August 8th - feast of Saint Dominic

Happy feast of our holy father Saint Dominic to all readers of this blog.

Much is written and said of our founder - he is particularly well known for his attachment to truth, his quick grasp of situations, his maturity of reflection after long periods of prayer and for a firmness in his decisions. Above all it was Dominic's capacity for love of neighbour, which he never seperated from his love of the Church, that characterised his life.

One of the more authentic sources of the life of Saint Dominic is the Libellus by Jordan of Saxony who was the successor of Dominic as head of the Order. One of my favourite quotations from that source is about Saint Dominic and compassion:

He welcomed all people into the vast embrace of his charity and, since he loved the entire world, everyone loved him. He made it his own personal rule to be happy with those people who were happy and cry with those who were sad, overflowing with religious affection and devoting himself completely to taking care of his neighbour and sympathising with people in their misery (Libellus n. 107).

My prayer on this feast day is all Dominicans and those considering following in the footsteps of Saint Dominic will participate in that same compassion that Dominic had for the world - because he wanted his followers to go out and preach prompted by the sole urge to give to people in their moral, material and spiritual poverty the response that flows from God's heart.

Saint Dominic, pray for us!