- St. Dominic de Guzman
St. Dominic Guzman, who founded the Order of Preachers (Dominican Order) 800 years ago, is recognized for bringing religious out of the monastery and into everyday life.
About 1170, Dominic was born into a religious family in Spain. His two brothers would also become priests, and one brother and Dominic's mother would be beatified. At the University of Palencia, Dominic was a good student, and one with a social conscience - once selling his textbooks and then giving the money to the poor.
At age 25, Dominic was ordained. Concerned about the growing popularity of the Albigensian heresy (which was based on the belief that a person's soul was pure but trapped inside the evil body), Dominic envisioned starting a religious community to defeat the heresy as well as to spread the Gospel throughout the world. The Dominican order of friars was founded in 1215.
Dominic and his friars traveled and preached throughout Europe. Unlike other religious communities at the time, they didn't reside in monasteries. Rather, they lived simply, relying on the generosity of others to support themselves as they raveled about.
St. Dominic's feast is August 8.
- Little White Book, Diocese of Saginaw