St. Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers
(Dominicans), sometimes gets a bad rap as a severe, overly intellectual
character, in contrast to his “more approachable” contemporary, Francis of
Assisi. They’ve got it wrong about poor Dominic. Down to earth and a realist,
Dominic was much loved (as well as respected) by the early followers who knew
him personally. He read the signs of the times. Asked whether he wasn’t taking
a great risk by sending those nice young men in their spiffy habits out into
the highways and byways—wouldn’t some of them fall by the wayside?—he replied, “That’s
the chance we have to take.” Among those who make up his legacy are a number of
noted poets (Thomas Aquinas, who “did” some of his most memorable theology in
liturgical verse), mystics (Catherine of Siena, a feisty lady who wasn’t afraid
to tell Popes they were wrong), artists (Renaissance painter Fra Angelico), and
writers on spirituality from medieval to modern times.
Any well-known saint becomes the subject of his or her
share of pious hagiographies, and St. Dominic is no exception. Until now the
last serious biography of Dominic, by the eminent English spiritual writer Bede
Jarrett, OP, was published in 1924. Now, published by Paulist Press, comes St. Dominic: The Story of a Preaching Friar by veteran Dominican
author and teacher Donald Goergen, OP. Neither a “pop” hagiography nor a
heavily footnoted academic tome, Fr. Goergen’s book is the fruit of a long-standing,
loving relationship between the modern-day friar and his medieval Master. This
isn’t an author who knows about his
subject, but an author who knows his
subject. As its subtitle suggests, the book emphasizes the holy work of the
Preaching, the spreading of the gospel wherever the Good News needed to be
heard. Goergen includes the story of the fateful encounter with a Cathar
innkeeper that ignited Dominic’s passion for preaching.
Preaching, for a Dominican, isn’t confined to
sermons. Dominicans preach through whatever work each one is called to do: thus
the examples of poets, mystics, artists, and spiritual writers mentioned above.
This is the Order founded by Dominic—not an Order of dry intellectuals but one
of men and women, down to earth like their Founder, who use their gifts and
earthly things to fulfill their calling to spread God’s word. Such is Dominic’s
legacy. Donald Goergen’s St. Dominic
is a saint biography that everyone can enjoy.
