What would you do if someone you knew claimed to be a Christian but also professed beliefs that were dangerous to his health, his relationships, and even his salvation?
Dominic de Guzman’s response was to establish a religious order.
Of course, founding a religious order was not his original goal. Saint Dominic de Guzman–who was born on August 8, 1170, and died on Aug 6, 1221–was just an Augustinian canon and Spanish priest traveling through France with his bishop when he accepted an invitation to stay at the home of a wealthy man. That night, after dinner, his host told Dominic that he was a follower of a common teaching at that time: the heresy of Albigensianism.1 Dominic spent the entire night patiently discussing the truths of the Catholic faith with the man, who finally agreed to come back to the Church.
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