Happy Feast Day- St Dominic

FEAST DAY OF ST DOMINIC

St Dominic.

Many of us have our favourite saint.  My favourite saint is St Dominic, who has a very special place in my heart. His feast day is today- 3 August in Australia, whilst the universal church celebrates it on 8th August. You might wonder why his feast day is different from the universal church. Mary McKillop's feast day falls on the 8th August in Australia.

This year I have the pleasure of celebrating the feast interstate- not just a short holiday but to celebrate the ordination to priesthood of one of the Dominican friars. I am in a Dominican parish so it is always my greatest delight to see the young friars reach ordination. This year is extra special because the ordination is on the Feast of St Dominic- how beautiful is that.

St Dominic for me is ‘’my man in heaven’’- that trusted friend whom I can share the ups and downs of life- when I am elated with joy, when I am feeling average or even a little blue, when I need a park, don’t know what to do about something I can ‘’talk it over with him’’.  He is definitely my friend in heaven.

Obviously, He does not and would not want to replace my relationship with God. Obviously, that would be totally out of whack.  However my friendship with him started when I was 6 when I had given up praying to St Martin de Porres (another Dominican saint) who had the gift of bi location.  I thought in my childish way how wonderful it would be if I could be at home and at school at the same time and how efficient time wise that would be.  I spent my whole prep year praying to him. Alas  the gift of bi location was not given and still hasn’t. So I gave up praying to St Martin and I discovered St Dominic. What a find that has been. Because He has been and still is a friend for life.

So when it comes to books about St Dominic, I have to say that I am always keen to have a read.  I never tire of learning and discovering more about my favourite saint.

The authoress Catherine Beebe has presented the life of St Dominic in the popular Vision Books series of saints.  The key story about this wonderful saint which is often told in Dominican parishes is that Dominic as a young priest sat all night at a wooden table in a village tavern, and preached the truths of the Church to an embittered inn-keeper. The next day, the inn-keeper was converted and St Dominic joyfully received him into the Faith.
Of course, it is important to understand the times that St Dominic lived and worked since heresies were rife. It is in this context that St Dominic was able to bring the Church to the people and preach the truths of the Church

This charming paperback book of 161 pages is a delightful read, not only to those who may be unaware of the life of St Dominic and wish to glean a picture of his life, but also to those like myself who are familiar with the story of his life. I always enjoy reading something more about my favourite saint, and this book certainly energizes not only my novena to St Dominic but appreciating him more each year.   There are other charming books to read as well which I have read and nurtured my faith.

St Dominic is also strongly connected with the Rosary. Tradition tells us that our Blessed Mother Mary, presented St Dominic with the Rosary, and since that time, the Rosary has been part of the Dominican way of life.  In my parish church, the stain glass window depicts magnificently St Dominic receiving the rosary from Our Lady.

In many ways, St Dominic is just as relevant today when so much of truth is watered down or ignored. Truth now in secular society is one of relativism – tell the truth if it suits us and is convenient to my needs/goals.

‘’Veritas or Truth’’ in all its fullness is the motto of the Dominican Order. Its mission is to Praise, To bless and to preach’’.  This too is our mission in the Church and through being strong in our faith with a strong foundation of correct understanding, we can be in the position to help others who are struggling, feel confused, know that there is a better way and do not know how to find it.

St Dominic is my go to Saint-  I feel sure that you would have your favorite saint too. Often there is a kindred spirit between our favourite saint- something that attracts us, something that connects at a deep spiritual level, something that we admire about the saint and we wish we had ourselves.

Ponder your favourite Saint and may He/She continue to nurture your faith journey.  After all the Saints were human too in their life time- they know the struggles and overcame them. We too with their help can too and hopefully enjoy seeing Jesus face to face and be with them too for ever.

May we all continue to grow in our faith and like St Dominic teach the truths of the Church by the way we live and act.

Happy Feast day to all of my readers and listeners