The Diocese of Scranton celebrated the feast day of St. Dominic, who founded the Dominican Order, on Monday.

“During the life of St. Dominic, Europe was in a state of constant warfare,” the diocese said on Facebook. “Dominic’s parents made sure that he was well educated in all subjects, especially his faith.”

St. Dominic was born in Spain in the 12th century to parents in the nobility.

When he was on his 20s, he joined a religious community, Britannica says. While traveling abroad with the Bishop of Osmo thereafter, Dominic learned that the Church in France was being threatened by Albigensian heretics who were teaching that anything concerning the body - including eating, drinking and procreating - was evil.

St. Dominic and the bishop determined that the best way to convert the heretics required them to live in poverty and travel barefoot, Britannica says. That practice marked the beginning of Dominic's "evangelical preaching." Dominic converted about 16 heretics, who began to follow him. The group worked to establish a formal religious order devoted to preaching, and Pope Honorius III officially recognized the Dominican Order in 1216.

“As a theology student, this Spaniard sold his books to help others during a famine, and later held positions at the Osma Cathedral, where community life followed the Rule of St. Augustine,” the diocese said in its post. “St. Dominic, pray for us!”

Catholics celebrate St. Dominic's feast day on Aug. 8, Franciscan Media says, adding that he is the patron saint of astronomers, as well as of the Dominican Republic.

Today’s Dominican Order includes friars, nuns, sisters, and lay people who hold to St. Dominic's mission of teaching, preaching, studying, and praying. Dominican friars are seen to be engaged in campus ministry efforts at universities. They also lead retreats, missions, and workshops, serve as chaplains in hospitals and convents, and serve as missionaries.