IN the history of the Church, heresies prevail which prompt the Church to clarify, define and defend the basic truths of the Catholic faith.
As early as 49 AD, Saint Peter, the first pope, convened the first ecumenical council. He encountered problems with pagan converts about their practices.
In the council, all bishops of the church are convened to discuss the issues with the pope making the final decisions.
On fraternal dialogue
King Alphonsus of Castille, with the approval of Pope Innocent III, assigned the bishop of France to evangelize heretics spreading the Albigensen theory, a system of belief on dualism of good and evil. All matter is regarded as evil, all sacraments of the church rejected and, worst, suicide is considered a praiseworthy act.
Saint Dominic, an Augustinian monk, was tasked to accompany the bishop and help the Citeaux monks on the Albigensen issue.
Fr. Nil Guillemette, SJ, in Cedars of Lebanon, described Saint Dominic’s effectiveness in fraternal dialogues on religious issues: “His gentleness was such that anyone who came to speak to him even for reproof went away happier.”
Augustinian monk
Saint Dominic Guzman was born on August 8, 1221. His parents belong to a Spanish noble family in Castile. At 14 years old, he was sent to study in Valencia, then Salamanca and appointed to occupy an ecclesiastical position as a canon in Saint Augustine in the Diocese of Osma.
After his ordination as an Augustinian, he lived a life of contemplation for seven or eight years.
His was a life of prayer and self denials. As a missionary, his approach was fraternal. Discussions were conducted with utmost “humility, courtesy and gentleness of spirit.”
He discovered his gift for preaching when he converted the owner of a hotel in Toulouse.
Dominic spent 10 years to contest Albigenses, unafraid of massacres and barbaric incidents. He relentlessly trained itinerant preachers tasked to convert the Albigenses.
He emphasized the importance of prayer and fraternal disposition. “Arm yourself with prayer rather than the sword. Clothe the self with humility rather than fine clothing,” he said.
Founder of the OP
Dominic gathered preachers who shared his insights and religious beliefs, and together became the foundation of the Order of Preachers (OP), a community called Dominicans.
Malcolm Day, in A Treasury of Saints, noted that they are fondly called Domini Canis (Dogs of God). The rules of the Ordo Praedicatorum (Order of Preachers) was approved by Pope Honorius III on 1216.
Four years after, the order was approved in Toulouse, France, with Dominic as its first general.
Dedicated to the study and preaching of the Sacred Scriptures, the OP “speaks only of God or with God.”
As bearer of lights symbolized by a torch, the members became distinguished university professors in Paris and Oxford.
The charism of the order combines contemplative life and all functions of pastoral living, especially preaching. Its style of dialogue was to avoid harsh debates over religious issues. The members dutifully adhered to contemplata aliis tradere (to contemplate and to hand on to others the fruit of contemplation).
A new office—Master of the Sacred Palace under the pope—was, likewise, created, and Dominic was appointed to be the pope’s domestic theologian.
Dominic died on August 6, 1221, in Bologna Italy.
Blessed Jordan of Saxony, who succeeded him as superior general of the OP and the first biographer of the saint, describes him: “Nothing disturbed the even temper of his soul except his quick sympathy with every sort of suffering.
“And as a man’s face shows whether his heart is happy it was easy to see from his friendly and joyous countenance that he was at peace inwardly. With his unfailing gentleness and readiness to help, no one could ever despise his radiant nature which won all who met him and made him attract people.”
HI feast is on August 8.
Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris College in Laguna.
Image credits: Wikimedia Commons