While pregnant with Dominic, Blessed Jane of Aza had a dream of a dog with a torch in its mouth, setting everything on fire. When she asked a monk what it meant, he said the child in her womb would be “a great preacher who would set the world ablaze with the fire of his words.” His parents named him Dominic, a play on the words Domini canis, meaning “the Lord's dog” in Latin. Dominic did go on to be an influential preacher and evangelist. In an effort to educate and protect people from hostile heretics of the time, he established what became the first Dominican house in 1206. Later, through an apparition of the Virgin Mary, Dominic received the devotion of the Rosary. To this day, preaching and study are the dominant works of Dominican orders.
