Benedictine abbot

Roman martyrology: At Sora, the abbot St Dominic, renowned for miracles.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY

St Dominic of Sora (951-1032) was born in Foligno.  He became  Benedictine monk and founded a number of hermitages in Central Italy.  The reforming Pope John XVIII (1003-9) placed these foundations under papal protection.  The last of them was at Sora (in Lazio), where he died.  His relics are preserved in what is now the Basilica Minore di San Domenico Abate in Sora.

The miracles for which St Dominic was remembered included the cure of snake bites.  A statue of him (illustrated above) is draped with live snakes and taken in procession at Colcullo (in the Abruzzo) during a feast celebrated in May.