Duc in Altum

Today is the eight hundred year anniversary of the Seignadou which was the sign of God that was given to St. Dominic in order that he might establish the first Dominican convent:

On the night of July 22, 1206, the feast of Saint Mary Magdalen, on a hill of Fanjeaux overlooking the little town of Prouille on the plain, Saint Dominic saw what appeared to be a globe of fire descending upon a shrine of Our Lady. The sign from Our Lady (or sign of God, "Seignadou" in the local dialect) occurred again the next two nights. From this, he understood that he was to establish a monastery of nuns at Prouille. In the months that followed, Dominic converted nine young women. Consequently, the first "Dominican" convent opened on the 27th of December. Saint Mary Magdalen, the penitent Apostle to the Apostles, therefore, would become the patroness and mother not only of the converted nuns of Prouille but of the Order of Preachers about to be born. Source: The History of Saint Dominic

St. Dominic spent much of his ministry engaged in combating the Albigensian heresy. This heresy which considered material things as evil had spread throughout southern France in the time of St. Dominic. In establishing the Dominican convent, he continued his efforts to defeat this heresy by making the convent a place for instruction in the faith. The nuns' work of catechesis was to counter the centers of learning that were established by Albigensian women for the purpose of teaching the heresy to children. Eventually, a rule and constitutions were established which formalized the nuns as the Second Order of Dominicans.

H.T: Moniales OP