O God, Who hast enlightened Thy Church by the eminent virtues and preaching of Saint Dominic, Thy confessor and our father: mercifully grant that by his prayers we may be provided against all temporal necessities, and daily improve in all spiritual good. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Thou who, hero-like, hast striven
 For the cause of God and heaven!
 Dominic, whose life was given
 Sinners to recall.
 Saint of high and dauntless spirit,
 By thy vast unmeasured merit,
 By thy name which we inherit,
 Hear us when we call.

Flower of chastity, the fairest
 Of her lily buds thou bearest,
 Snow-white as the robe thou wearest,
 Gift from hands divine.
 With thy brow of starry splendour,
 With thine eyes so mild and tender,
 Mary's client--truth's defender,
 To our prayers incline.

Great Apostle, ever claiming
 Souls for Jesus--by the naming
 Mary and her Son proclaiming
 Mysteries of faith;
 Still, O Dominic, the preaching
 Of those childlike beads is reaching
 Childlike hearts all sweetly teaching
 Christ's own life and death.

With those Aves, first and plainest
 Of the Church's prayers, thou rainest
 Blessings on the earth and gainest
 Souls whom Jesus made.
 Loving Father I at thy station
 Of seraphic contemplation,
 In each hour of dark temptation,
 Give thy saving aid.

O glorious Saint Dominic, thou who wast a model of mortification and purity, by punishing thy innocent body with scourges, with fastings and with watchings, and by keeping inviolate the lily of thy virginity, obtain for us the grace to practice penance with a generous heart and to keep unspotted the purity of our bodies and our hearts.

O great Saint, who, inflamed with divine love, didst find thy delight in prayer and intimate union with God; obtain for us to be faithful in our daily prayers, to love our Lord ardently, and to observe His commandments with ever increasing fidelity.

O glorious Saint Dominic, who, being filled with zeal for the salvation of souls, didst preach the Gospel in season and out of season and didst establish the Order of Friars Preachers to labor for the conversion of heretics and poor sinners, pray thou to God for us, that He may grant us to love all our brethren sincerely and to cooperate always, by our prayers and good works, in their sanctification and eternal salvation.

My Lord Jesus Christ, who didst found Thy Church with Thy Most Precious Blood and, by the preaching of the Apostles, didst establish it, propagate it and extend it throughout the whole world; and after them didst send the holy Patriarch Dominic to adorn it, enlighten it and defend it by the splendor of his merits and doctrine; vouchsafe to hear the prayers incessantly offered by that apostolic man for the increase of the spiritual goods and the temporal welfare of the same Thy Church.

Most merciful Redeemer, who didst choose Saint Dominic to labor with Thee in the saving of souls, and he, by his zeal and Thy grace, won over to the Church so many heretics who were separated from her, and so many sinners who had grieved her by their evil lives; O my God, do thou send new laborers always into Thy vineyard to work for Thy glory and to gather in the fruits of everlasting life.

O good Jesus, who didst delight to see Saint Dominic kneeling every night before Thine altar, adoring Thee hidden in the Blessed Sacrament with lively faith and offering in turn groans, prayers and penances in behalf of the Church, at that time persecuted by her enemies and profaned by her own children; defend this Thy Spouse through the intercession of Saint Dominic from the insults and the plots of the infernal enemy of mankind.

Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we who are weighed down by the burden of our sins, may be raised up by the patronage of blessed Dominic Thy Confessor. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

St. Dominic, the glorious patriarch and founder of the famous Order of the Friars Preachers, was born in Spain of illustrious and pious parents. His mother, before his birth, had a vision in her sleep, in which it seemed to her that she was bearing a little dog, which carried in its mouth a burning torch that illuminated the whole world. At the time of his baptism, a noble matron saw a bright star on the brow of Dominic. By this God probably intended to foreshadow the future labors of St. Dominic and their effect; how, by his sermons, he would drive away the heretics--those veritable wolves in the Christian fold-- and how while he illumined the whole world with his teaching and virtues, he would at the same time inflame it with love of God.

Dominic evinced, in his earliest youth, a love of virtue quite unusual for his age. He would rise in the middle of the night to pray; he was extremely moderate in eating and drinking, and modest in all his ways. He detested all worldly amusements, avoided all questionable society, was compassionate towards the poor, and sought all his pleasure in prayer, in visiting the churches and in study. He acquired knowledge suitable for his station in life, was sent to the most renowned Universities, where he never departed, in the least, from his pious course. He preserved his innocence and purity unspotted till his death, and the means which he employed to do this were, avoidance of idleness, and of intercourse with the other sex; temperance in eating and drinking.

After having finished his studies with great honor, James Azebedo, bishop of Osma, received him into the number of the regular canons. When thirty years of age, he began to preach, and continued for two years, with great success. After this he accompanied the bishop to France, which was, at that period, greatly disturbed by the heresy of the Albigenses. When they arrived at their destination they took lodgings in a house where the people were tainted with the heresy; but Dominic soon convinced them of their error and they returned to the true faith. They were the first of the heretics converted, and Dominic consecrated the first fruits of his labors, in profound gratitude, to the Almighty, feeling within himself a daily increasing desire to devote himself entirely to the extermination of this new heresy. Obeying the admonition of the Divine Voice that spoke to his heart, he asked of the Pope the necessary permission and prepared himself with a few other zealous priests, by prayers, fasts and other penances, for so great a work.

After this, taking a staff in his hand, in imitation of the holy Apostles, he wandered barefooted through all the cities and villages where the Albigenses had sown the seed of their heresy, preached with great zeal the truths of the Catholic faith and refuted the errors of the heresy, without allowing himself to be in the least disturbed by the ravings of the enemies of the church. Authentic historians say that he converted more than 100,000 heretics to the truth faith. The gift of miracles which God bestowed upon His unwearied apostle to confirm his words, added much to his influence. The Albigenses had written a book filled with heretical doctrines, which they gave the Catholics to read. St. Dominic refuted this by another book, and to convince the people that his was the true one, he threw both into the fire, in the presence of a crowd of heretics and faithful. The heretical book was instantly seized by the flames and consumed, while the book written by the Saint remained intact, raised itself up, fluttered a little while in the air, and then lighted upon a beam to the utter amazement of the spectators. This miracle was repeated a second and a third time, and not only strengthened the faith of the Catholics, but confounded the heretics. At another time, when the celebrated Count Montfort, with a small force of Catholics numbering 1800 men, attacked a large army of Albigenses, St. Dominic by floods of tears, obtained from God so signal a victory for the Catholics, that 20,000 of the enemy remained upon the field of battle, others were driven into the river and drowned and the rest were routed.

It is also related that this holy man relieved many who were possessed, cured many who were sick, and raised the dead to life. These and similar miracles could not fail to obtain for the Saint the veneration of men, and they were the means of converting many heretics. To preserve these in the true faith and to bring others to the knowledge of the truth, he resolved to found an order, the principal aim of which would be to preach the Gospel, to lead sinners to repentance, confirm Catholics in their faith, and convert the heretics. Pope Innocent III. at first refused to give his consent to this plan; but, one night, he dreamed that the walls of the Lateran church appeared to fall, but were supported by St. Dominic, and saved from the impending destruction; he concluded from this that St. Dominic had been elected by God to be the pillar of His church, and no longer withheld his consent to the founding of the new order. Pope Honorius III. who followed Pope Innocent, confirmed the order, to the great comfort of the Saint. It may, in truth, be said that by means of this order, the destruction which menaced the whole world through the heretics and false teachers, was averted.

One night, when St. Dominic prayed in the church of St. Peter, he saw Christ sitting on a throne in the clouds, surrounded by indescribable splendor. He held three spears in his hand to punish the world with three chastisements, famine, war and pestilence, because of the iniquity of the people. Not one of the Saints dared to oppose the anger of God with prayers. At last, the Blessed Virgin herself came to His feet, and humbly asked mercy for those whom He had redeemed with His precious blood. She assured Him that St. Dominic and St. Francis, who was then in Rome, to obtain the approval of his order, and their brethen, would do all in their power to move the sinful world to repentance and reformation. The prayers of His Blessed Mother appeased Christ, and He approved of the intentions of the two holy men. This vision was not only a great comfort to St. Dominic, but an incentive to use all his endeavors to reach the end he had proposed to himself.

For many years he strove, with incomparable zeal, to accomplish his design, when it pleased the Almighty to call him to receive the reward of his unwearied labors. He received the announcement of his death from Our Lord Himself, Who appeared to him during his prayers and said: "Come, come to enjoy true happiness." After this, he fell ill, and having made his confession, he so fervently and devoutly received the Blessed Sacrament, that he drew tears from the eyes of all who were near him. Before his end, he exhorted his disciples to obedience, poverty, chastity, and brotherly love. He further commanded them to work zealously for the salvation of souls, to trust unwaveringly in God, to love their heavenly Father above all things, to avoid idle discourses, to speak only with or of God. At last he requested them to read aloud for him the usual prayers for the departing soul. When they came to the words: "Come to his assistance, ye Saints of God, come forth to meet him, ye Angels of the Lord, receiving his soul, offer it to the Most High," he calmly closed his eyes and gave up his soul, filled with so many merits, into the hand of God, in the year 1221, the 50th of his age.

He left to posterity, not only the holy Order which he founded, but the most noble example of virtue. His heart was filled with the love of God; hence he endeavored most assiduously to prevent others from offending the Divine Majesty and to move sinners to repentance. Frequently he passed the whole night in prayer and in chastising his body, offering it to God for the conversion of sinners, saying that he would willingly give every drop of his blood, if by it he were able to prevent a single sin, or to convert a sinner. It was his wish to suffer and to give his life for the love of Christ. Humility made him three times refuse a bishopric. He desired nothing but to work for the salvation of souls, to suffer and be despised. Towards himself he was extremely severe; he constantly wore a rough hair-shirt, fastened around the loins with an iron chain, drawn so tightly, that it cut into the flesh. The steps of the altar or the bare boards were his bed. He scourged himself three times each night, first for his own sins; secondly for the sins of other men; and thirdly, for the souls in purgatory. His life was, besides, a continual fast. He never tasted meat. To live on alms and to aid the poor was all he desired. While he was still a student, he sold his books and clothes more than once, and gave the money to the poor. To a widow who asked him for alms to release her son from captivity, he offered himself as ransom, so that her son might return to her.

Many other splendid examples of admirable virtues must be omitted here, for want of space; but the great devotion he always entertained for the Queen of Heaven must be mentioned. This devotion arose from his great love for her. He began nothing without invoking her assistance with filial confidence, and he disseminated veneration for her by the use of the Rosary, which the Almighty deigned to confirm by many miracles. He advised Blanche, the pious Queen of France, who had no issue, to have recourse to the Divine Mother, and to say the rosary devoutly in her honor. Blanche followed his advice and in the course of time, gave birth to Louis, the holy and celebrated Catholic king. To the devout use of the rosary is also ascribed the above-mentioned victory of Montfort over the Albigenses; for, the Catholic soldiers, at the instance of St. Dominic, wore the rosary around their necks, and thus under the protection of the Blessed Virgin, attacked and defeated the enemy. How many miracles the Almighty performed after St. Dominic's death, at his intercession, is to be found in the books of those authors who have written his life more minutely.

The life of St. Dominic is filled with examples of the most perfect virtues, of which we can, however, now only select a few for practical consideration.

 I. First, three means were used by this holy man to preserve his innocence and purity among many dangers; and these were: Avoidance of idleness, of intercourse with the other sex, and temperance in eating and drinking. If he had abandoned himself to idleness, entertained much unnecessary communication with the other sex, and had been less temperate in his meals, his purity would soon have been endangered and perhaps lost. If you would be pious and chaste, let me recommend these three means; for Holy Writ, as well as experience, teaches us that persons who do not occupy themselves with work suitable to their station in life, who, without necessity have much intercourse with the opposite sex, or who are not temperate in eating and drinking, do not long remain pious, innocent and chaste. Such persons fall easily into temptation and yield to it, because they give themselves the opportunity; while others either suffer no temptations at all or overcome them easily, as they are strengthened by the Almighty for the combat; for, it is a well known proverb, that "God helps those who help themselves." But how can he, who does not endeavor to help himself, but rather does the contrary, expect particular graces from the Almighty?

 II. St. Dominic gave his whole life to the service of God and to the practice of good works and the salvation of souls. He used all his abilities to reform sinners, convert heretics and thus open Heaven to all. Through his love for God, he endeavored to prevent all offenses against His Majesty. It is not surprising then that Christ invited him to come and partake of eternal joys. How do you pass your life? In whose service? For what are your solicitations? Were you ever the means of bringing a sinner to repentance or a heretic to the true faith? Have you ever endeavored to lead a single soul upon the road of everlasting life? Have you ever prevented one single sin, which it was so easy to do, and which perhaps, in your office or occupation, it was your duty to do? Try henceforth to do it, and if you can do nothing else, pray at least for the conversion of sinners and heretics, and offer your good deeds to the Almighty for this end. Prevent offenses to God when you are able. Let love for your Creator inspire you to do this. "If you love Jesus with your whole heart, how can you be silent when He is offended in your presence?" says St. Bernard. "How can you say that you love God, when you despise His laws?" "Who can say: 'I love the emperor, but his laws I do not esteem?'" asks St. Ambrose.

 III. St. Dominic, desiring to further the devotion to the Blessed Virgin, instituted the use of the rosary, and God has confirmed it by many miracles. There are in our time, many families, who either daily or on Sundays and holidays, say the rosary. Many Catholics, the laity as well as the clergy, daily do the same. Only heretics and Catholics who are no honor to the church, are ashamed to be seen with the rosary in their hands. May you not be among their number! It is well known that, to evince their love to their Saviour and His Blessed Mother, many Saints, at the hour of their death, would have a crucifix and a rosary in their hands. If you desire to die happily, as they did, follow also, their example during life, that you may have the right to say: "O Lord, I am thy servant, I am thy servant and the son of thy handmaid," (Psalm lxv.), that is, the son of her who, though chosen to be the mother of the Most High, still called herself His handmaid: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord." (Luke, ii.)

It is well known, that the devotion of the most holy rosary was revealed to Saint Dominic, by the Divine Mother herself, at a time when the Saint was in affliction, and bewailing, with his Sovereign Lady, over the Albigensian heretics, who were at that time doing great mischief to the Church. The Blessed Virgin said to him: "This land will always be sterile until rain falls on it." Saint Dominic was then given to understand, that this rain was the devotion of the rosary, which he was to propagate. This the Saint indeed did, and it was embraced by all Catholics; so much so, that even to the present day, there is no devotion so generally practised by the faithful of all classes as that of the rosary. What is there that modern heretics, Calvin, Bucur, and others, have not said to throw discredit on the use of beads? But the immense good which this noble devotion has done to the world is well known. How many, by its means, have been delivered from sin ! how many led to a holy life! how many to a good death, and are now saved! To be convinced of this, we need only read the many books which treat on the subject. Suffice it to know, that this devotion has been approved of by the Church, and that the Sovereign Pontiffs have enriched it with indulgences.

Our divine Saviour foretold to His Apostles that they and their followers should be hated by all men for His name's sake; that they were to meet with persecution because they were not of the world, as He was not of the world. But the Church was soon to discover that her enemies were not always to be of the same character, nor were they to wage war against her with the same weapons. Extraordinary trials were to be encountered at intervals, which were to be a test of the constancy, not only of her ordinary children, but also of the elect. She also learned that He Who permitted these trials provided also a remedy, as her history in all ages amply testifies. An Arius was to have his Athanasius, an Abelard his Bernard, a Luther his Ignatius, and so of her other enemies. But we are now concerned with the Albigenses, who rose in the southeast of France in the eleventh century, and devastated the Church at the same time that they defied the civil power. But no sooner was His flock threatened than the Good Shepherd came to its relief.

The religious power to suppress the outbreak of these heretics, St. Dominic, entered the field against them with that burning zeal with which only a saint can be animated for the conversion of sinners. He employed his sanctity and eloquence in endeavoring to stem the tide of evil that had been set in motion by the Albigenses ; but his efforts, though heroic, were of comparatively little avail. At length he ventured to complain to the holy Mother of God, for whom he entertained the tenderest devotion, and to ask her to instruct him in the way he could labor most successfully for the conversion of those misguided souls for whom her divine Son had laid down His life. His prayer was acceptable, and Mary revealed to him the devotion of the holy Rosary. He was told to give his time more to the propagation of this devotion than to preaching, and greater success would attend his efforts. This revelation took place about the year 1206, but the precise date cannot be ascertained.

From the beginning the devotion of the holy Rosary became very popular with the faithful, and pontiffs and prelates were loud in its praises. And first we have the words of the ever blessed Mother of God to St. Dominic: "Preach the Rosary, which is a shield against the shafts of the enemy, the rampart of the Church of God, and the Book of Life. Exhort everyone to be devout to the Rosary, and thou shalt produce wonderful fruit in souls." Says Pope Leo X.: "The Rosary has been established against the dangers which threaten the world." St. Pius V.: "By the Rosary the darkness of heresy has been dispelled, and the light of the Catholic faith shines out in all its brilliancy." Clement VII.: "The devotion of the Rosary is the salvation of Christians." Adriain VI.: "The Rosary scourges the devil." Sixtus V.: "The Rosary has been established by St. Dominic, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, for the utility of the Catholic religion." Gregory XVI.: "The Rosary is a wonderful instrument for the destruction of sin, the recovery of God's grace, and the advance of His glory."