[Book review] “Jiena Qegħedtek Għassies” San Duminku u l-Ordni tal-Predikaturi

Abstract

This book in Maltese, published by Rev. Joseph Ellul in 2020, is about the life of St Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers, of which Ellul is also a member. It was written to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the Saint’s death. But what does this book attempt to study?

If there was a religious person whose life is intimately linked to the way of living in a medieval city in the High Middle Ages, no doubt this was St Dominic. The title, chosen by Ellul, expresses one of main preoccupations of the people in Dominic’s time: security. “‘Jiena Qegħedtek Għassies,’ San Duminku u l-Ordni tal-Predikaturi” or ‘“I have made thee a watchman,’ Saint Dominic and the Order of Preachers.”