Even before his birth Dominic de Guzman was blessed, in that his mother experienced a 'dream' in which she saw the form of a dog with a burning torch in its mouth which signified the fire of God's Truth, this 'dog' then came from her womb. Later Joan conceived a son and named him Dominic upon his birth his devout mother noticed a sign of the moon or a star on his little forehead.
Dominic was blessed to have been born into a holy and devout family who lived to serve God and live their daily lives based on fulfilling God's Will. The family were blessed to have Priests, Religious and very holy familial connections to their beloved Church, many of whom would become Saints!
Dominic upon receiving good and solid catholic instructions then answered the call to become a Priest in 1195. And as Father Dominic attended to his flock he also spent many hours in prayer and practiced penances on behalf of sinners.
But it was a cold night in July 1206 in the town of Prouille that Dominic would be the recipient of a vision that would inspire the world and bring many Graces from God. It was here that Dominic saw what seemed to be a globe of light which came from the sky above, this happened for the next two consecutive nights. Dominic was amazed and awestruck at such a sight and also humbled when he recognised our Lady who upon hearing his prayer came to help him, for Dominic was in dismay at the heresies he had heard preached. But our Lady soothed Dominic with these words, 'Wonder not that you have obtained so little fruit by your labors, you have spent them on barren soil, not yet watered with the dew of Divine grace. When God willed to renew the face of the earth, He began by sending down on it the fertilizing rain of the Angelic Salutation. Therefore preach my Psalter composed of 150 Angelic Salutations and 15 Our Fathers, and you will obtain an abundant harvest.' Our Lady then gave to Dominic the Holy Rosary to be prayed for the salvation of sinners and the edification of the faithful as she told him, "One day through the Rosary and the Scapular I will save the world".
Dominic stared at our Lady in wonderment of her beauty and the peace which enveloped her and suffused within him a spirit of tranquility. The words of our Lady strengthened Dominic's resolve and he returned to confront the pervading heresies, which were running rampant at that time. Dominic preached about the Mysteries of God including the Incarnation, Redemption and Eternal life, Dominic spoke with such holy conviction that many listened to him as he taught a new way to pray. For Dominic had been instructed by our Lady to make clear to the faithful what is pleasing to God, and what brings the sinner closer to God is only achieved through prayer. Dominic continued instructing the people by dividing the mysteries into different formats and included praying ten Hail Mary's after each Mystery. This different way of prayer would become known as praying the Holy Rosary, this form of prayer was to bring all peoples back to God as the heresies were thrown away and burnt when people began embracing and praying the Rosary.
Upon the people accepting this new form of prayer, Dominic went on to found a new Order 'The Confraternity of the Rosary' which began approximately around the year 1216 or 1218. For Dominic remembered our Lady's words, "I have obtained from my Son that all the members of the Confraternity have in life and in death all the Blessed as their associates."
But Dominic was to be the recipient of other Divine visions when seeing Saint Peter and Saint Paul who upon giving him a Staff and a book said to him, "Go and preach, because you have been chosen by God for this work".
Dominic through his great love of the Church and of his obvious piety and holiness proved worthy of these visions as the Rosary is still prayed with great Reverence to this very day.
But let us be mindful of our Lady's words when praying the Rosary, that we also do not waste our time on barren soil but to pray the Rosary with our hearts and not merely 'say it'.
I would encourage all to read more on the Holy Rosary.
Peace of Christ to ALL
Copyright © 2006 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.