Today, August 8, as our church celebrates the Memorial of Dominic, Priest, our Church invites us to first read and reflect on a passage from the first letter of Peter (5:1-11) entitled "The duties of pastors and the laity". Our treasure, which follows, is from various writings on the history of the Order of Preachers.
Saint Dominic, also known as Dominic de Guzmán, was a Spanish Catholic priest and the founder of the Order of Preachers, commonly known as the Dominicans. He was born around 1170 in Caleruega, Spain. He studied theology at Palencia and was made canon of the church of Osma. He dedicated his life to preaching and combating heresy, particularly the Albigensian heresy.
He is also known for his role in spreading the devotion to the rosary.
St. Dominic established the Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominicans, to combat heresy and promote the Catholic faith through preaching and teaching. He traveled extensively, engaging in public debates and private dialogues with heretics to persuade them to return to the Catholic Church.
He is credited with popularizing the rosary as a tool for prayer and meditation, particularly in his efforts to counter heresy.
Church sources say he performed miracles, and Catholic sources report some accounts mention a miracle involving a trial by fire where his manuscript was unscathed.
Some accounts describe Saint Dominic as a contemplative, a man of prayer, and a skilled preacher who emphasized authenticity and intellectual rigor in his ministry.
He died at Bologna on August 6, 1221 and was canonized in 1234.
The Order of Preachers consists of Dominican friars who are part of a wider family of priests and brothers, contemplative nuns, active sisters and lay people within the Catholic Church who work together to carry out the Dominican mission of evangelizing, teaching, and preaching Christ the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
The first letter of Saint Peter begins with an address by to Christian communities located in five provinces of Asia Minor, including areas evangelized by Paul. Christians there are encouraged to remain faithful to their standards of belief and conduct despite threats of persecution. Numerous allusions in the letter suggest that the churches addressed were largely of Gentile composition, though considerable use is made of the Old Testament.
The contents following the address both inspire and admonish these "chosen sojourners" who, in seeking to live as God's people, feel an alienation from their previous religious roots and the society around them. Appeal is made to Christ's resurrection and the future hope it provides and to the experience of baptism as new birth. The suffering and death of Christ serve as both source of salvation and example. What Christians are in Christ, as a people who have received mercy and are to proclaim and live according to God's call, is repeatedly spelled out for all sorts of situations in society, work (even as slaves, the home, and general conduct. But overall hangs the possibility of suffering as a Christian. Persecution is later described as already occurring, so that some have supposed the letter was addressed both to places where such a "trial by fire" was already present and to places where it might break out.
