Journey to Sainthood Part II
By Bob Lord and Penny Lord
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Table of Contents : Journey to Sainthood Part II
Saint Dominic Watchdog of God
“I give you arms, with which throughout your life
you may fight against the devil.”
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton “He is more within us than we are ourselves.”
Saint Paschal Baylon Patron Saint of Eucharistic Conferences
Blessed Junipero Serra Apostle of California
Bob Lord
Bob and Penny Lord renowned Catholic Authors and hosts on EWTN. They are best known for their media on Miracles of the Eucharist and Many Faces of Mary. They have been dubbed experts on the Catholic Saints. They produced over 200 television programs for EWTN global television network and wrote over 25 books and hundreds of ebooks.
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Journey to Sainthood Part II - Bob Lord
Journey to Sainthood Part II
Bob and Penny Lord
Copyright 2011 Bob and Penny Lord
Published by Bob and Penny Lord at Smashwords
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Table of Contents : Journey to Sainthood Part II
Saint Dominic
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
Saint Paschal Baylon
Blessed Junipero Serra
Saint Dominic - Watchdog of God
"I give you arms, with which throughout your life
you may fight against the devil."
Arming a young man with the double-edge sword of which St. Paul spoke, St. Dominic intoned these words, as he vested him in the habit of the Friars Preachers. This would be Dominic’s will and testimony, the legacy he would leave, to all the young and courageous who would pick up his torch and lead the way to Jesus.
The birth of a Saint
Our story takes us to Spain, a Christian part of Spain recently freed from more than four hundred years of cruel domination. The small, sleepy village of Caleruega, resting unnoticed between the lofty cities of Burgos and Segovia, will bring the world a treasury of Saints. If we travel back in time, we can see turrets and ramparts majestically dominating the horizon, proudly announcing the nobility who dwell within. Today, all that is left of the grandeur of yesterday, is the tower of the Guzmán palace, where a Saint and two Blesseds lived and loved. Our story is about the Saint - Dominic. In 1170, he was born into the nobility of this world; he and his family predestined to be part of that nobility; but instead that nobility would produce souls who would spend their life journeying toward eternal life with the nobility in Heaven.
This area was reconquered in 1040 A.D. The entire country was reconquered after 700 years of domination.
Saints beget Saints, as we will see in our story of one of the greatest Defenders of the Faith, Mother Church has ever raised to the Heavenly Halls of Canonized Saints, Saint Dominic - Founder of the Order of Friar Preachers.
Dominic’s father was Felix Guzmán, commander of knights, the brave and loyal knights who were instrumental in recovering Spain for Christ. During the stormy, bloody days of her resurrection from slavery, he and his army protected the borders of Christian Spain, defending her against the fierce and determined hordes of Moors advancing on Castille, where his palace was located.
Dominic’s mother Juana of Aza was also of an old Castilian family, of the nobility like her husband. But this mother because of the life she led and the great influence she had on her children would be declared Blessed. She would raise a future Saint - Dominic, and a Blessed - her oldest son Mannes; historians conjecture they wouldn’t be surprised if her other son Anthony would also be raised to a Blessed, as he died caring for victims of the plague.
Before Dominic was born, his mother Juana had a prophetic vision of a dog carrying a lit torch in his mouth, igniting everything in his path, as he sped throughout the world. She was confused and troubled by the vision and went to pray at the Shrine of St. Dominic of Silos, after whom she later named her third son, Dominic. [This is how we often see images of St. Dominic - accompanied by a dog with a lit torch in his mouth.]
There was another prophecy foretelling the destiny of this special child. When his godparents held the baby Dominic over the font to be baptized, his godmother saw a brilliant star shining on his forehead. When later writing of St. Dominic, authors and historians often recount these two incidents, the one with the dog and the one with the star. Almost everyone who knew him testified that a certain splendor always radiated from his face, as if from a star.
God, with His Eyes on those He has chosen, placed our future Saint into a home filled with virtue and piety, his mother praying with her children, bringing them closer to God and His Will for them. It will not come as a shock, therefore, when her child Dominic chooses the path to holiness and sainthood. The only problem is that before Dominic was born, his two older brothers were already preparing for the priesthood. The estate and the father’s responsibilities passed to the only son left, Dominic!
[With many Latin families, Mama rules, with the key she holds to their hearts. Juana was declared Blessed for the part she played in bringing about the miracle that came to pass in this noble house. Destined to produce brave knights for Spain, instead the House of Guzmán brought forth loyal knights to serve God in His royal Priesthood.]
What did Juana do? Knowing in her heart that this child, too, belonged to God, she sent Dominic at age seven, to her brother, who just happened to be a priest! Dominic studied under his uncle, learned how to serve as an altar boy, was made proficient in Latin and learned the tenets of our Faith. That might have been where it ended and Dominic would have grown into a very holy knight, in the world. But again God, the Master Chess-Player, has set His pieces in place strategically! Gumiel d’Izan, where Dominic was staying, was on the way to Santiago de Compostela. Pilgrims, on the way to the Shrine, to plead with Santiago (St. James) to intercede with God for deliverance from the Moors, always stopped in Gumiel d’Izan to rest. They recounted the torture and atrocities inflicted on those who dared practice their Catholic Faith, adding they were personally exposed to the Moors’ conquer through terror
technique that was being carried out even in Christian Spain.
We never know what our children are taking to heart; was this when the seed was planted in Dominic’s heart to go and preach to the millions of pagans who did not know Jesus and the Church He founded? At age fourteen, Dominic left for Palencia to broaden his studies. We know little of those days, except it has been told that when Dominic encountered refugees who were starving and had no shelter, he sold all his books and gave them the money. Now, possibly today that might not mean much, but in those days, before the printing press, all books were copied by hand; so Dominic had no books to study and little or no opportunity to have them replaced. But when questioned he replied, How can I study from dead skins when living men are starving?
As his Lord before him, Dominic had an urgency about him - too much to do with too little time to do it. This and his thirst for knowledge, he would pass on to future preachers who would follow. He was charismatic and filled with compassion for those starving not only from lack of food but the Word of God. This passion for God and His children would draw many young men and women to him in the days ahead. His life, filled with days and nights of peaceful but exciting pursuits of holiness, was to come to full fruition, the day Dominic was ordained to the priesthood in around 1195.
Now 25 years old, Dominic realized his walk was not as a secular priest but as a religious. At that time, Dominic’s bishop Martin Bazan voiced a desire to bring about reform; he wanted the canons of his cathedral to live a shared life as religious, as part of a community. He and the new prior of the canons, Don Diego de Asevedo, had heard of Dominic’s piety and wisdom, and his desire to be a religious. Their hope was that he could convince these self-absorbed, strong-willed clerics into coming together and join the Canons Regular; they summoned Dominic! So after he was ordained a priest, Dominic was vested in the habit of the Canons Regular of Osma, made his profession to that Order, and for the next nine years faithfully followed the Rule of St. Augustine. One of his companions said of him, at this time,
Now it was that he began to appear among his brethren like a bright burning torch, the first in holiness, the last in humility, spreading about him an odor of life which gave life, and a perfume like the sweetness of summer days. Day and night he was in the church praying without ceasing. God gave him the Grace to weep for sinners and for the afflicted; he bore their sorrows in an inner sanctuary of compassion which pressed on his heart, flowed out and escaped in tears. It was his custom to spend his nights in prayer and to speak to God behind closed doors.
Dominic consecrated himself, dedicating his life to the salvation of souls for Christ. He was happy! He thought this was where God had placed him, but that was to come to an end, when Don Diego, now Bishop of Osma, chose him to accompany him on a mission to Denmark, which would be the first leg of a long journey of suffering, pain and torment. meaning he is always last to receive or taking the last place
As they traveled through southern France, Dominic’s heart felt like it would bleed to death, as he encountered the enormous suffering brought about by a new threat against the Church and her children - the Albigensian Heresy. The churches were empty; the bells no longer tolled; Sunday you could see people working in the fields. There was a funereal spirit over the villages, as if God Himself was moaning over the death of His children’s souls. They were like men, women and children walking in their sleep through a dark cloud shutting out all sun.
Tired and downcast, Dominic and the bishop stopped at an inn in Toulouse, only to discover that the innkeeper was a heretic. Dominic could not go peacefully to sleep, while there was the danger that a soul could be lost. He talked to the man throughout the night,