Saint Dominic

Saint Dominic
Saint Dominic, portrayed in the Perugia Altarpiece by Fra Angelico.
Founder
Born	August 8, 1170 Caleruega, Kingdom of Castile (present-day Castile-Leon, Spain)
Died	August 6, 1221 Bologna (present-day Emilia-Romagna, Italy)
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Church, Lutheranism
Canonized	1234
Major shrine	San Domenico, Bologna
Feast	August 8 August 4 (pre-1970 General Roman Calendar)
Attributes	Chaplet, dog, star, lilies, Dominican Habit, book and staff, tonsure
Patronage	Astronomers; astronomy; Dominican Republic; falsely accused people; Santo Domingo Pueblo, Valletta, Birgu (Malta), Managua

Anglican Church, Lutheranism

August 4 (pre-1970 General Roman Calendar)

Saint Dominic (Spanish: Santo Domingo), also known as Dominic of Osma and Dominic of Caleruega, often called Dominic de Guzmán and Domingo Félix de Guzmán (August 8, 1170 – August 6, 1221), was a Castilian priest and founder of the Dominican Order. Dominic is the patron saint of astronomers.

Dominic was born in Caleruega, halfway between Osma and Aranda de Duero in Old Castile, Spain. He was named after Saint Dominic of Silos, who is said to be the patron saint of hopeful mothers. The Benedictine abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos lies a few miles north of Caleruega.

In the earliest narrative source, by Jordan of Saxony, Dominic's parents are named Felix Guzman and Juanna of Aza. The story is told that before his birth his barren mother made a pilgrimage to the Abbey at Silos, and dreamed that a dog leapt from her womb carrying a torch in its mouth, and "seemed to set the earth on fire". This story drew resonance from the fact that his order became known, after his name, as the Dominican order, Dominicanus in Latin which a play on words interpreted as Domini canis: "Dog of the Lord." Jordan adds that Dominic was brought up by his parents and a maternal uncle who was an archbishop. The failure to name his parents is not unusual, since Jordan wrote a history of the Order's early years, rather than a biography of Dominic. A later source, still of the 13th century, also gives their names as Juana and Felix. Nearly a century after Dominic's birth, a local author asserted that Dominic's father was "vir venerabilis et dives in populo suo" ("an honoured and wealthy man in his village"). The travel narrative of Pero Tafur, written circa 1439 (about a pilgrimage to Dominic's tomb in Italy), states that Dominic's father belonged to the family de Guzmán, and that his mother belonged to the Aça or Aza family. Dominic's mother, Jane of Aza, was beatified by Pope Leo XII in 1828.