Saint of the Day – 4 August – St Dominic de Guzman OP (1170-1221) Confessor, Founder of the Dominican Order of Preachers – Priest, Founder, Teacher, Preacher, Mystic, Miracle-Worker, Apostle of the Holy Rosary
The Roman Martyrology states today: “At Bologna, St Dominic, Confessor, Founder of the Order of Friars Preachers, most renowned for sanctity and learning. He preserved his chastity unsullied to the end of his life and by his great merits, raised three persons from the dead. After having repressed heresies by his preaching and instructed many in the religious and Godly life, he rested in peace on the 6th of this month. His Feast, however, is celebrated on this day by decree of Pope Paul IV.”
The Virtues and Gifts of Saint Dominic
(By the Order of Preachers, England and Wales)
Dominic was of middling height and slender build. His face was ruddy and his hair and beard had a reddish colour. His eyes were striking and he was said to have a beautiful face and one, which seemed to radiate a certain light. He was intelligent but sensitive, usually cheerful except when moved, as quite often occurred, to tears, by people’s suffering. He was known as a man of humility and purity, of prayer and penance and of deep compassionate love.
Dominic was very disciplined with himself but merciful with others. He was noted for his peace and joy. He had great patience and courage. He made good friendships with both men and women and was a good companion, enjoying others and being enjoyed by them.
He was generous, putting God and others before his own needs and wants. He loved Jesus and the Gospel, always carrying some of the Sacred Scriptures (Matthew’s Gospel and Paul’s letters, in particular) with him. He had a great passion for helping people know and love Jesus and so ‘save their soul.s’ He had great energy and commitment to the works of Jesus, his Master and His God.
When Dominic preached, His passion was so patent that, he often moved people to tears for their errors and sins. He explained the Truth of Jesus Christ so well that his listeners were eager to confess and repent.
Dominic’s life and conversation were so Godly, so full of the Lord and heavenly thoughts, that it was said that he only ever spoke to God or about God – yet, he seems to have done this in ways which were warm, appealing, human and attractive to all who heard him.
He was a good leader and a good organiser and good at making sensible laws to organise communities. He trusted others and gave them freedom and opportunities and encouragement to develop and use their gifts. In these ways, he showed himself a true spiritual father. He was also wise and diplomatic. He saw clearly the needs of people in his time and what the Church needed to do and set about bringing this about, in other words, our Saint Dominic was a true Shepherd – never absent, never belittling the problems the faithful faced in their daily lives but assisting them, in many ways, to devoutly submit to the Will of God and learn the great gift of suffering in silence. In all this, Dominic placed himself in the hands of the Holy Ghost
St Dominic’s Life and Patronages here:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/08/04/madonna-dellapparizione-our-lady-of-the-apparition-pellestrina-italy-1716-and-memorials-of-the-saints-4-august/
AnaStpaul 