St. Dominic

Today is the feast of Saint Dominic--founder of the Dominicans. Some facts about the order and/or the saint:

1. Legend has it that Our Lady gave Saint Dominic the first Rosary. Today, the Dominicans are responsible for encouraging all the faithful to pray the rosary. One way they do this is through the Rosary Confraternity. Members pledge to pray the entire (15 or 20) decade rosary per week.

2. A little known symbol of St. Dominic is a dog carrying a flaming torch. While pregnant with him, Dominic's mother, Blessed Juana of Aza, dreamed that she gave birth to a dog that carried a flaming torch through the world. Disturbed by this, she asked her priest for an interpretation. He told her that the child would carry the Word of God to all earth to set it afire.

[Note: In Latin, the word Domini means God and the word cani means dog.]