Dominic was born in eleventh century Spain to a poor family. He grew up doing the work of his father—shepherding—and he came to love the solitude and silence. He left the family and joined a monastery nearby, and grew in holiness and stature. He was eventually elected abbot.

He came into a dispute with the king, and was removed from the monastery. He traveled to a different monastery in another part of Spain, Silos, and was appointed abbot there. The monastery in Silos was in disrepair and its community life was in sad shape—Dominic restored the physical and spiritual foundations of life there and made it one of the most famous monasteries in Spain.

Miracles were attributed to Dominic in his work—it was said that there was not an illness that could not be cured through his intercession. There is even a story that has been passed down that a group of 300 Christians who were enslaved in north Africa were set free when they prayed in his name.

Dominic died in 1073. Nearly 100 years later he appeared to Blessed Joan of Aza, a woman who was making a pilgrimage to his shrine. In this vision, he promised Joan that she would have a son—soon after, she did, and named her son after the saint who appeared to her. This Dominic is famous for restoring the Church through the establishment of a religious order that continues today: the Order of Preachers.

St. Dominic of Silos is patron saint of prisoners, pregnant women, and shepherds.

St. Dominic of Silos, you appeared to the mother of the great St. Dominic to foretell her son’s birth, pray for us!

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Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Dominic of Silos is in the public domain. Last accessed November 1, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.