Today is the feast day of St. Dominic de Guzman (1170-1221), a Spanish priest and founder of the Order of Preachers. In 1203, while traveling through southern France with Bishop Don Diego, Dominic encountered the Albigensian, or Cathar, heresy. The Cathars, who rejected worldly living, resisted the papal legates attempts to convert them, in part, due to the expensive manner which they travelled. Seeing this failure, Dominic developed a new model of preaching in which well-spoken missionaries, trained in theology and doctrine, traveled simply and by foot. In 1206 Dominic established a convent of nine converted Cathar women in Prouille, France. He founded the Order of Preachers in 1214 in Toulouse, France; it was formally approved by the papacy in 1216. He was canonized in 1234.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 15:00:00 +0000