August 8 + Saint Dominic

Dominic de Guzman helped the cause of orthodoxy in the Church by founding the Order of Preachers, also known as Dominicans. The spread of the Rosary, a Marian devotion, is attributed to the preaching of Dominic. The Rosary has for centuries 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." For centuries, Dominicans have been instrumental in spreading the rosary and emphasizing the Catholic belief in the power of the rosary.

Born in Caleruega, Spain around the year 1170, Dominic was the son of Felix de Guzman and Joanna of Aza, members of the nobility. His mother would eventually be beatified by the Church, as would his brother Manes who became a Dominican. The family's oldest son Antonio also became a priest.

Dominic received his early education from his uncle, who was a priest, before entering the University of Palencia where he studied for ten years. After his ordination to the priesthood, Dominic was asked by Bishop Diego of Osma to participate in local Church reforms.

While traveling in France with the bishop, Dominic observed the bad effects of the Albigensian heresy, which had taken hold in southern France. The sect revived an earlier heresy, Manicheanism, which condemned the material world as an evil realm not created by God.

Dreading the spread of heresy, Dominic began to think about founding a religious order to promote the truth. In 1204 he and Bishop Diego were sent by Pope Innocent III to assist in the effort against the Albigensians, which eventually involved both military force and theological persuasion.

Dominic's extreme physical asceticism caused him to fall into a coma, during which the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to him and instructed him to promote the prayer of the Rosary. Its focus on the incarnation and life of Christ directly countered the Albigensian attitude towards matter as evil.

During that same year, Dominic returned to Toulouse and obtained the bishop's approval of his plan for an order dedicated to preaching. Dominic obtained papal approval for his plan and was named as the Pope's chief theologian. The Order of Preachers expanded in Europe with papal help.

Dominic spent the last several years of his life building up the order and continuing his preaching missions, during which he is said to have converted over 100,000 people.