The holiness of Dominic, a light for the Order of Preachers

Dearest brothers and sisters, religious and lay members of the Order of Preachers.

On the 6th August 2021, we will celebrate the eight hundredth anniversary of Saint Dominic’s dies natalis, recounted by Humbert of Romans in these words: “He said to them: ‘Here, dearest brethren, is what I bequeath to you as sons, as to your rightful inheritance. Have charity, keep hold of humility, possess voluntary poverty. Oh Testament of peace…’ ”1 Brother Dominic then fell asleep in death, leaving this testament of peace to his brethren, making them heirs of what had been his life’s passion: to live with Christ, to learn the apostolic life from Him and to be configured to Christ through evangelical and apostolic life.

Such was the holiness of Dominic: a fervent desire for the Light of Christ to shine for all people, compassion for a suffering world called to be reborn to true life, zeal to serve a Church that would widen its tent to the dimensions of the world. In granting permission for his translation, Pope Gregory IX declared: “I knew him as a man who was loyal to the entire apostolic rule, and I am sure that, in heaven, he is joined in glory to the apostles.”2

The celebration of the Jubilee of the confirmation of the Order has given new and dynamic impulse to the whole Order’s commitment to the proclamation of the Gospel. With this letter, I invite you to draw from the source of holiness which fashioned Dominic as a preacher. St Catherine magnificently said of him that he took on himself “the office of My only-begotten Son, the Word. Rightly he appeared as an apostle in the world and sowed the seed of My Word with much truth and light, dissipating darkness and giving light.”