Jump to content

Saint Dominic

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 68.188.41.18 (talk) at 16:35, 26 November 2012 (→‎Birth and parentage). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For the village in Cornwall, see St Dominic, Cornwall.
For Places and churches named after St Dominic, see St Dominic (Disambiguation).
Saint Dominic
Saint Dominic, portrayed in the Perugia Altarpiece by Fra Angelico.
Founder
Born1170
Calaruega, Province of Burgos, Kingdom of Castile (present-day Castile-Leon, Spain)
DiedAugust 6, 1221
Bologna, Province of Bologna (present-day Emilia-Romagna, Italy)
Venerated inRoman Catholic Church Anglican Church Lutheran Church
Canonized1234
Major shrineSan Domenico, Bologna
FeastAugust 8
August 4 (pre-1970 General Roman Calendar)[1]
AttributesChaplet, dog, star, lilies, Dominican Habit, book and staff, tonsure[2]
PatronageAstronomers; astronomy; Dominican Republic; falsely accused people; Santo Domingo Indian Pueblo, Valletta, Birgu (Malta)

Saint Dominic (Spanish: Santo Domingo), also known as Dominic of Osma and Dominic of Caleruega, often called Dominic de Guzmán and Domingo Félix de Guzmán (1170 – August 6, 1221), was the founder of the Dominican Order. Dominic is the patron saint of astronomers.[3]

Life

Birth and parentage

Dominic was born in Caleruega, halfway between Osma and Aranda de Duero in Old Castile, Spain. He was named after Saint Dominic of Silos, who is said to be the patron saint of hopeful mothers. The Benedictine abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos lies a few miles north of Caleruega.

In the lastest narrative source, by Jordan of Saxony, Dominic's parents are not named. The story is told that before his birth his barren mother made a pilgrimage to Silos[citation needed] and dreamed that a dog leapt from her womb carrying a torch in its mouth, and "seemed to set the earth on fire". This story is likely to have emerged when his order became known, after his name, as the Dominican order, in Latin is Dominicanus and by a play of words was interpreted as Domini canis: "Dog of the Lord." Jordan adds that Dominic was brought up by his parents and a maternal uncle who was an archbishop.[4] He was named in honour of Dominic of Silos as well as the Lord's Day[citation needed] (Sunday in Spanish is "Domingo.") Jordan of Saxony added that Dominic was brought up by his parents and a maternal uncle who was an archbishop.[5] The failure to name his parents is not unusual, since Jordan wrote a history of the Order's early years, rather than a biography of Dominic. A later source, still of the 13th century, gives their names as Juana and Felix.[6] Nearly a century after Dominic's birth, a local author asserted that Dominic's father was "vir venerabilis et dives in populo suo" ("an honoured and wealthy man in his village").[7] The travel narrative of Pero Tafur, written circa 1439 (about a pilgrimage to Dominic's tomb in Italy), states that Dominic's father belonged to the family de Guzmán, and that his mother belonged to the Aça or Aza family.[8]

Education and early career

Dominic was educated in the schools of Palencia (they became a university soon afterwards) where he devoted six years to the arts and four to theology.[9] In 1191, when Spain was desolated by famine[10], young Dominic gave away his money and sold his clothes, furniture and even precious manuscripts to feed the hungry. Dominic reportedly told his astonished fellow students: "Would you have me study off these dead skins, when men are dying of hunger?"[11] In 1194, around age twenty-five, Dominic joined the Canons Regular in the canonry of Osma, following the rule of Saint Benedict.[3]

Saint Dominic saw the need for a new type of organization to address the spiritual needs of the growing cities of the era, one that would combine dedication and systematic education, with more organizational flexibility than either monastic orders or the secular clergy.

In 1203 or 1204 he accompanied Diego de Acebo, the Bishop of Osma, on a diplomatic mission for Alfonso VIII, King of Castile, namely to secure a bride in Denmark for crown prince Ferdinand.[12] The envoys traveled to Denmark via Aragon and the south of France. There, Dominic and Diego encountered the Cathars, a Christian religious sect with gnostic and dualistic beliefs, which the Roman Catholic Church deemed heretical. The Danish mission proved futile, but the clerics saw a need to combat the heresy, so Diego and Dominic returned by way of Rome and Cîteaux.[citation needed]

Foundation of the Dominicans

In 1215, Dominic established himself, with six followers, in a house given by Peter Seila, a rich resident of Toulouse.[13] He subjected himself and his companions to the monastic rules of prayer and penance; and meanwhile bishop Foulques gave them written authority to preach throughout the territory of Toulouse.[14]

In the same year, the year of the Fourth Lateran Council, Dominic and Foulques went to Rome to secure the approval of the Pope, Innocent III. Dominic returned to Rome a year later, and was finally granted written authority in December 1216 and January 1217 by the new pope, Honorius III for an order to be named "The Order of Preachers" ("Ordo Praedicatorum", or "O.P.," popularly known as the Dominican Order).[15]

Later life

His chapel at Basilica of San Domenico, Bologna
In this painting depicted the Virgin giving the rosary to Saint Dominic. In the scene also appear Fray Pedro de Santa María Ulloa, Saint Catherine of Siena and Servant of God, Mary of Jesus de León y Delgado. The fresco is located in the Church of Santo Domingo in San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Tenerife, Spain).

Dominic made his headquarters at Rome,[16] although he traveled extensively to maintain contact with his growing brotherhood of friars.[17] It was in the winter of 1216–1217, at the house of Ugolino de' Conti that he first met William of Montferrat, Dominican friar, afterwards a close friend.[18]

Dominic arrived in Bologna on 21 December 1218.[19] A convent was established at the Mascarella church by the Blessed Reginald of Orléans.[20] Soon afterwards they had to move to the church of San Nicolò of the Vineyards.[21] Dominic settled in this church and held in this church the first two General Chapters of the order.[22][23] He died there on 6 August 1221 and was moved into a simple sarcophagus in 1233.[24][25]

San Domenico Guzman – Fresco in Cantarana – Denise Schenardi, 2007

In 1267 Dominic's remains were moved to the shrine, made by Nicola Pisano and his workshop.[25]

According to Guiraud, Dominic abstained from meat,[26] "observed stated fasts and periods of silence",[27] "selected the worst accommodations and the meanest clothes", and "never allowed himself the luxury of a bed".[28][29] "When travelling, he beguiled the journey with spiritual instruction and prayers" (also Guiraud).[30] Guiraud also states that "as soon as Dominic passed the limits of towns and villages, he took off his shoes, and, however sharp the stones or thorns, he trudged on his way barefooted",[28] and that "rain and other discomforts elicited from his lips nothing but praises to God".[28]

Dominic died at the age of fifty-one, according to Guiraud "exhausted with the austerities and labours of his career".[31] He had reached the convent of St Nicholas at Bologna, Italy, "weary and sick with a fever".[31] Guiraud states that Dominic "made the monks lay him on some sacking stretched upon the ground"[31] and that "the brief time that remained to him was spent in exhorting his followers to have charity, to guard their humility, and to make their treasure out of poverty".[32] He died at noon on 6 August 1221.[24]

Inquisition

Pedro Berruguete, St Dominic Presiding over an Auto de fe (around 1495[33]).

What part Dominic personally had in the proceedings of the episcopal Medieval Inquisition has been disputed for many centuries.[citation needed] The historical sources from Dominic's own time period tell us nothing about his involvement in the Inquisition,[citation needed] although several early Dominicans, including some of Dominic's first followers, did become inquisitors.[citation needed] The statement that Dominic had been an inquisitor was first made in the 14th century by a famous Dominican inquisitor, Bernard Gui, who tried to paint his Order's founder as a participant in the Institution.[citation needed] In the 15th century, Dominic would be depicted as presiding at an auto da fé, later offering German Protestant critics of the Catholic Church an argument against the Order whose preaching had proven to be a formidable opponent in the lands of the Reformation.[citation needed] Thus a 14th century claim became a part of the Black Legend.[citation needed]

Rosary

St Dominic receives the Rosary from the Virgin Mary (Carlow Cathedral, stained glass by Franz Mayer)
Main article: Rosary

The spread of the Rosary, a Marian devotion, is attributed to the preaching of St. Dominic.[34][35] The Rosary has for centuries been at the heart of the Dominican Order. Pope Pius XI stated that: "The Rosary of Mary is the principle and foundation on which the very Order of Saint Dominic rests for making perfect the life of its members and obtaining the salvation of others." [36]

For centuries, Dominicans have been instrumental in spreading the rosary and emphasizing the Catholic belief in the power of the rosary.[37]

See also

References

  1. ^ Calendarium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1969), p. 100
  2. ^ "St. Dominic – Iconography". Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  3. ^ a b Catholic.org
  4. ^ Jordan of Saxony, "Libellus de principiis, 4." The dream has been thought to allude to the medieval pun on the name of the Dominicans, Domini canes, "dogs of the Lord"; it has also been argued that the dream suggested the pun.
  5. ^ Jordan of Saxony, "Libellus de principiis, 4."
  6. ^ Pedro Ferrando, "Legenda Sancti Dominici, 4."
  7. ^ Cerrato, Rodrigo de Vita S. Dominic
  8. ^ Pero Tafur, Andanças e viajes (tr. Malcolm Letts, p. 31). Tafur's book is dedicated to a member of the de Guzmán family.
  9. ^ (Guiraud 1913, pp. 5–6)
  10. ^ (Guiraud 1913, pp. 7)
  11. ^ The Inquisition: A History, Michael C. Thomsett (McFarland, 2010), p. 54
  12. ^ Jordan of Saxony, "Libellus de principiis" p. 14-20; Gérard de Frachet, "Chronica prima" [MOPH 1.321].
  13. ^ (Guiraud 1913, pp. 65–66)
  14. ^ French translation of Foulques' 1215 letter
  15. ^ See "Religiosam vitam"; "Nos attendentes"
  16. ^ (Guiraud 1913, p. 91)
  17. ^ (Guiraud 1913, p. 129)
  18. ^ (Guiraud 1913, p. 137)
  19. ^ (Guiraud 1913, p. 112)
  20. ^ (Guiraud 1913, pp. 111–113)
  21. ^ (Guiraud 1913, p. 115)
  22. ^ (Guiraud 1913, p. 140)
  23. ^ (Guiraud 1913, p. 126)
  24. ^ a b (Guiraud 1913, p. 175)
  25. ^ a b (Guiraud 1913, p. 181)
  26. ^ (Guiraud 1913, p. 156)
  27. ^ (Guiraud 1913, p. 116)
  28. ^ a b c (Guiraud 1913, p. 130)
  29. ^ (Guiraud 1913, p. 176)
  30. ^ (Guiraud 1913, pp. 130–132)
  31. ^ a b c (Guiraud 1913, p. 172)
  32. ^ (Guiraud 1913, pp. 173–175)
  33. ^ *Page of the painting at Prado Museum.
  34. ^ Public Domain Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "The Rosary". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  35. ^ http://www.ewtn.com/library/answers/rosaryhs.htm
  36. ^ Robert Feeney. "St. Dominic and the Rosary". Catholic.net. Archived from the original on 2008-06-08. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
  37. ^ History of the Dominicans http://www.domcentral.org/study/ashley/ds02ital2.htm

Bibliography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saint Dominic.

Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saint_Dominic&oldid=524970572"