Today is August 8, the Memorial of St. Dominic, Priest.
We read at today’s Mass, “Ask now of the days of old, before your time, ever since God created man upon the earth; ask from one end of the sky to the other: Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of? Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?” (Dt 4:32-33).
Today we celebrate St. Dominic, the founder of the Order of Preachers — my spiritual father and the father of generations of Dominicans. He was a man consumed by a single desire: to bring the light of truth to a world shrouded in error and doubt.
You might not know that St. Dominic is the patron saint of astronomers. That’s right — not astrologers (we’re not interested in horoscopes), but astronomers — those who gaze at the stars in search of meaning, order, and truth.
There are a few beautiful stories behind this title. One says that Dominic’s godmother saw a star descend upon his forehead at his baptism. Another tells of a vision he received while praying about whether to found a new religious order: Three nights in a row, beginning on the feast of St. Mary Magdalene, Dominic saw a bright light in the sky — a sign that confirmed his path forward.
Shining the light of Christ
But perhaps most fittingly, Dominic is linked to astronomers because he was, at his core, a seeker of truth. Like those who study the stars to understand the heavens, Dominic studied the faith, studied Scripture and studied the needs of the world in order to shine the light of Christ.
St. Catherine of Siena, a Dominican herself, recorded a profound meditation in “The Dialogue,” in which God the Father speaks of Dominic’s founding vision: “He ordered it most perfectly, wishing that his sons should apply themselves only to My honor and the salvation of souls, with the light of science, which light he laid as his principal foundation.”
That light is wisdom — the divine wisdom that orders all things sweetly, as the tradition says. The kind of wisdom that orients our thirst in our longing for truth, for beauty and for God himself.
St. Dominic’s whole life was marked by a relentless pursuit of that light — and a burning desire to share it with others. He sought to satisfy his own thirst for truth in God, and to help others do the same.
Let us pray,
May Saint Dominic come to the help of your Church by his merits and teaching, O Lord, and may he, who was an outstanding preacher of your truth, be a devoted intercessor on our behalf. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
