Jordan of Saxony, OP (referred to in Latin as Jordanis, also known as de Alamania; c. 1190 – 1237), was a
German Catholic priest and one of the first leaders of the
Dominican Order. His feast day is February 13.
Life
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.[1] While a student he met
Dominic de Guzman, the founder of the Order of Preachers, and was inspired by the preaching of
Reginald of Orleans (also known as Reginald of
Saint-Gilles) to join the
Dominican Order. He received the habit on
Ash Wednesday, 1220. Jordan was a Master of Arts and a grammarian, and taught in the schools of Paris.[2]
On 6 August 1221,
Dominic died, and in 1222 Jordan was elected as his successor as
Master General of the Order of Preachers.[1] Like Dominic, Jordan was famed as a strict disciplinarian whose commitment to the
Rule was tempered with kindness.
During Jordan's administration, the young Order increased to over 300 priories. Jordan is particularly remembered for his eloquence in attracting candidates to join the Order. Through his lectures in university towns, he won many—allegedly well over 1,000—professors and students for the Order from the universities of Europe, among whom was
Albertus Magnus who is thought to have been recruited in
Padua.[4] He added four new
provinces to the eight already existing. Twice he obtained for the Order a chair at the University of Paris and helped to found the
University of Toulouse. He established the first general house of studies of the Order.[5]
In addition, Jordan was a spiritual guide to many, including one of the first
Dominican nuns,
Diana degli Andalò.[1] He also found time to write a number of books: a life of Dominic and several other works. Among them was the Libellus de principiis Ordinis Praedicatorum ("Booklet on the beginnings of the Order of Preachers"), a
Latin text. This is both the earliest biography of Dominic and the first narrative history of the foundation of the Order.
A section of a work by the friar Gerald de Frachet describing the lives of the first Dominicans, the Lives of the Brothers (Vitae fratrum), is dedicated to describing his character, virtue, and miracles. All of the first
chroniclers of the Order describe Jordan's kindness and personal charm. He had the ability to console the troubled and to inspire the despondent with new hope.[6]
Death
Jordan died, at the age of forty-seven, in a
shipwreck returning from
Palestine, where he had been visiting the local
monasteries of the Order. The shipwreck occurred off the coast of
Syria on 13 February 1237.[7] Jordan was buried in the Dominican Church of St. John in
Akko, in present-day
Israel.
Jordan of Saxony was beatified by
Pope Leo XII in 1825.
Patronage
He is venerated as the patron of Dominican vocations.
Jordan is honoured as the
patron saint of the
Faculty of Engineering of the
University of Santo Tomas, in
Manila, which was founded by the Dominican Order. In Colombia, he is honoured as the patron saint of the Colegio Jordan de Sajonia, one of the most important private schools of Bogota.
Legacy
Jordan of Saxony is credited with introducing the practice of singing the
Salve Regina in procession at the end of
Compline, done, it is recorded, to calm the spirits of the Brothers, who were being tried by the
Devil.[5]
^W. A. Hinnebusch, The History of the Dominican Order: Origins and growth to 1500, Volume 1, p. 103.
^Irven Resnick (ed.), A Companion to Albert the Great: Theology, Philosophy, and the Sciences, BRILL, 2012, p. 4; Thomas F. Glick, Steven Livesey, Faith Wallis (eds.), Medieval Science, Technology, and Medicine: An Encyclopedia, Routledge, 2014, p. 15;
Pope Benedict XVI, Great Christian Thinkers: From the Early Church Through the Middle Ages, Fortress Press, 2011, p. 281.