Over the summer of 1221, Saint Dominic’s health began to decline. Although the famous preacher was only middle-aged, years of frenetic activity had taken an irrevocable toll on his body. In early August, the ever-traveling but now ailing Dominic arrived in Bologna. There, under the prayerful watch of his brothers, the holy founder entered his final illness. On August 6—the Feast of the Transfiguration—Saint Dominic passed peacefully to his eternal reward.
It is fitting that the founder of the Order of Preachers died on the day that the Church ponders the mystery of Mount Tabor. Preaching aims at transfiguring. As Christ’s divinity transfigured his sinless humanity, Christ’s grace transfigures our sinful humanity. While faith commences the transfiguring work of charity in believers, preaching first commences faith in them. “How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? How are they to hear without a preacher?” asked Saint Paul (Romans 10:14). In founding the Order of Preachers, Saint Dominic took to heart this observation of the apostle. He often lamented the poor state of sinners. Not resting in his lamentation, however, Saint Dominic worked to secure for the Church a constant source of preaching. In so doing, he pursued the same aim as Saint Paul: to invite sinners to faith, that through the charity it brings they may be transfigured by the healing and elevating grace of Christ.
In its daily work, the Institute for Human Ecology follows the example of Saint Dominic. IHE’s pursuit of truth—veritas in all of its forms—has as its goal the invitation to faith: to believe, as Saint Thomas Aquinas puts it, “whatever the Son of God has said.” May Saint Dominic intercede for the Institute, that those who benefit from its preaching may be transfigured unto Christ.
