St. Dominic (about 1170–1221), a Spanish priest who founded the Order of Preachers, the Dominicans, spent his life preaching the Gospel, praying through the night and caring for the poor. He gave the Church an order of friars who would study, pray and share “the fruits of contemplation” with others, and tradition links him closely to the Rosary. Below are the three traditional prayers to St. Dominic with their collect, prayers for preachers and for perseverance written for this page, his promise to his brothers on his deathbed, and his story.
Three traditional prayers to St. Dominic
These prayers were indulgenced by Pope Leo XIII in 1883. Each is followed by an Our Father, a Hail Mary and a Glory Be. From Blessed Be God (1925), by Fathers Charles J. Callan and John A. McHugh, both Dominicans:
For the Church
My Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst found the Church with Thy Precious Blood, and by the preaching of the Apostles didst establish propagate and extend it throughout the whole world, and thereafter didst commission the patriarch Dominic to adorn, illustrate, and defend with the splendour of his merits and doctrine; graciously hear the prayers which this apostolic man incessantly offers to Thee for the increase of her treasures, both spiritual and temporal.
For new laborers in the vineyard
Most merciful Redeemer, Who didst choose as Thy fellow labourer for the salvation of souls St. Dominic, who by his zeal, aided by Thy grace, gained over to the Church so many heretics who had been lost to her, and so many sinners who had grieved her by their obstinacy; send, O my God, ever fresh labourers into Thy vineyard to work for Thy glory, and gather in the fruits of eternal life.
For the defense of the Church
O good Jesus, Who didst delight to see St. Dominic prostrate every night before Thy altar, adoring Thee hidden in the most holy Sacrament with most lively faith, and offering up, now groans, now prayers, now penances on behalf of the Church, at that time persecuted by her enemies and profaned by her servants; defend this Thy Spouse through the intercession of St. Dominic from the outrages and plots of the infernal enemy of mankind.
V. Pray for us, St. Dominic.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Collect
Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we who are weighed down by the burden of our sins may be raised up by the patronage of Thy blessed confessor Dominic. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
A prayer to St. Dominic
Written for this page:
St. Dominic, preacher of grace,
you spent your days speaking of God and your nights speaking with God.
Pray for me, that I may love the truth, live it with joy and share it with charity.
Obtain for me the grace I ask: (name your intention). Amen.
A prayer for preachers and teachers of the faith
St. Dominic, pray for all who preach and teach the Gospel:
for bishops, priests and deacons, catechists, teachers and parents.
Give them a love of study and prayer,
the courage to speak the truth,
and words that lead souls to Jesus. Amen.
This prayer was written for this page. See the prayer for priests.
Preach the word: be instant in season, out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine.
“I shall be more useful to you after my death”
As he lay dying in Bologna, St. Dominic’s brothers wept around him. He comforted them: “Do not weep, for I shall be more useful to you after my death and I shall help you then more effectively than during my life.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church quotes these words when it teaches about the intercession of the saints (CCC 956).
St. Dominic and the Rosary
According to a tradition spread in the fifteenth century by the Dominican Blessed Alan de la Roche, the Virgin Mary gave the Rosary to St. Dominic. Historians debate how the devotion developed, but the Dominicans did more than anyone to spread the Rosary across the world, and the popes have long called them its apostles. See the Rosary prayers and the mysteries of the Rosary.
The life of St. Dominic
Domingo de Guzmán was born around 1170 in Caleruega, in Castile, Spain. While studying at Palencia during a famine, he sold his precious books to feed the poor, saying he would not study on dead skins while living men starved. He became a canon of the cathedral of Osma, living a life of prayer under a rule.
Traveling through southern France with his bishop, Diego, he met the Albigensians (Cathars), whose teaching rejected the goodness of the body and creation. He saw that they would be won back not by force or by pomp but by preachers who lived in poverty, knew the Scriptures well and prayed deeply. In 1206 he founded a community of women at Prouille, and in 1215 he gathered his first preachers in Toulouse. On December 22, 1216, Pope Honorius III approved the Order of Preachers.
Dominic sent his friars to the great university cities of Paris and Bologna, so that they could study and preach. He was known for his joy by day and his prayer by night, often spent before the altar, and for his tenderness toward sinners. He died in Bologna on August 6, 1221, and was canonized by Pope Gregory IX in 1234. His tomb is in the Basilica of San Domenico in Bologna.
Feast day and patronage
- Feast day: August 8. A novena can run from July 30 to August 7.
- Patron of: the Dominican Order, preachers, the Dominican Republic, and astronomers.
- Symbols: the Dominican habit, a star on his forehead, a lily, a book, a rosary, and a dog carrying a torch, from his mother’s dream before his birth that she would bear a dog with a torch who would set the world on fire.
Frequently asked questions
What is St. Dominic the patron saint of?
The Dominican Order, preachers and the Dominican Republic. He is also invoked by astronomers.
Did St. Dominic invent the Rosary?
A tradition says the Virgin Mary gave him the Rosary. Historians think the devotion grew gradually, but the Dominicans did the most to spread it.
When is the feast of St. Dominic?
August 8.
What is the motto of the Dominicans?
Veritas, “truth,” and the phrase of St. Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican, Contemplari et contemplata aliis tradere: “to contemplate and to hand on to others the fruits of contemplation.”
More prayers
- Our Lady of the Rosary (October 7)
- St. Thomas Aquinas prayer
- St. Catherine of Siena prayer
- St. Martin de Porres prayer
- Rosary prayers
- Prayers to popular saints
- Saint feast days
Texts and sources
- Prayers and collect: Charles J. Callan and John A. McHugh, Blessed Be God (New York: P. J. Kenedy, 1925), Devotions in Honor of the Saints, public domain.
- St. Dominic’s dying words: quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church 956.
- Scripture: 2 Timothy 4:2, Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
- The other prayers were written for this page.