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Cecilia Dominic Biography & Facts

Saint Dominic, (Spanish: Santo Domingo; 8 August 1170 – 6 August 1221), also known as Dominic de Guzmán (Spanish: [ɡuθˈman]), was a Castilian Catholic priest and the founder of the Dominican Order. He is the patron saint of astronomers and natural scientists, and he and his order are traditionally credited with spreading and popularizing the rosary. He is alternatively called Dominic of Osma, Dominic of Caleruega, and Domingo Félix de Guzmán. Life Birth and early life Dominic was born in Caleruega, halfway between Osma and Aranda de Duero in Old Castile, Spain. He was named after Saint Dominic of Silos. The Benedictine abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos lies a few miles north of Caleruega. In the earliest narrative source, by Jordan of Saxony, Dominic's parents are not named. The story is told that before his birth his barren mother made a pilgrimage to the Abbey at Silos, and dreamt that a dog leapt from her womb carrying a flaming torch in its mouth, and seemed to set the earth on fire. This story is likely to have emerged when his order became known, after his name, as the Dominican order, Dominicanus in Latin, and a play on words interpreted as Domini canis: "Dog of the Lord." Jordan adds that Dominic was brought up by his parents and a maternal uncle who was an archbishop. The failure to name his parents is not unusual, since Jordan wrote a history of the Order's early years, rather than a biography of Dominic. A later source of the 13th century gives their names as Juana and Felix. Nearly a century after Dominic's birth, a local author asserted that Dominic's father was "vir venerabilis et dives in populo suo" ("an honored and wealthy man in his village"). The travel narrative of Pero Tafur, written circa 1439 (about a pilgrimage to Dominic's tomb in Italy), states that Dominic's father belonged to the family de Guzmán, and that his mother belonged to the Aça or Aza family. Dominic's mother, Joan of Aza, was beatified by Pope Leo XII in 1829. Education and early career At fourteen years of age, Dominic was sent to the Premonstratensian monastery of Santa María de La Vid and subsequently transferred for further studies in the schools of Palencia. In Palencia, he devoted six years to the arts and four to theology. At some point in time he also joined Santa María de La Vid. In 1191, when Spain was desolated by famine, young Dominic gave away his money and sold his clothes, furniture, and even precious manuscripts to feed the hungry. Dominic reportedly told his astonished fellow students, "Would you have me study off these dead skins when men are dying of hunger?" At the age of 24, Dominic was ordained as a priest and subsequently joined the canonry of the Cathedral of Osma. In 1198, Don Martin de Bazan, the Bishop of Osma, having reformed the chapter, made Dominic the subprior of the chapter. Diego de Acebo succeeded Bazan as Bishop of Osma in 1201. In 1203 or 1204 he accompanied Diego de Acebo on a diplomatic mission for Alfonso VIII, King of Castile, to secure a bride in Denmark for crown prince Ferdinand. The envoys traveled to Denmark via Aragon and the south of France. The marriage negotiations ended successfully, but the princess died before leaving for Castile. During their return journey, they met with Cistercian monks who had been sent by Pope Innocent III to preach against the Cathars, a Christian religious sect with gnostic and dualistic beliefs which the Catholic Church deemed heretical. Dominic and Diego de Acebo attributed the Cistercians' lack of success to their extravagance and pomp compared to the asceticism of the Cathars. They decided to adopt a more ascetic way of life and began a program in the south of France to convert the Cathars. Prouille In late 1206, Acebo and his group established themselves at the Monastery of Our Lady of Prouille in France. Bishop Foulques of Toulouse allowed them to use the church. The house was intended partly as a refuge for women who had previously lived in Cathar religious houses, and partly the first established base of operations. The first nuns of Prouille lived for several months at Fanjeaux, because the buildings at Prouille were not yet habitable. Dominic gave them the Rule of St. Augustine. Catholic-Cathar debates were held at Verfeil, Pamiers and Montréal. Ordered by the Pope to return to his diocese, Diego de Acebo died at Osma in December 1207, leaving Dominic alone in his mission. The Vision of Mary and the rosary According to Dominican tradition, in 1208 Dominic experienced a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the church at Prouille, during which she gave him a rosary. This gave rise to the title Our Lady of the Rosary. The story of Dominic's vision was fabricated by Alanus de Rupe and it was based on the imaginary testimony of writers that never existed. This traditional origin for the Rosary was generally accepted until the 15th century, when the Bollandists concluded that the account originated with Alanus, two hundred years after Dominic's death. The spread of the Rosary is attributed to the preaching of the Dominicans. For centuries the Rosary has been at the heart of the Dominican Order. Pope Pius XI stated, "The Rosary of Mary is the principle and foundation on which the very Order of Saint Dominic rests for making perfect the life of its members and obtaining the salvation of others." Foundation of the Dominicans In 1215, Dominic established himself, with six followers, in a house given by Peter Seila, a rich resident of Toulouse. Dominic saw the need for a new type of organization to address the spiritual needs of the growing cities of the era, one that would combine dedication and systematic education, with more organizational flexibility than either monastic orders or the secular clergy. He subjected himself and his companions to the monastic rules of prayer and penance; Bishop Foulques gave them written authority to preach throughout the territory of Toulouse. Also in 1215, the year of the Fourth Lateran Council, Dominic and Foulques went to Rome to secure the approval of Pope Innocent III. Dominic returned to Rome a year later and was finally granted written authority in December 1216 by the new pope, Honorius III, for him to form the Ordo Praedicatorum ("Order of Preachers"). In the winter of 1216–1217, at the house of Ugolino de' Conti, Dominic first met William of Montferrat, who joined Dominic as a friar in the Order of Preachers and remained a close friend. Later life Cecilia Cesarini, who was received by Dominic into his new order, in her old age described him as "...thin and of middle height. His face was handsome and somewhat fair. He had reddish hair and beard and beautiful eyes ... His hands were long and fine and his voice pleasingly resonant. He never got bald, though he wore the full tonsure, which was mingled with a few grey hairs." Although he traveled extensively to maintain contact with his growing brotherhood of friars, Dominic made his headquarters in Ro.... Discover the Cecilia Dominic popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Cecilia Dominic books.