Dominic 			August 8
Priest
Dominic was the founder of the Order of Preachers, commonly known as the Dominicans (or Black Friars). Dominic Guzman was born in Castile, Spain, about 1170. We know little of his early life, but he was educated by an uncle and later went to Palencia. Something of his zeal already emerges in his actions in 1191 when during a famine he sold his books and other possessions to help the poor. In 1199 he became a canon of the cathedral of Osma, his native diocese. The bishop expected his canons to follow a disciplined life-style of prayer and penance. They used the rule of St Augustine. In 1201 Dominic became sub-prior of the community.
Church life in Spain was strong and united in the face of a significant Moslem presence. The bishop of Osma journeyed to Rome to seek papal approval to go and preach in Russia. He took Dominic with him. On their way through France they found a church quite different from anything they knew in Spain. They found a church that was complacent, wealthy and very corrupt. 
Ordinary people had great sympathy with the broadly ascetic ideal sweeping Europe at the time. The asceticism ranged from the pursuit of poverty as a holy ideal and with a completely orthodox theology, as seen in Francis of Assisi, to the other-worldly asceticism of the gnostic and heretical movements of the Cathars and the Albigensians, who were strong in southern France. The simple and even austere lives of the Albigensians rested on a gnostic rejection of the physical world. Alongside the Albigensians were the Waldensians, who were not gnostics, but nevertheless increasingly opposed the church, especially the affluence of the clergy. Dominic was captivated by the prospect of restoring these heretics to the church. In 1208 official opposition to the Albigensians turned into a vicious crusade, following the murder of a papal legate. What began as theological opposition erupted into a war of conquest and the pursuit of political power. 
Dominic was eager to preach to the Albigensians and the Waldensians, but declined to have anything to do with a repressive and bloody crusade. He worked from two principles: conversion by persuasive preaching and dialogue, and, taking to heart the example of his opponents, a gospel simplicity of life-style. His first act during the war was to set up a convent of women at Prouille as an example of true Christian community. Then he decided to found an order of preachers. He sought papal approval for his order from Innocent III, and eventually received it from Innocent’s successor, Honorius III, in 1216. Dominic spent the next five years establishing friaries and organising the order. So committed was he to his vision that three times he declined invitations to become a bishop. By 1220 the order had spread over much of Europe, and the first general chapter was held at Bologna. It was here that Dominic died in 1221, having fallen ill after setting out to preach in Hungary.
As a basis for the rule of the order, Dominic used the rule of St Augustine, since it offered him the flexibility to develop the distinctive character of his order. The Order of Preachers differed from the older monastic orders in that it was established in the growing cities, especially the university centres. It differed also from the other great new religious order of the day, the Franciscans, by its strong emphases on study as a pre-requisite for good preaching and on poverty as necessary for a life devoted entirely to preaching. This perhaps was Dominic’s most important legacy: the establishment of an order dedicated to serious theological study and the communication of the gospel through sound teaching.
For Liturgical Use
Dominic was born in Spain about 1170. He had great sympathy for those critical of the wealth and corruption of the church in Europe at the time. He felt called to preach to those who wanted to abandon the church for the popular but heretical ascetic sects such as the Albigensians and Waldensians. He formed the Order of Preachers, now called the Dominicans, as a group committed to serious study and poverty as necessary tools for the proper preaching of the gospel. He died at Bologna in 1221.
Sentence
Your hands have made me and shaped me, O Lord; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.	Psalm 119:73
Collects
Everloving God,
by your gifts Dominic exercised
a ministry of preaching and teaching
and established an order to proclaim your gospel;
inspire us by your Holy Spirit,
that we may love your truth
and proclaim your gospel in everything we do;
through Jesus Christ our Redeemer.

Blessed are you, Holy Spirit,
in the Black Friars;
blessed are you in Dominic
and his message
that persuasion wins more than persecution.
Psalms	25:1-9	119:129-136
Readings
Isaiah 12		Proclaim God’s name
1 Corinthians 1:18-25	We preach Christ crucified
Matthew 10:5-13		Preach as you go
Post Communion Sentence
We do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake.		2 Corinthians 4:5