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ST. JOHN the EVANGELIST CCD
Grades:  Kindergarten through Junior High
Phone: 916 -483-4628
Email: ccd@sjecarmichael.org

August 7
On Monday, August 8, we will be celebrating the feast day of St. Dominic de Guzman the founder of one of the greatest orders of preaching friars, the Dominicans St. Dominic was born in 1170 at Calaroga in Old Castile, Spain, to the noble de Guzman family. His father, Don Felix de Guzman was the royal warden of the village, and his mother, Joan, was a woman of great sanctity, who later became the Blessed Joan of Aza. According to a legend, when Dominic’s mother was pregnant with him and made a pilgrimage to an abbey in Silos, she received in a vision a sign of the baby that she was carrying in her womb. In this dream, she envisioned a dog leaping from her womb with a torch in his mouth. Consequently, his parents named him ‘Dominic’, which was a play on the words “Domini canis” which, in Latin, means the Lord’s dog. Essentially, St. Dominic in later life, really was the Lord’s messenger, who did truly set the world on fire. At a very early age, it was evident that Dominic was called to assume a career in the Catholic Church. He was actually appointed canon of the Cathedral, which helped him continue with his studies. When he was being educated in Palencia, Dominic focused his education on theology and the arts. His professors considered Dominic to be an exceptional student. In 1191, when a famine left many people homeless and poor across Spain, Dominic sold everything that he had, including his special collection of religious books, which were inscribed on parchment and were required for study in his classes, to buy food to feed the poor. Dominic was asked why he sold his treasured collection of books and he replied, “Would you have me study from these dead skins when people are dying from hunger?” Twice Dominic attempted to sell himself into slavery to the Moors to obtain the freedom of others. Having finished his education in 1194, Dominic was ordained, and he joined the Benedictine order, the Regular Canons of St. Augustine, in the diocese of Osma, where he worked with great ardor toward his own sanctification and the salvation of others through his preaching. In 1201, he then became the superior of that order. Two years later, Fr. Dominic was chosen to accompany Bishop Diego de Ascebo of Osma on a trip to Denmark to help find a bride for the Crown Prince Ferdinand. The designated princess died before they could leave on this trip, so Bishop Diego and Fr. Dominic were available to travel freely. During their travels in France, Fr. Dominic encountered Albigensian heretics, and from this time onward, Fr. Dominic knew with certainty that what God required of him was an active life of teaching in the world. Later, Bishop Diego and Fr. Dominic went to Rome to ask leave of Pope Innocent III to preach the Gospel to the infidels in the East. Pope Innocent III would not grant them permission to travel to the east, but he gave them permission to go to southern France, the region of Languedoc, to convert heretics back to the true faith. Together Fr. Dominic and Bishop Diego and a group of Cistercian monks began their missionary journey to meet with heretics to encourage conversions. They advised these missionaries to give up their horses, retinues, and servants. In addition, they were instructed to use peaceful persuasion instead of threats in combating heresy. Their actual first meeting with the heretics took place in 1206. It was in this year on the feast day of St. Mary Magdalen that Fr. Dominic had a vision, which led him to also found a convent for nine nuns at Prouille, which likewise provided for the education of children. This eventually would become the first Dominican house, and Bishop Diego and Fr. Dominic established their headquarters there. In 1208, Fr. Dominic continued to preach, going wherever he was called seeking only the good of those who hated him. Despite the terrible civil war between the Christian princes led by Simon de Montfort and the Albigensian heretical forces led by the Count of Toulouse, Fr. Dominic declared, ”Arm yourself with prayer instead of a sword; be clothed with humility instead of fine raiment.” This was how Fr. Dominic planned to convert the Albigensian heretics. Then Fr. Dominic was inspired by a visitation from the Blessed Virgin Mary, who appeared to him with a beautiful wreath of roses. She spoke gently to Fr. Dominic, and she said that she knew that people’s eyes and ears were closed, and that their hearts were hardened. Likewise, she said that the only way to get through to them was with the Rosary. So it was that Fr. Dominic always carried a Rosary, and he encouraged the people that he preached to say the Rosary. Because of this, many people returned to God’s love. When in 1214 Fr. Dominic again gathered his preachers to convert the Albigensians, he was given approval for this group from the Archbishop of Toulouse, Archbishop Fulk. Together Bishop Fulk and Fr. Dominic traveled to the Council of the Lateran in Rome to receive provisional approval for his order. During the following year, Fr. Dominic drew up the constitution for his group based on the Rule of St. Augustine. This new order was called the Order of Preachers, the Dominicans, and it was approved by a decree from Pope Honorius III. His foundation has remained one of the great forces for good in the Catholic Church. Dominican friaries were established in Spain, France, England, and Italy. St. Dominic de Guzman died on August 6, 1221, in Bologna, Italy, and he was canonized in 1234 by Pope Gregory IX, who declared that the sanctity of St. Dominic was no more doubted than the sanctity of St. Peter or St. Paul. We revere St. Dominic to be the patron saint of preachers, falsely accused people, and astronomers.
OUR PRAYER: O GOD, YOU DESIGNED TO MAKE YOUR CHURCH ILLUSTRIOUS BY THE MERITS AND TEACHINGS OF ST. DOMINIC DE GUZMAN, YOUR CONFESSOR. GRANT THAT THROUGH HIS INTERCESSION, WE MIGHT NOT BE DEPRIVED OF TEMPORAL HELP, AND THAT WE MAY ALWAYS ADVANCE SPIRITUALLY. AMEN.

Yours in Christ,
Mrs. Joanne Giffard, CCD/Religious Education Coordinator          ccd@sjecarmichael.org