A Saint and his Dog

 

   When the pandemic closed the churches in March of 2020, I started watching mass online. One of the first masses to pop up in my search was in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston. This is a place where I had attended mass several times in my younger days and so I clicked play. During the mass, the camera wandered around the nooks and crannies of the magnificent cathedral.

   After a few weeks of this, someone must have realized it was silly to turn on the lights and turn up the heat in the huge cathedral for the handful of people celebrating the mass, and so mass was moved over to the chapel of Saints Patrick and Bridget at the TV network's headquarters. The only people visible were the priest, an alter boy, usually a middle aged man, and the lector, usually a woman.

   The camera continued its wandering ways around the more intimate chapel. After the introduction of the celebrants, the camera would focus on a candle, then it checked out the art. Above the altar there were life sized bas-relief carvings of St. Patrick and St. Bridget, hands folded, looking up at a crucifix. There was also a very odd stained glass window of a dog carrying a torch. I say odd, but a devotee of Saint Dominic, whose feast day it is today, would not think it odd at all.

   I would normally have asked Father John about the dog, but we were not supposed to have contact with non-family members so I looked up "dog with torch" on the internet. I had my answer in 0.64 seconds. The story is that Dominic's mother Jane, who thought she couldn't get pregnant, got pregnant. One night she dreamt that a dog with a torch in his mouth jumped out of her womb and ran around setting everything on fire. Jane went to the local monastery and a monk told her the dream meant that her child would be a famous preacher.

   Right from the beginning, Dominic (born 1170 in northern Spain) was on fire for the Lord. He formed an order of monks to reform the clergy that was giving scandal to the laity by its luxurious lifestyle. Dominic lived a life of poverty, often fasting and observing periods of silence. When traveling, he always stayed at the worst inn and slept on the floor. If he got any money, he gave it to the poor. He often travelled barefoot and if it rained, he praised God.

   By age 51, Dominic was worn out. He died in the church of St. Nicolò of the Vineyards in Bologna, Italy and was buried there. St Nicolò's was gradually enlarged and renamed San Domenico. It is now a basilica which means it's a big deal in the Catholic Church.

St. Dominic, his dog, and the torch, by Claudio Coello.