Today, the Church celebrates St. Dominic, patron saint of astronomers!
Dominic was born in Spain of a wealthy family. Some years after his ordination, the bishop took Dominic with him on a visit to southern France, which was ravaged by the Albigensian heresy, a doctrine which was not only entirely unchristian, but which, in addition, constituted a social evil. Many people were leaving the church to follow this false teaching. Dominic decided to remain in France and devote his life to preaching and to leading people back to the Faith.
He went to Rome and told the Pope that he wanted to establish a religious order whose duties would be preaching and teaching. The new order was called the Order of Preachers, or the Dominicans, and was founded on these two characteristics; instead of manual labor, as practiced by the Cistercian monks, he required his friars to work with their minds by preaching and teaching.
Once when Dominic became discouraged with the slow progress of his work, Our Lady appeared to him with a beautiful wreath of roses. She asked him to say the rosary every day and to teach the people to say the rosary. Soon the heresy began to disappear.
Dominic died at Bologna on August 6, 1221. His friend, Gregory IX, canonized him three years later.
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