Dominic

Saint Dominic is invoked by the falsely accused because of a sign at his birth and his life’s work: by tradition his mother dreamed before he was born of a dog bearing a torch that set the world ablaze — a play on Domini canis, “the Lord’s dog,” guarding the flock against the wolf of heresy — and Dominic spent himself answering the accusations of error not with the stake but with patient, truthful preaching. He is patron of astronomers and the sciences because his Order of Preachers became a great school of learning, and devotion attached the contemplation of the heavens to a saint whose followers sought truth in all things. As founder of the Dominicans, he is honored as patron of the Dominican Republic, named in his honor.