Bl. Jordan Of Saxony

Blessed Jordan of Saxony, ( c. 1190 – 1237), was one of the first leaders of the Dominican Order. His feast day is February 13. Jordan belonged to the noble German family of the Counts of Eberstein. He was born in the Castle of Borrenstrick, in the diocese of Paderborn. He began his studies in his native land, and was sent to complete them at the University of Paris. While a student he met Dominic de Guzman, the founder of the Order of Preachers, and was inspired by the preaching of Reginald of Orleans (also known as Reginald of Saint-Gilles) to join the Dominican Order. He received the habit on Ash Wednesday, 1220. Jordan was a Master of Arts and a grammarian, and taught in the schools of Paris. Jordan died, at the age of forty-seven, in a shipwreck on his return from Palestine, where he was visiting the local monasteries of the Order. The shipwreck occurred off the coast of Syria on 13 February 1237. Jordan was buried in the Dominican Church of St. John in Akko, in present-day Israel.