Memorial of Saint Dominic, Priest

READINGS

Reading 1 Nm 12:1-13

Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses on the pretext of the marriage he had contracted with a Cushite woman. They complained, "Is it through Moses alone that the LORD speaks? Does he not speak through us also?" And the LORD heard this. Now, Moses himself was by far the meekest man on the face of the earth. So at once the LORD said to Moses and Aaron and Miriam, "Come out, you three, to the meeting tent." And the three of them went. Then the LORD came down in the column of cloud, and standing at the entrance of the tent, called Aaron and Miriam. When both came forward, he said, "Now listen to the words of the LORD: Should there be a prophet among you, in visions will I reveal myself to him, in dreams will I speak to him; not so with my servant Moses! Throughout my house he bears my trust: face to face I speak to him; plainly and not in riddles. The presence of the LORD he beholds. Why, then, did you not fear to speak against my servant Moses?" So angry was the LORD against them that when he departed, and the cloud withdrew from the tent, there was Miriam, a snow-white leper! When Aaron turned and saw her a leper, he said to Moses, "Ah, my lord! Please do not charge us with the sin that we have foolishly committed! Let her not thus be like the stillborn babe that comes forth from its mother's womb with its flesh half consumed." Then Moses cried to the LORD, "Please, not this! Pray, heal her!"

REFLECTION

"Should there be a prophet among you, in visions will I reveal myself to him, in dreams will I speak to him; not so with my servant Moses! Throughout my house he bears my trust: face to face I speak to him; plainly and not in riddles. The presence of the LORD he beholds." (Numbers 12: 6-8)

Like Moses, St. Dominic was close to God. During the famine in 1191, Dominic sold all he had even his clothes and furniture, and bought food to feed the poor. He even sold his manuscripts, useful for his studies, to feed the starving. When his teachers asked him,"Why?" He answered, "Would you have one study from these dead skins when people are dying of hunger?"

Before St. Dominic was born his mother had a dream while she was on a pilgrimage. She dreamt that she saw a dog leap out of her womb carrying a torch in his mouth. The dog seemed to "set the earth on fire," As a result of the dream St. Dominic's parents named him Domini Canis, which means the Lord's dog. This dream was prophetic. Later through St. Dominic's priestly work, and his persistence in teaching the truth, he set people ablaze when they listened to his preaching.

Dominic was a champion of the faith. He fought against heresy and brought many back to the faith. He was visited by the Virgin Mary and she gave him the rosary. Mary showed Dominic a wreath of roses, the wreath represented the rosary.

She gave him the instructions to pray the rosary daily, teach others to pray the rosary, and as a result, true faith will be restored. Dominic was obedient to Our Lady and spread the message about praying the rosary to save souls.

The Order of Preachers, a religious order known as the Dominicans was started by St. Dominic. They lived by evangelizing the towns while walking barefoot. They vowed to live by the Augustinian Rule and prayed the Divine Office, lived the monastic life, taught theology and preached, and lived a life of poverty.

St. Dominic died in 1221 at the age of 51 and was canonized in 1234.

Let us pray a rosary today and ask St. Dominic to pray for the protection of the Catholic Church.

St. Dominic pray for us!