Thought for the Day – 8 August – The Memorial of St Dominic de Guzman
Words of Pope Benedict XVI on St Dominic
In the second volume of his work “Jesus of Nazareth”, in speaking of the first and last coming of Christ, he introduces a “middle coming”, through his word, the sacraments, events. And he continues: ” But there are also modalities of this coming season. The impact of two great figures -Francisco and Domingo- between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, has been a way in which Christ has re-entered history, re-enforcing His word and his love; a way with which He has renewed the Church and has driven history to itself. ” In St Dominic’s words: “You are my companion and must walk with me. If we hold together, no earthly power can withstand us.”
Likewise, Benedict XVI, recognising the Marian devotion of Saint Dominic, manifested in his catechesis on February 3, 2010: ” First and foremost, Marian devotion, which he cultivated with tenderness and left his spiritual children as an inheritance, Which in the history of the Church have had the great merit of spreading the prayer of the holy rosary, so rooted in the Christian people and so rich in evangelical values, a true school of faith and piety.
Once, at a difficult point in the preaching ministry, St Dominic had a dream in which he saw heaven. Christ was there, arrayed like a king, with His Mother beside Him cloaked in a magnificent mantle. Around the Blessed Mother were countless souls from all walks of life: clergy, laypersons, and members of every religious order ever founded. Among the religious there were Benedictines, Augustinians, Carmelites, Franciscans, everyone, except the Order of Preachers. Struck to the heart, Dominic said, “Is there not a single one of mine?” The Lord gestured to his Mother, who opened her mantle. There, under it, were hundreds and hundreds of Dominican souls in their black and white habits. The Lord said, “Behold, I have left your Order in the care of My Mother.”
And, in the catechesis of August 8, 2012, he referred to another characteristic of St Dominic, the prayer : “St Dominic was a man of prayer. In love with God, he had no other aspiration than the salvation of souls, especially those who had fallen into the webs of the heresies of his time; Imitator of Christ, incarnated radically the three evangelical counsels joining to the proclamation of the Word the testimony of a poor life; under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, progressed in the path of Christian perfection. At all times prayer was the force that renewed and made more and more fruitful his apostolic works.
St Dominic reminds us that at the origin of the witness of faith, which every Christian should give in family, work, social commitment and also in times of relaxation, is prayer, personal contact with God. Only this real relationship with God gives us the strength to live intensely every event, especially moments of greater suffering. “
St Dominic pray for us!
AnaStpaul 