St. Dominic: New preaching for a new Church

The dawn of the XIII c. surprised St. Dominic at about 30 years old, in the South of France in the company of bishop Diego de Acebedo. The church was shaken by heretics who were becoming more and more popular. The same Pope who had forbidden Dominic and his bishop go to the missionary territories to evangelize the pagans, was now trying to counterattack the heretics by sending Papal legates to preach. He chose among others, a Ciertercian Abbot and two of his monks. Dominic and his bishop met these legates and engaged in a conversation that will affect the life of the church ever since. This is the dialogue that ensued,

“After leaving the court and reaching Motpellier, Diego met the venerable Arnold, abbot of Citeaux, and Brother Ralph and Borther Peter of CAstelnau, Cistercian monks from Fontfroide who were legates of the Apostolic See. All three had decided to resign from their posts, because so much had been demanded of them that they were dscouraged. jThey had made scarcely any progress in their preaching against the heretics. Whenever they spoke out, the bad lives of the clergy were dragged into the argument in opposition. Yet if they dared to attack clerical slackness, they would be prevented from preaching altogether”

The bishop advised the legates not to give up but to persevere in preaching with more zeal and in the manner that reflected true fidelity, with humility, in poverty, barefoot, without gold or silver, in the manner of the Apostles.

The legates replied that if somwone was willing to go ahaed and put the scheme into operation, they would certainly follow him. Bishop Diego offered himself. From that moment, Bishop Diego, Dominic and two of the legates formed a team of new preachers with a different style.

The chronicles tell us that they “preached and dispute in public without any ostentation, making no use of their authority but relying solely on the persuasive power of plain truth to give weight to their words. At the same time they put their preaching to the test of sincerity. This was indeed an unusual sight: papal legates, a bishop and a canon daring to assume contemptible garments in order to speak to despised men, after the example of Christ the poor man.”

Like the heretics and the apostles, and unlike the other legates, they preached in poverty; like the legates and unlike the heretics, they preached the genuine gospel of Christ. Fighting fire with fire was the solution to the problem. “The people were deeply stirred by the preachers, and sometimes whole villages, declaring themselves for Diego and dominc, turned out and followed them for miles.”

The harvest was plentiful, but the workers were few. Unfortunately, three men of the group died suddenly and Dominic was the only survivor of the team. But this survivor planned to continue with the project. What followed later is called the Order of Preachers, with St. Dominic as its founder.