Background
He was born in the Castle of Borrenstrick, in the diocese of Paderborn.
He was born in the Castle of Borrenstrick, in the diocese of Paderborn.
His feast day is February 15. Jordan belonged to the noble German family of the Counts of Eberstein. He began his studies in his native land, and was sent to complete them at the University of Paris.
He received the habit on Ash Wednesday, 1220.
Jordan was a Master of Arts and a grammarian, and taught in the schools of Paris. In 1221, a General Chapter of the Order held in Bologna appointed Jordan Prior Provincial of Lombardy in Italy.
Master General
Like Saint Dominic, Jordan was famed as a strict disciplinarian whose commitment to the Rule was tempered with kindness. During Jordan"s administration, the young Order increased to over 300 priories.
Jordan is particularly remembered for his eloquence in attracting candidates to join the Order.
He added four new provinces to the eight already existing. Twice he obtained for the Order a chair at the University of Paris and helped to found the University of Toulouse. He established the first general house of studies of the Order.
Additionally, Jordan was a spiritual guide to many, including one of the first Dominican nuns, the Blessed Diana degli Andalò, Ordinis Prcpdieatorum = of the Order of Preachers (Dominican Ecclesiastical Title) He also found time to write a number of books: a life of Saint Dominic and several other works.
A section of a work by Friar Gerald de Frachet describing the lives of the first Dominicans, the Lives of the Brothers (Vitae fratrum), is dedicated to describing his character, virtue, and miracles. All of the first chroniclers of the Order describe Jordan"s kindness and personal charm.
He had the ability to console the troubled and to inspire the despondent with new hope. 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 Saint John in Akko, in present-day Israel. His feast day is 13 February. Jordan of Saxony was beatified by Pope Leo XII in 1825.
Patronage
He is venerated as the patron of Dominican vocations.
Jordan of Saxony is credited with introducing the practice of singing the Salve Regina in procession at the end of Compline, done, it is recorded, to calm the spirits of the Brothers, who were being tried by the Devil.