In 1203, as Dominic was accompanying his bishop on a journey, he became aware of unorthodox teachings of a group known as the Albigensians and became convinced of the need for someone to preach the truth. He determined to dedicate his life to the ministry of preaching and to live a life of simplicity. Gradually he came to realise that only a religious order could give the Church the continuous supply of trained preachers it needed to carry out this ministry.

The Order of Preachers, approved by Pope Honorius 111 in 1216, was an entirely new kind of religious order - founded to preach the Word of God. (Up until that time only bishops had been given the right to preach). Dominic foresaw that one might preach in many ways and in many media; so he made Veritas the motto of the Order and did not limit the ways or means by which one might preach it. Dominic gathered together a group of nine women and founded a convent at Prouille, France. These women participated through prayer and good works in the preaching mission of the Order.

For the last years of his life, Dominic attracted many holy and talented men and women to the Order. In 1217 he dispersed the brethren throughout the cities of Europe with a mandate to study and preach the gospel. Dominic knew, and instilled in his followers, that the Word of God could only rightly be proclaimed when it had been prayerfully pondered before God.

In his own life Dominic was joyful, compassionate, prayerful, a lover of simplicity who anguished over the sufferings of others and wanted more than anything else to help people to find meaning in life. His own love of prayer and study, his concern for the salvation of souls, and his belief in apostolic poverty became the foundation stones of the Order.

St Dominic died in Bologna on 6 August 1221.