Blessed Jordan of Saxony — The Worthy Successor of St. Dominic
What a towering figure in the early history of the Order of Preachers. To meet Jordan of Saxony is to meet a man on fire with zeal for God and for souls. His life is a masterclass in apostolic charity, Marian devotion, and the power of holy friendship.
Birth & Early Life
Blessed Jordan was born at Burgberg, Westphalia, around the year 1185. Jordan belonged to the noble German family of the Counts of Eberstein. He was born in the Castle of Borrenstrick, in the diocese of Paderborn. He began his studies in his native land and was sent to complete them at the University of Paris.
Jordan was a successful young student at the University of Paris, already known for the unembarrassed witness of his holy life, when he first heard Reginald preach and met the Dominicans in Paris.
Encounter with the Dominicans
While a student he met Dominic de Guzmán, the founder of the Order of Preachers, and was inspired by the preaching of Reginald of Orleans, O.P., to join the Dominican Order. He received the habit on Ash Wednesday, 1220.
Jordan would later always speak of St. Dominic with deep reverence. Jordan of Saxony had been studying in Paris for ten years when St. Dominic arrived in that city. The young man sought him out and received an impression which was never effaced. Not till much later did he receive the habit actually at the hands of Blessed Reginald. Only once more, and then for a very short time, did he see St. Dominic. Nevertheless, he used always to speak of him with emotion as “the father of his soul.”
Master General of the Order of Preachers
Only one year after receiving the habit, he was elected by the General Chapter to succeed Dominic as Master of the Order. Described by his early biographer Gerald de Frachet as “the most worthy successor of Dominic,” Jordan has always been remembered as “a mirror of every aspect of religious observance, an exemplar of virtue.”
For fifteen years he ministered to his brothers and sisters by his preaching, his letters, his edition of the Constitutions, his frequent visitations, and the example of his life. During that time, he grew the Order dramatically:
- He added four new provinces, gained teaching positions for the friars at the University of Paris, and established the first general house of studies of the Order.
- In his 16 years of preaching, Jordan is said to have drawn more than a thousand novices to the Dominican Order, among whom were two future popes, two canonized saints (including Albert the Great), numerous beati, and countless intellectual lights of his dazzling century.
The Power of His Preaching
Jordan’s preaching was so powerful that it was almost feared. We are told that mothers would hide their sons when they heard he was coming to town, and that universities feared losing their best professors to the pull of his eloquence.
Men of his day responded by the hundreds to Jordan’s zeal for Christ, some of them mere youths and others established professionals who felt the call of God through Jordan’s words and example. They were drawn to a life of holiness by this Dominican with a gift of preaching, who lived what he preached with such obvious joy.
One remarkable story illustrates the force of his charity: When an angry father learned his only son had entered the Order, he traveled posthaste to Italy, determined to wreak vengeance on the friar. On his arrival, the irate father demanded to know where Jordan of Saxony was. “I am the gentleman,” was the modest, meek reply. The very tone of the General’s voice so overcame the man’s wrath that he instantly alighted from his steed, knelt at the priest’s feet, confessed his evil designs, and willingly gave up his son to God.
Devotion to Our Lady & the Salve Regina
One of Blessed Jordan’s most enduring legacies is his love for the Mother of God. He drank in a tender devotion towards Mary from his mother’s breast. This veneration became intensified through his brief association with Saint Dominic, through the spirit which the patriarch implanted in his Order, and through his own religious life and the many favors he felt he had received from her. Everywhere he preached her glory, her immaculate purity, her power before the throne of God. In the Order and without, he strove to inculcate a deep, trustful, and abiding devotion to the Blessed Virgin.
It was Jordan who initiated the custom of singing the Salve Regina in procession each night after Compline, to ask Our Lady’s protection of the brothers against temptations from the devil. This is a custom still practiced by Dominicans throughout the world.
Scholar & Writer
Of all the source materials concerning the life of St. Dominic and the origins of the Dominican Order, Jordan of Saxony’s work is not only the earliest, but is also the most authentic. It has, therefore, influenced all subsequent works on the Order.
In spite of his otherwise busy life, Blessed Jordan found time to write several works after he became a Friar Preacher. Besides encyclicals to the Order at large and special letters to convents, these included two commentaries on parts of the Scriptures, a book on devotion to the Blessed Virgin, a long prayer to her and another to Saint Dominic, a volume of sermons, and an outline of the beginnings of the Order.
Jordan also served as spiritual director to many, among them a young Italian noblewoman named Diana d’Andalo, who became a Dominican nun.
Miracles
God confirmed Jordan’s holiness with extraordinary signs. A miracle of multiplication of bread is recorded: Out of two small loaves he gave away thirty large pieces, each enough for a meal. After this was done the four brethren, their host, and all his household ate as much as they wanted, yet could not finish what was left. At the sight of such a miracle the worthy innkeeper exclaimed: “Lo, here is a saint indeed!”
His commitment to building up his brothers and sisters even drew him to the attention of the devil who, it is said, after many attempts to destroy Jordan in both body and spirit, eventually tried to make peace with him — offering to never tempt the brethren again if the holy friar would refrain from preaching against him. Jordan refused.
Holy Death & Beatification
Jordan died, at the age of forty-seven, in a shipwreck on his return from Palestine, where he was visiting the local monasteries of the Order. The shipwreck occurred off the coast of Syria on 13 February 1237. Jordan was buried in the Dominican Church of St. John in Akko, in present-day Israel.
He was beatified by Pope Leo XII in 1825. Blessed Jordan of Saxony, the second Master General of the Order of Preachers, is known as patron of Dominican vocations because of the large number of people he attracted to the Order. The Church celebrates his memorial on February 13th each year.
Why He Matters Today
Blessed Jordan of Saxony is the patron of vocations for very good reason — his entire life was a living invitation. He did not recruit souls through argument or pressure, but through the sheer contagion of his holiness and joy. In his own restlessness to give himself, he had obviously come face to face with the restless love of Christ Himself, and he had surrendered to it. Jesus was real to Jordan, a Friend whom he’d come to know and love deeply in his life of prayer. Jordan understood the restless hunger of the world around him, and he couldn’t rest until that world would come to know this same Friend.
Blessed Jordan of Saxony pray for us.