The feast day of St. Dominic of Silos is celebrated on December 20. He is the patron saint of pregnant women, shepherds and prisoners. He was a Benedictine monk and priest.
St. Dominic of Silos was born in Navarre, Spain. around the year 1000. He was a peasant, shepherding his father’s flock. His love of solitude led him to become a Benedictine monk. He was ordained a priest becoming the Master of novices and prior. Because of his opposition to the annexation of the monastery land he was driven into exile.
St. Dominic turned to King Ferdinand I of Leon for aid. King Ferdinand found him refuge in the town of Silos in a decaying Abbey occupied by six monks. Dominic became the abbot of the community. He rebuilt the monastery both physically and spiritually. The monastery became a center of book design and scholarship Its proceeds were used for charity.
St. Dominic raised funds to ransom Christians taken prisoner by the Moors. The membership in the monastery increased to 40 monks.
St. Dominic died on Dec. 20. Many healings were reported at the monastery, especially regarding pregnancy. Almost one hundred hears after his death, Blessed Joan de Aza de Guzmán prayed at his shrine to conceive the child she named Dominic.
“Is it not reward enough to know that one is doing the will of God?”
Quote of St. Just Bretenie’res; Feast day September 20
December is the Month of the Divine Infancy