“Lumen Ecclesiae;
Light of the Church''
He took the right
course of converting the people, he rooted out the iniquitous abominations, he
set his heart on the Lord, in godless times he upheld the cause of
religion" (Sirach. 49:2-3) of the Church”
St. Dominic was born in Spain,
A.D. 1170. With the dawn of reason his whole soul turned to God. His childhood
was most pious, and his youth angelic in purity. In the University of Palencia
he was the model student. When twenty-five, he became a Canon Regular at Osma,
and with the religious habit he put on the Lord Jesus Christ and strove in all
things to imitate Him. His time was divided into prayer, study of Holy
Scripture, and community duties. Silence and retirement were his delight; works
of penance and tears of contrition his meat and drink. Going in 1205 to France,
he spent many years in every kind of labour for the conversion of the
Albigensian heretics. Like Jesus Christ he passed the day in apostolic work,
the night in prayer. His penance was extreme, but to others he was gentle,
sweet and kind. Many were converted by his miracles, many, by the example of
his holy life. Six times he journeyed to Rome, once to Spain, once to Paris,
walking barefoot, praying or singing on the road, preaching in the towns and villages,
spending the nights in contemplation. He founded in 1215 the Order of Friars
Preachers for the conversion of souls. He was a man of truly apostolic heart, a
column of the faith, a trumpet of the Gospel, the light of Christ to men. He
died at Bologna in 1221.
"DOCTOR
VERITATIS, DOCTOR OF TRUTH”
"Make your
own mind, the mind of Christ, Who, being in the form of God, did not count
equality with God something to be grasped at. But He emptied Himself, taking
the form of a slave, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a
man. He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even to the death of
the cross." (Phil. 2:5-8)
Humility is the foundation of
perfection, and in St. Dominic it was deep and strong. So clear was his
knowledge of the deep majesty of God and his own nothingness that he lived
always in lowly fear and self-distrust. Though most innocent, he considered
himself to be a base sinner, unworthy of the least grace. Constantly he
prostrated himself before God, praying for long with his face on the ground,
shedding abundant tears. Often he would strike his breast, exclaiming,
"Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner." Before entering a town to
preach, he used to kneel down on the road, begging God not to punish the people
for his sins but to make his labour fruitful. When 4passing an altar or
crucifix he would bow profoundly, in token of his nothingness. He often said
with tears, "I am not worthy to behold heaven on account of my sins."
Praise and honour he heartily detested, and thrice refused a bishopric. Once he
raised the son of a Roman widow to life, and the Pope ordered the wonder to be
published. "Holy Father," said Dominic, "I must fly; I can
remain here no longer." At the General Chapter he said to his brethren,
"I deserve to be deposed from my office, for I am negligent and
relaxed." When asked where he would be buried, "Under the feet of my
brethren," said the humble saint. The saints, though great in virtue, look
upon themselves as worthless, because they see themselves in the light of God,
and knowing Him they know themselves. "Our righteousness," St.
Dominic would say, "when compared to the righteousness of God, is mere
uncleanness." "Learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and
you shall find rest to your souls." (St. Matthew 11: 29.)
"ROSA
PATIENTIA, ROSE OF PATIENCE”
"Those who
fear the Lord do their best to please Him, and those who love Him will find
sanctification in the law. Those who fear the Lord keep their hearts prepared
and humble themselves in His presence. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord
and not into any human clutches; for as His majesty is, so too is His
mercy." (Sirach 2:20-
Though so pure that Holy Church
calls him "Ivory of Chastity," and Christian art puts a lily into his
hands, Dominic was always weeping over sin. His soul being full of contrition,
acts of sorrow were constantly upon his lips. On seeing towns or villages, he
used to weep over the sins committed there against God. Though so cheerful with
others, in his prayers he shed many tears. But this sorrow was not merely
hidden in the soul, it bore fruit in works of penance. Thrice every night he
scourged himself to blood: once for his own sins, once for those of others,
once for the suffering souls. His fasts were strict and continual; even when
travelling over Europe on foot, he fasted from September till Easter, though
preaching daily. For ten years he tasted no wine, and afterwards, by order of
superiors, only a few drops in water. He never had a room or bed of his own,
but slept anywhere, on the ground, a bench, the altar-step. He was tightly
girded with an iron chain, only found after his death. Being a zealous lover of
rule, he punished faults severely, but with such fatherly love that penance was
sweet from his hands. "If you have no sins of your own to weep for,"
St. Dominic would say, "still weep, after the example of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and grieve for the sinners of the world, that they may repent."
"No one who does not carry his cross and come after Me can be My
disciple." (St. Luke 14:27.)
Compiled and presented by Brs. Vijay and Ajith
