The Friars
Get Involved
Don't miss a thing!
Stay up to date on all things Dominican Friars!
Vision of Blessed Joanna
According to tradition, Dominic’s mother–Jane of Aza, also known as Joanna–had a dream before her son’s conception in which she saw a hound racing through the world igniting everything with a flaming torch. Troubled by this dream, she went to...
Canonization of St. Dominic
Popular devotion to Dominic increased after his death, and in 1234, only 13 years later, he was canonized by Pope Gregory IX, formerly Cardinal Ugolino, who earlier had been his patron. Canonization involved two boards of inquiry–one in Bologna and one in...
Death of St. Dominic
On August 6, 1221, less than five years after the Holy See formally confirmed the founding of the Order of Preachers, Dominic died in Bologna, the site of one of the Dominicans’ principal university houses and schools of theology. Just before his death Dominic...
Establishment of Third Order
Although Dominic did not personally establish the third order (the Dominican Laity), he indirectly influenced its founding by his spiritual counseling of many laypeople moved by his preaching. As the Dominican friars established monasteries and priories, groups of the...