St. Dominic and the Order of Prémontré

As we mark the feast of St. Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers, we also recall a venerable tradition that holds that St. Dominic was a member of the Premonstratensian Order, specifically that he was a sub-deacon at the Spanish Abbey of La Vid. The Dominican statues take much influence from the early statutes of our own Order and of course we also share a very similar habit with our Dominic brothers. The proof of Dominic's membership of the Order was displayed by Joseph Stephen de Noriega, a canon of La Vid, in a work entitled 'Dissertatio historica de Sto. Dominico de Guzman, Ordinis Predicatorum Patriarcha, canonico regulari augustiniano-Praemonstratensi, in observantissimo monasterio Stae. Mariae de La Vid.' (Salamanca, 1723) and has once more been extensively researched in more recent times by Farrelly in '¿Fue Santo Domingo de Guzmán canónigo premonstratense en el monasterio de Santa María de la Vida?'

Statue of St. Dominic wearing the Premonstratensian habit (in Spain black birettas were worn) from La Vid.