Saint Dominic de Silos

December 20

c. 1000-73

 Born at Canas, Navarre, Spain, of peasant parents, he was a shepherd in his youth, became a Benedictine monk at San Millan de Cogolla Monastery but was driven from the monastery by Garcia III of Navarre when he refused to surrender part of the monastery grounds to the sovereign's claim and went to San Sebastian Monastery at Silos and became its abbot. He reformed the monastery and built it into one of the leading spiritual houses in Spain; its scriptorium produced outstanding Spanish Christian art. He helped rescue Christian slaves from the Moors and was credited with miracles of healing.