Dominican (ca. 1190–1237)
While studying in Paris in 1220, Jordan of Saxony was inspired to put on the habit of the Order of Preachers. His meteoric rise in the order was such that in two years he was elected to follow St. Dominic as the second master general of the order.
The Dominicans were specially charged with the teaching of doctrine, and Jordan discerned that the best recruiting grounds would be in universities. Thus, he continuously traveled to the great schools of Europe—Paris, Bologna, Padua, Zurich, and even Oxford—attracting great numbers to the order. He has been called “the first university chaplain.”
Jordan developed a deep spiritual friendship with Diana d’Andalo, whom he induced to found the female branch of the Dominican Order. His many letters to her attest to the deep bonds of affection between them. “In Him, who is our bind, my heart is always united to thine,” he wrote.
One time, while visiting a community during Compline, a young friar found it hard to suppress a giggle, which spread through the choir. When an older brother tried to impose order, Jordan said, “Laugh on! . . . You have escaped from the Devil who formerly held you in bondage. Laugh away, dear sons!”
On his way to the Holy Land, Jordan perished in a shipwreck on February 13, 1237.
“Why are you thus anguished? Am I not yours, am I not with you: yours in labor, yours in rest; yours when I am with you, yours when I am far away; yours in prayer, yours in merit, yours too, as I hope, in the eternal reward?”
—Blessed Jordan of Saxony to Blessed Diana d’Andalo
