Bl. Jordan of Saxony

Blessed Jordan of Saxony, whose Feast Day is today, was S. Dominic's successor as Master of the Order - to which he was elected when he had only been a Dominican for about two years . . . talk about rapid promotion !

However, he proved to be an inspired choice, and in his time he apparently attracted over 1,000 men to join the Friars Preachers. Indeed, he was apparently so successful in encouraging vocations to the Order that people actually became rather afraid of him !

Sr Mary Jean Dorcy, who wrote a splendid book some years ago called 'St Dominic's Family' said of Jordan :


'Men prayed for strength to resist his burning eloquence, and mothers hid their sons when Master Jordan came to town. Students and masters warned each other of the fatal magnetism of his sermons. The sweetness of his character and the holiness of his life shone through his most casual words in a flame that drew youth irresistibly to the ideal to which he had dedicated his own life. In his sixteen years of preaching, Jordan is said to have drawn more than a thousand novices to the Order, among whom were two future popes, two canonized saints, numerous blessed, and countless intellectual lights of his dazzling century.'

He is, not surprisingly, the Patron of Dominican Vocations. May he continue to draw men to God in the Order of Preachers.

(You may recognize the photo as another one of fr Lawrence Lew's splendid photos of the statues at Calaruega; and he has posted a remarkable essay on Bl. Jordan's letters to Bl. Diana de Andalo on Godzdogz today.)