Wednesday 20 December 2017

# Saints

Saint Dominic of Silos

Saint Dominic enthroned as Abbot
by Bartolomé Bermejo (15th century)

The 20th of December is the feast day of Saint Dominic of Silos. He is the patron saint of against rabies; against rabid dogs; against insects; captives; pregnant women; prisoners; and shepherds.

Saint Dominic of Silos lived between 1000 till 1073 A.D. He was born to a peasant family in Navarre, Spain. He herded his father’s sheep in the Pyrenees mountains as he was growing up which helped him love the life of solitude. This led him to enter the local Benedictine monastery in Navarre. He became its prior but was driven out because the King of Navarre took over its land. Saint Dominic took refuge in another monastery and King Ferdinand I of Leon put him under his protection. The monastery was initially dilapidated, but when he became abbot, it was restored both materially and spiritualy. The monastery became a place of scholarship and the funds that they raised were given to ransom Christian captives who were slaves of the Muslims. Saint Dominic of silos was known to be a miracle worker. The mother of Saint Dominic Guzman prayed for a son at his shrine, and the son she conceived became the founder of the Dominican Order. After this, Saint Dominic of Silos became the patron connected with pregnancy and up until 1931, his crozier was used by the queens of Spain to bless them and was placed beside them when they were in labour.

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