Saint Dominic, Confessor
S. Dominici Confessoris
Saint Dominic, a Spanish canon afire with zeal for souls, founded the Order of Preachers to defend and spread the faith, joining learning and prayer to apostolic poverty.
Saint Dominic was born about the year 1170 at Caleruega, in Castile, in Spain. From his youth he was given to study and to prayer, and he became a canon of the cathedral of Osma, living a life of regular observance and devotion. The tradition remembers his early compassion for the poor: in a time of famine he sold his very books to feed the hungry, saying that he would not study upon dead skins while living men were dying of want.
The call to preach
Journeying through the south of France in the company of his bishop, Saint Dominic saw at first hand how many souls had been drawn away from the faith by error, and how greatly they needed sound preaching joined to holiness of life. He gave himself to this work with untiring zeal, preaching the truth of the Gospel with patience and charity, and meeting error not with force but with prayer, learning, and the example of evangelical poverty. He perceived that the Church had need of preachers who were at once well instructed and truly poor, men who would proclaim the word of God freely and live what they preached.
From this conviction was born the Order of Preachers, which the Apostolic See confirmed in the year 1216. Saint Dominic sent his friars to the universities to study, that they might preach with sure knowledge, and out into the world to proclaim the faith; and he bound them to poverty, prayer, and the common life. He is honoured by tradition as a great promoter of devotion to the Most Holy Rosary, by which the faithful meditate upon the mysteries of Christ in union with our Lady.
His holy death
Saint Dominic governed his growing Order with gentleness and firmness, journeying tirelessly, often on foot, and spending his nights in prayer. Worn out by his labours, he died at Bologna on the sixth of August, 1221, surrounded by his brethren, to whom he bequeathed charity, humility, and voluntary poverty. He was canonised not many years after.
The collect of his feast prays that the Church, upheld by the merits of Saint Dominic her teacher, may be helped by his prayers, since she was enlightened by his preaching. In him the Church honours a preacher of truth, a father of friars, and a man of burning love for souls. His feast is kept on the fourth of August.
The Collect
O God, who wast pleased to enlighten thy Church by the merits and teaching of blessed Dominic thy confessor: grant that by his intercession she may not be left destitute of temporal help, and may ever increase in spiritual growth.
Deus, qui Ecclésiam tuam beáti Domínici Confessóris tui illumináre dignátus es méritis et doctrínis: concéde; ut eius intercessióne temporálibus non destituátur auxíliis, et spirituálibus semper proficiat increméntis.
Patronage
He is venerated as the founder of the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans) and is honoured as a patron of preachers, of astronomers, and of the Dominican Republic.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar his memorial is observed on 8 August, near the day of his death.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Dominic?
In the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal his feast is kept on 4 August as a Third Class feast. In the modern calendar his memorial is observed on 8 August.
Who was Saint Dominic?
He was a Spanish priest of the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries who founded the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans) to spread and defend the Catholic faith through preaching, study, and a life of poverty and prayer. He died at Bologna in 1221 and was soon canonised.
What is Saint Dominic remembered for?
He is remembered for founding the Order of Preachers, for joining sound learning to apostolic poverty in the service of the Gospel, and by long tradition for promoting devotion to the Most Holy Rosary. His friars carried preaching and study throughout the Church.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
These pages are offered with love for the saints and for all who seek them. If anything here should need correcting, we humbly beg your pardon and ask your help — kindly write to [email protected], and we will mend it as soon as we can.
Receive the coming feasts, Mass times, and reflections from our community — sent with care, never spam.