St. Dominic
A Spanish priest who built an order around preaching the truth and praying for those who had left it.
Have charity among you, hold to humility, and make your treasure out of voluntary poverty.
His last words to the friars, recorded by Blessed Jordan of Saxony, Libellus de principiis Ordinis Praedicatorum (c. 1233) Traditional
Founder of the Order of Preachers, who answered error with study, poverty, and preaching
Dominic de Guzmán was a Castilian canon who, traveling through southern France, met the Cathar movement and resolved to answer it not with force but with learned, humble, itinerant preaching. The Order of Preachers he founded in 1216 joined poverty and study in the service of the Word, and within a generation its friars were teaching in the universities of Europe.
Born around 1170 at Caleruega in Castile, Dominic became a canon of the cathedral of Osma, known for his learning and his austerity. He is remembered for selling his books during a famine to feed the hungry, saying he would not study from dead skins while the poor starved.
Sent on a journey through Languedoc, he saw how the established preachers, traveling in comfort, failed to reach people drawn to the austere Cathars. He concluded that the Gospel had to be preached by men who themselves lived in poverty and could meet learning with learning. He gathered companions and won approval for an order devoted entirely to preaching and the study that preaching requires.
Confirmed by the pope in 1216, the Order of Preachers spread rapidly. Dominic sent his first friars out to the great university cities, especially Paris and Bologna, convinced that the Church needed preachers who were also scholars. He died in Bologna in 1221, worn out by travel, and was canonized in 1234.
Dominic gave the Church an order built for preaching and teaching, which would produce theologians such as Thomas Aquinas and mystics such as Catherine of Siena. The Rosary is traditionally associated with the Dominicans, and his friars still carry his work into universities and pulpits worldwide.
A life, in years and approximate ages.
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c. 1170BirthBirth at CaleruegaDominic de Guzmán is born at Caleruega in Castile. He will study and become a canon of the cathedral of Osma, known for his learning and austerity.
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c. 1203About 33Through LanguedocTraveling through southern France, Dominic encounters the Cathar movement and concludes that it can be answered only by preachers who themselves live in evangelical poverty.
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c. 1206About 36A Community at ProuilleDominic gathers a community of women converts at Prouille and begins the work of preaching that will grow into the Order of Preachers.
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c. 1216About 46The Order of Preachers ConfirmedPope Honorius III confirms the Order of Preachers. Dominic soon disperses his first friars to Paris and Bologna, binding the order to the universities from the start.
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c. 1221About 51Death in BolognaWorn out by years of travel and preaching, Dominic dies in Bologna on August 6, exhorting his friars to charity, humility, and voluntary poverty.
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1233After deathTranslation to the ArcaDominic's remains are moved into a marble tomb in Bologna. In time the Arca di San Domenico is carved by a succession of great sculptors, including a young Michelangelo.
Dates are approximate where the surviving record is traditional or incomplete.
One place where this witness remains visible.
Basilica of San Domenico, Bologna
The Dominican basilica in Bologna preserves Dominic's relics in the Arca di San Domenico, a marble tomb famous for the sculptors who shaped it. Pilgrims come to pray before the founder of the Order of Preachers.
Where the body is venerated.
Dominic's relics rest in Bologna, in the Basilica of San Domenico, within the Arca di San Domenico, a carved marble shrine worked on across the centuries by sculptors including Nicola Pisano, Niccolò dell'Arca, and the young Michelangelo.
A principal relic site is named, with other fragments or reliquaries noted separately.
Basilica of San Domenico, Bologna
The Dominican basilica in Bologna preserves Dominic's relics in the Arca di San Domenico, a marble tomb famous for the sculptors who shaped it. Pilgrims come to pray before the founder of the Order of Preachers.
- Relics of Saint Dominic in the Arca di San Domenico
The ark stands in its own chapel; note the small marble figures carved by the young Michelangelo.
Kindred witnesses
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Saint Thomas Aquinas
The greatest theologian of the order Dominic founded, whose work carried its mission into the universities. -
Saint Catherine of Siena
A Dominican tertiary and Doctor of the Church who lived the order's charism as a laywoman. -
Saint Francis of Assisi
His great contemporary, founder of the Franciscans, with whom the mendicant movement renewed the medieval Church.
Kept on August 8.
August 8 is Dominic's feast, kept across the Dominican family of friars, nuns, sisters, and laity. Bologna, where his tomb stands, marks the day with particular solemnity.
His relics rest in Bologna, in the Basilica of San Domenico, within the carved marble Arca di San Domenico, a tomb worked on over centuries by sculptors including Nicola Pisano, Niccolò dell'Arca, and a young Michelangelo.