The founder of the Dominican Order was Dominik de Guzman, from which name the congregation takes its common name. At the beginning of the thirteenth century, heresies were spreading throughout Europe (the Cathars, waldensi itd.), so Dominic came up with the idea of creating a special order to combat them. order of Preachers – that is, the Order of Preachers held its founding synod in 1220 r. and two years later a monastery was established in Krakow (1222 r.). The organizer of the Krakow monastery was St.. Jack. The Congregation was to be a city and mendicant order (identical to the Franciscans), but no one attached any special importance to it. In fact, the law was to give the Church the able-bodied, educated people, prepared to fight hard to regain lost souls. Soon after, a monk's name deciphered their name as Domini canes – the Lord's dogs. Dominicans accepted this name, even some kind of pride, because the term hit the crux of their specificity.
Monks in beautiful black and white habits have become the terror of the hangmen and free-thinkers. In their hands, almost the entire apparatus of St.. Inquisition and St.. The office in Rome until the end of these institutions. The emblem of the order is a lying dog holding a burning torch in its mouth.
Over time, the Dominicans became the intellectual elite of the Church. One could dwell on their consistently high intellectual and cultural level and merits for a long time (Dominican was e.g.. Thomas Aquinas, the greatest philosopher of the Middle Ages). On the other hand, they were Dominicans: Jan Falkenberg, the author of slanderous treaties against Poland and Jagiello hired by the Teutonic Knights and the inquisitor Jakób Sprenger – author of the famous Hammer for Witches (book almost immediately published in Krakow, fortunately not popular here).
In years 80. of our century, the cloisters of the Krakow monastery sheltered the Renewal Movement in the Holy Spirit. in academic chaplaincy – “Barrel”, which awakened remarkably (sometimes even too much) youth religious awareness and life “around-academic”. This movement sought to renew religiosity, m.in. by reintroducing some of the early rituals and rituals of early Christianity, like a prayer with arms raised, ecstatic dance, special outdoor night services, consecutive circles “initiation”. During prayer meetings, the Holy Spirit bestowed his participants “gifts” – the ability to speak different human and angelic languages, the gift of prophecy, healing by the laying on of hands, etc.. All of this happened with the knowledge and approval of a nearby one (100 m) Of the Archbishop's Curia and under the watchful eye of orthodoxy, the professional eye of the Dominicans. At one point, however, the movement went a bit too far, and the Church withdrew her protectorate. Some of the most committed participants left for Pentecostal churches and charismatic groups, a few have tried to start new sects, the rest returned to the bosom of orthodoxy.
