Blessed Jane of Aza
Mother of Saint Dominic, “Our Blessed Grandmother”
c. 1150 – c. 1190s | Feast Day: August 2
The Dream and the Prophetic Child
Blessed Jane was born of the prominent d’Aza family and married Felix de Guzman. She lived in Caleruega, a castle fortress on the border of Christian Spain in the twelfth century. Her story begins not with her own deeds, but with a vision that would change the course of the Church.
According to tradition, Jane had a dream before her son’s conception in which she saw a hound racing through the world igniting everything with a flaming torch. Troubled by this dream, she went to pray at the Benedictine abbey of San Domingo de Silos, located in a pleasant valley about twenty miles north of Caleruega.
Doña Jane would entrust to no one the nurturing of this child of benediction, the future father and founder of the Order of Preachers; she brought him up herself with the utmost care, and, when he was but a few weeks old, she and Don Felix bore him to the Abbey of Silos and offered him to God before the altar of Saint Dominic. The Abbot celebrated a Mass of thanksgiving, and when turning round to say the Dominus vobiscum, his eyes chanced to rest upon the infant, and he uttered instead the words, “Ecce reparator Ecclesia” – “Behold the reformer of the Church.” Perceiving his mistake, he endeavored to correct it, but three times the same words involuntarily escaped his lips, and they were taken as a presage of the child’s future destiny.
A Life of Prayer and Charity
An early source describes her as “virtuous, chaste, prudent, and full of compassion for the poor and the afflicted; among all the women of the region she was outstanding for her good reputation.”
The household over which they ruled was so remarkable for its piety and good order, that it was commonly said rather to resemble that of a monastery than of a knightly castle. To singular beauty of person and the charms of a cultivated mind, Blessed Jane added solid piety and great energy in the practice of good works. The world had never had any attractions for her; she applied herself diligently to the requirements of her state, and devoted all the time which remained after the discharge of her domestic duties to prayer and works of charity.
There is a beautiful story of her charity that has been treasured by the Dominican Order for centuries. Once it happened that Venerable Felix was away on a trip. Jane gave all of the wine from a huge cask and everyone in the area knew about it. On Felix’s way home some of the neighbors told him about Jane’s “excess”. So, when he got to Guzman castle he asked Jane to refresh him and the neighbors present with some wine. She quickly went to the cellar where the aforementioned wine was, and, kneeling, asked the Lord, saying: “Lord Jesus Christ, although I am unworthy to be heard on the basis of my merits, Yet hear me for the sake of your servant, my son, whom I have given over to your service.” For the mother knew the holiness of her son, and rising, fully confident, she went immediately to the jar and found it full of wine. Giving thanks to the Giver of all Graces, she had this wine served abundantly to her husband and others, and everyone was surprised!
A Legacy in Three Sons
Three of their children spent their lives in the service of the Church: Anthony, Mannes and Dominic. Venerable Anthony became a diocesan priest who devoted himself to the care of the poor and the sick. Bl. Mannes, one of the first Dominicans, followed his brother into the Order of Preachers. And Dominic — the youngest — would become the founder of an Order that has shaped Christendom for eight centuries.
This is no accident of birth. It is widely believed that Dominic’s keen sensitivity to the sufferings of others, which he displayed from childhood on, was acquired from his mother, who, although from a noble family, was known for her compassion toward the poor and needy. From her Dominic also acquired the habit of prayer.
The Source of Dominican Marian Devotion
The devotion to Mary bequeathed by Saint Dominic to his children was something more than ordinary, and in the natural course of events it could come from only one source — his own mother. She passed on her deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. That devotion bore fruit: St. Dominic had such a close relationship with Our Lady that she appeared to him and the early friars, giving him the holy Rosary, and bestowing heavenly graces and miracles upon the fledgling Order.
A Saint Whose Legacy Is Hidden
Her name, the scanty records tell us, was Jane of Aza, and neither the date of her birth nor that of her death is known with certainty. Not being of great material importance, she made little impression on history; but the print of her personality will be seen for all time on the order founded by her son.
St. Dominic’s mother, Blessed Jane of Aza, was beatified by Pope Leo XII in 1828, recognized for her example of motherly holiness. The Dominican Order affectionately calls her “Our Blessed Grandmother Jane.”