint John of Gorkum, Saint Louis Bertrand, Saint Peter Gonzalez, Saint Martin de Porres, Saint John Massias, Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Catherine de Ricci, Saint Rose of Lima, Saint Agnes of Montepulciano and Saint Margaret of Hungary.
See also the longer article on this site: Saint Dominic de Guzman.
The Perugia Altarpiece, Side Panel Depicting St. Dominic, by
Fra Angelico (circa 1395–1455) source
