He was ordained a priest and soon became master of novices and then prior, before being driven out with two of his fellow monks by King García Sánchez III of Navarre, for opposing his intention to annex the monastery's lands.

[1] Under the protection of King Ferdinand I of León, in 1041 they found refuge in the town of Silos at the decaying Abbey of St. Sebastian, occupied by only six monks.

He built the cloisters in the Romanesque style, and established a scriptorium, turning the monastery into a center of book design, scholarship, and significant charity made possible through the proceeds of the gold and silver workshop.

Dominic's special patronage thus became connected with pregnancy, and until the establishment of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931, his abbatial crozier was used to bless the queens of Spain, and was placed by their beds when they were in labor.

In the 19th century Silos became a monastery in the Benedictine Congregation of Solesmes, and is notable for its fine double Romanesque cloisters, extensive library, and recordings of Gregorian chant.