St. Dominic
...196, the bishop of Osma made him a canon of the Cathedral in Osma, Old Castile, where he soon became engaged in many religious reforms. In 1203, he accompanied Didacus of Acebes, bishop of Osma, on a religious mission to Rome; and on his way back, he was troubled by the beliefs of the Albigensian heresy and how quickly their beliefs were spreading. The Albigensians believed that creation was not evil and that there were two eternal principles of good and evil. Dominic believed the Albigensians were able to spread their beliefs due to the fact that they were well educated and well organized. He set up an opposition to this heresy, determined that his preachers would be better educated and organized. Dominic and a few of his companions were given a house and a church at Prouille, near Toulouse. This is where they began their life of penance, study, and preaching. After being formally recognized by the pope in 1216, Dominican preachers, including St. Dominic, traveled across Europe to preach not only to the common people, but to the civic and religious leaders as well. St. Dominic insisted that his preachers be well educated; therefore, his friars had to study theology at the University of Paris and canon law at the University of Bologna. Dominic died in Bologna on August 6, 1221, during a personal missionary camp in northern Italy. He was canonized in 1234 and his feast day is on August 8. From the beginning, the order took on the work of preaching and the work of studying and teaching philosophy and theology, in order to harness new intellectual developments of that time. Because they were such great scholars, many of the great university teachers of the Middle Ages were Dominicans. Also, this Order not only included communities of friars but monasteries of nuns who contemplated the Word and taught the Word. For this order, St. Dominic adapted the Rules of St. Augustine, so his followers would have a guideline on how to live. The Rules of St. Augustine emphasized living a simple life of peace and mutual respect in a religious community dedicated to a life of service and love to God. St. Augustine’s view on community life was very important to the Dominicans because it was natural, and still is, for humans to work and live together, especially for Christians. However, no rules were to stand in the way of a nun or friar’s ability to preach. The Dominican Order is the oldest mendicant order in the world. As a mendicant order, the friars and nuns of the St. Dominic Order were beggars; they had no food or large monasteries for housing. Since the order was founded for the good of souls, St. Dominic gave the supervisors the ability to fire any members of the order who were not preaching or studying. St. Dominic tried to avoid having a lot of detailed laws; instead, he made the Order democratic to promote personal responsibility and local initiatives to meet local needs. In this democratic system, superio...