Dominic of Jesus Mary was born on May 16, 1559 in Calatayud (Spain), the son of Miguel de Ruzola, a notary, and Jerónima López.
He received the Carmelite habit in Zaragoza on 24th of May 1572 and was ordained a priest in 1584. The Carmelite province of Aragon had passed with substantially positive results through the pre-Tridentine phase of renewal promoted by the General, Nicholas Audet, as well as having reacted constructively to the various attempts at reform following the Council of Trent. During his stay in the city of Valencia (1581? - 1589), Domenic enriched his experience in contact with the fruits of the general reform of the Church that was developing in the Iberian Peninsula. His stay, in fact, coincided with a part of the long government of Bishop Juan de Ribera, known for his work of renewal carried out in the diocese of Valencia.
In 1589 he asked to be received among the Discalced Carmelites and, repeating his novitiate, he made his profession according to the «primitive» rule on November 22, 1590. After a stay in several monasteries in Spain, in 1604 he moved to Italy at the invitation of the Commissioner General, Fr. Peter of the Mother of God. For the rest of his life he remained incardinated into the Italian Congregation of the Discalced Carmelites.
A Superior and founder of various monasteries, he was several times a General Councillor, as well as Superior General in the three-year period 1617-1620.
Sent by the Pope to Germany, at the request of Maximilian of Bavaria, he played an important role in the defence of the Catholic faith and both the Emperor and the Pope recognized his decisive help in the battle of White Mountain, at the gates of Prague on November 8, 1620. He founded the monasteries of Vienna and Prague. He carried out missions in France and Flanders, accompanied by an ever-increasing reputation for holiness and working miracles.
He collaborated in the foundation of Propaganda Fide, occupying himself, at the request of the Roman Pontiff, in procuring the necessary financial subsidies.
During a new mission to the Emperor's court, he died in Vienna on 16th February, 1630.
The study of the Positio on his heroic virtue is currently underway at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
