BLESSED JORDAN OF SAXONY
Dominican Priest
(C. 1190-1237)
Bl. Jordan of Saxony was a German of noble descent. He received a pious upbringing and was noted for his charity to the poor from an early age. Educated in Germany, he received his masters' degree in theology at the University of Paris.
Bl. Jordan joined the Order of Preachers in 1220 under Saint Dominic himself, and became Prior-provincial of the Order in Lombardy in 1221. He succeeded Dominic as master-general in 1222. Under his administration, the Order spread throughout Germany and into Denmark.
Bl. Jordan used his talents for preaching. During one of his sermons, grace from the Holy Spirit called Saint Albert the Great into the Order. He is the author of Libellus de principiis Ordinis Praedicatorum ("Booklet on the beginnings of the Order of Preachers"), a Latin text which is both the earliest biography of Saint Dominic and the first narrative history of the Order's foundation.
Bl. Jorden helped Bl. Diana d'Andalo found the monastery of Saint Agnes. He passed away during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.