26 Facts About Saint Dominic

Saint Dominic is the patron saint of astronomers and natural scientists, and he and his order are traditionally credited with spreading and popularizing the rosary.

Saint Dominic is alternatively called Dominic of Osma, Dominic of Caleruega, and Domingo Felix de Guzman, and, in Britain and Ireland, Saint Sunday.

Saint Dominic was born in Caleruega, halfway between Osma and Aranda de Duero in Old Castile, Spain.

The travel narrative of Pero Tafur, written circa 1439, states that Saint Dominic's father belonged to the family de Guzman, and that his mother belonged to the Aca or Aza family.

At fourteen years of age, Saint Dominic was sent to the Premonstratensian monastery of Santa Maria de La Vid and subsequently transferred for further studies in the schools of Palencia.

In 1191, when Spain was desolated by famine, young Saint Dominic gave away his money and sold his clothes, furniture, and even precious manuscripts to feed the hungry.

At the age of 24, Saint Dominic was ordained as a priest and subsequently joined the canonry of the Cathedral of Osma.

In 1203 or 1204, Saint Dominic accompanied Diego on a diplomatic mission for Alfonso VIII, King of Castile, to secure a bride in Denmark for crown prince Ferdinand.

In 1215, Saint Dominic established himself, with six followers, in a house given by Peter Seila, a rich resident of Toulouse.

Saint Dominic saw the need for a new type of organization to address the spiritual needs of the growing cities of the era, one that would combine dedication and systematic education, with more organizational flexibility than either monastic orders or the secular clergy.

Saint Dominic subjected himself and his companions to the monastic rules of prayer and penance; Bishop Foulques gave them written authority to preach throughout the territory of Toulouse.

Saint Dominic had reddish hair and beard and beautiful eyes.

Saint Dominic's hands were long and fine and his voice pleasingly resonant.

Saint Dominic never got bald, though he wore the full tonsure, which was mingled with a few grey hairs.

Saint Dominic settled in this church and held here the first two General Chapters of the order.

Guiraud states that Saint Dominic frequently traveled barefoot and that "rain and other discomforts elicited from his lips nothing but praises to God".

Saint Dominic died at the age of fifty-one, according to Guiraud "exhausted with the austerities and labors of his career".

Saint Dominic had reached the convent of St Nicholas at Bologna, Italy, "weary and sick with a fever".

Guiraud states that Saint Dominic "made the monks lay him on some sacking stretched upon the ground" and that "the brief time that remained to him was spent in exhorting his followers to have charity, to guard their humility, and to make their treasure out of poverty".

Saint Dominic's body was moved to a simple sarcophagus in 1233.

Under the authority of Pope Gregory IX, Saint Dominic was canonized in 1234.

In 1267 Saint Dominic's remains were moved to the shrine, made by Nicola Pisano and his workshop for the Church of St Saint Dominic in Bologna.

Saint Dominic died in 1221, and the office of the Inquisition was not established until 1231 in Lombardy and 1234 in Languedoc.

The Cord of Saint Dominic is a Catholic sacramental which reminds the wearer of the protection of Saint Dominic.

The Arca di San Domenico is a shrine containing the remains of Saint Dominic, located in the Basilica of San Domenico in Bologna.

The feast of Saint Dominic is celebrated with great pomp and devotion in Malta, in the old city of Birgu and the capital city Valletta.