DOMENICO di SORA, saint. — Benedictine, born at Foligno in the second half of the 11th century, died at Sora on 22 January 1031. A monk at S. Silvestro in Foligno, out of a desire for solitude and greater detachment from his relatives he withdrew to Sabina and began to alternate the eremitical life with the cenobitic.
In the solitude of a mountain near Scandriglia (986), urged on by the numerous disciples who had gathered around him, he founded the monastery of S. Salvatore. To escape popularity, he had to move from one place to another, but he was always joined by new followers, or even by local lords who begged him to restore monastic observance in their lands. Thus, together with and alongside the hermitages, various monasteries arose in the places where the Saint stayed: not only in Sabina, but also in Abruzzo (S. Pietro in Lago, S. Pietro di Avellana), in Latium (S. Bartolomeo di Trisulti, and, nearby, a monastery of nuns; S. Angelo in the territory of Segni). Finally, the foundation most closely associated with his name was that of Sora, made possible by the munificence of Count Pietro Rainerio, whom D. had converted. D. was abbot of this monastery for the rest of his life, while he had entrusted the others he founded to the governance of his most tried disciples. It seems, however, that he did not entirely abandon his foundations. Although he did not directly undertake the reform of the monastic Order, as did other saints of the period, D. carried out truly fruitful work in this field through his foundations and the example of his life; and to him, no less than to the promoters of the Cluniac reform, the monastic renewal in the provinces mentioned is owed.
D. extended his zeal beyond the cloisters as well, preaching to the people and combating, sometimes with exceptional severity, the vices of the age; above all, he inculcated the sanctity of marriage. His thaumaturgical power and prophetic gift were further reasons for his popularity. Even today he is greatly venerated among the populations of southern Latium, Campania, and Abruzzo. His body rests in the church of the monastery he founded at Sora; notable relics of him are also preserved at Foligno. His feast is celebrated on 22 January and, at Sora, also in the summer, when numerous pilgrims flock there from the surrounding districts.