Today is the feast of St. Dominic on the Ordinary calendar!
In St. Catherine of Siena's Diaglogue, God the Father said of St. Dominic:
My only-begotten Son devoted His whole life, all His acts, His teaching and His example to the salvation of souls. Dominic, my adopted son, had directed all his mind and all his efforts to saving souls from the snares of error and vice: that was the chief object which led him to plant and therefore I tell you that in all his acts he may be compared to My Begotten Son.
Memorare to St. Dominic
Remember, O most dear and holy Father St. Dominic, that, at the close of thy mortal career, thou didst raise thy pure hands to heaven and pray: “Holy Father, since by thy mercy I have ever accomplished thy will, and have kept and preserved those whom thou hast given to me, now I recommend them to thee : do thou keep them, do thou preserve them.'' Animated with unbounded confidence in thee. O tender Father, I cast myself at thy feet, beseeching thee to plead still for thy poor helpless children, to protect us amidst the dangers of om- earthly pilgrimage, to guard and keep us. Be mindful, O great Father, of the comforting assurance thou didst make in thy last moments to thy weeping brethren, promising that after death thou wouldst assist thy children.
A little child takes a long time to recognize its father. At last, however, the moment comes when it fixes its eyes upon the manly figure towards which its mother has persistently directed its attention, and says: "Daddy!" On the day when we made our Dominican profession we, too, recognized our Father St. Dominic. He is more truly our father than was ever our parent according to the flesh. St. Dominic is as far superior to our earthly father as the soul is superior to the body.
--- "The Veneration Due to Our Patriarch" by F.D. Joret, O.P.
