Spiritual Corner -- Life of St Dominic and Founding of the Dominican Order

Since 1203 and the following thirteen years, St. Dominic was in the southern part of France preaching against heretical religious beliefs. To convert the heretics and solve the problems between them and the Catholic Church, St Dominic painstakingly prayed, fast, walked on bare foot, and begged. He said, “We should arm ourselves with prayers to win over the enemies of the Church.” Though he had been nominated to be a bishop for three times, yet every time, he humbly declined. Dominic had been preaching in Languedoc for ten years. He led a small group of priests to preach against heretical beliefs. In 1215, Dominic decided to form a religious community that would focus on monastic life and religious poverty. In addition to praying, contemplation, the community would concentrate on the study of theology, and evangelization. Dominic aimed at training followers to excel in both integrity and ability so that they could influence and preach to the faithful with their exemplary conduct.

Pope Innocent III was particularly courteous to St. Dominic. It was said that the day when Pope Innocent decided to decline Dominic’s proposal, he had a strange dream that night. He dreamt that St John Lateran Basilica was crumbling and Dominic stepped forward to uphold the Basilica. Pope Innocent III verbally approved Dominic‘s plan to form a new order. He asked Dominic to adopt one of the approved rules of other religious orders as the rules of his order.

In August 1216, Dominic and sixteen followers (eight French, seven Spanish and one English) met in Prouille and decided to adopt the rules of St Augustine which are in line with that of the Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré.

The Bishop of Toulouse gave the Church of St. Loman to Dominic as a monastery. The friars began to take their vows and lead
their monastic life there. In 1216, Dominic went to Rome to pay homage to the new Pope, Honorius III, who approved Dominic’s order and rules of conducts. Pope Honorius granted the written authority for Dominic to form the “Order of Preachers” (Dominican Order) as the pilot of faith and light of the world.

In 1221, the Order held its second general meeting. After that, Dominic went to Rome to pay homage to Cardinal Ugolino of Ostia. On the return journey he fell seriously ill. His last instructions to the friars was, “I don’t have anything to leave you but these words of advice: you should exhibit the spirit of love, humility and poverty.”

Dominic died peacefully on August 6, 1221. He displayed a life of poverty, even the clothes he wore on his death bed had been borrowed from Brother Mathis. His clothes were worn and tattered, there was not another one for change. And the bed he lay on belonged to another Brother.

Dominic was canonized in 1234. Pope Gregory PP IX (Cardinal Ugolino) on signing the papal declaration of canonization said, “I fully believe that Dominic is a Saint in the same way as I believe Peter and Paul are Saints.”

Yours,
Sr. Magdalena Yang
<Excerpt from The Dominican Spirit and Devotion” by Father Poon Ching Yue >