St. Raymond of Penyafort

St. Raymond of Penyafort, priest and general of the order

 (ca. 1175-1275)

Raymond was born between 1170 and 1175 in Villa de Panudés to a noble Catalan family of Penyafortu. He studied in Bologna, where he earned a doctorate in both laws. He then taught canon law there himself. Afterwards, he taught philosophy in Barcelona. In 1219, he was appointed bishop's vicar in the city. At the age of 47, influenced by the sermons of Bl. Reginald of Orléans - Prior of the Dominican monastery in Bologna of that time - he joined the Order of Preachers. He had already taken the Dominican habit in Barcelona, to which he returned in 1222.

The goal of Raymond 's pastoral and preaching activities was to convert Muslims and Jews to Christianity. He also became involved in the fight against the Moors. In 1218, it was with this thought in mind with his support that St. Peter Nolasco, of whom Raymund was a confessor, established the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy for the Redemption of the Captives, popularly known as the Order of the Mercedarians, whose mission was to redeem Christians from Moorish captivity. He was the one who supported and encouraged St. St. Peter to establish the order and helped secure the approval of King James I of Aragon, to whom he was related.

Pope Gregory IX summoned Raymund to Rome to establish him as chaplain of the apostolic palace. Thus, Raymund became the Pope's personal confessor and advisor. He collected all the decrees of the Roman bishops in force in his time into a single work, which the Holy See approved with the bull Rex Pacificus. 

In 1238, he became the general of the Dominicans. In this capacity, he organized a study for learning Arabic (studium arabicum) in Tunis, the purpose of which was to help the Dominicans liberate Christian captives in Islamic areas. In addition, as master general of the Order, St. Raymund contributed to the development of missions in the North African territories. As a general, he wrote a new set of Dominican constitutions, called the Raymondian constitutions. Interestingly, he included a provision for the possibility of resigning as master general of the order; two years later, he exercised this right himself and resigned from office. He returned to Barcelona and became involved in the conversion of the Moors. It was at his suggestion that St. Thomas Aquinas wrote the work Contra gentiles (Against The Gentiles). He established Arabic and Hebrew language instruction in several Dominican monasteries. He died in Barcelona in 1275 at the age of about 100. He was buried in the Cathedral of Santa Eulalia in Barcelona.

He was canonized in 1601 by Pope Clement VIII. His liturgical feast was added to the general Roman calendar in 1671, with his memorial falling on January 23. In 1969, it was moved to January 7, the day of his death. He is the patron saint of lawyers, especially canonists.

In iconography, St. Raymond of Penyafort is often depicted wearing a black cape, arranged in the shape of a sail, on which he sails through the water. The representation references a story from his time as confessor to King James I of Aragon. While on a mission to Majorca with King James, he rebuked the ruler for having a mistress and repeatedly asked him to dismiss the concubine. The king refused to do so. Then Raymond decided to leave the island, which met with the ruler's prohibition, but Raymond and a fellow brother went ashore, where the monk took off his Dominican cape, spread one end on the water and attached the other end to a staff. After he formed a miniature mast, Raymond ordered the other monk to join him, but his companion had no faith in him and refused. Afterwards Raymond bid him farewell and, with the sign of the cross, pushed off from the shore and miraculously floated away on his coat. He was seen by many sailors, who shouted in surprise and encouraged him. When he sailed into Barcelona, his arrival was accompanied by crowds of witnesses. Delighted by this miracle, King James I renounced his evil ways and repented.

Meanwhile, in a ceramic decoration in the cloisters of the Santo Domingo Monastery in Lima, the Dominican saint is depicted with two Mercedarian monks. The depiction evidently refers to Raymond 's participation in the formation of the Order of the Redemption of the Captives. The fact that these men are representatives of this order is evidenced by the badges they wear on their chests, which are the Marcedarian coat of arms.

Bibliography:

  • Schwertner T.M., Saint Raymond of Pennafort of the Order of Friars Preachers, Milwaukee 1935.
  • Forcada Comins V., San Ramón de Peñafort. Biografia, Valencia 1994.
  • Penone D., I domenicani nei secoli. Panorama storico dell'Ordine dei frati predicatori, Bologna 1998, p. 38.
  • Valls i Taberner F., San Raimondo di Penyafort: Padre del diritto canonico, Bologna 2000.
  • Ramon de Penyafort i el dret català. Quatre-cents anys de la canonitzaci ó del patró dels advocats de Catalunya (1601–2001), Barcelona 2000.
  • Magister Raimundus: Atti del convegno per il IV centenario della canonizzazione di san Raimondo de Penyafort (1601–2001), ed. Carlo Longo, Roma 2002 (Dissertationes Historicae, 28).
  • Galmés Más L., San Ramon de Penyafort y la Inquisición en la Alta Catalunya, [in:] Praedicatores. Inquisitores, vol. 1: The Dominican and the Mediaeval Inquisition: Acts of the 1st International Seminar on the Dominicans and the Inquisition, Roma 2004, pp. 85–104.
  • Morris M., Saint Raymond of Peñafort, „Magnificat”, 5 (2004), issue 12.
  • Sinka T., Św. Rajmund z Peñafort, Kraków 2005.
  • Benach i Torrents M., La Devoció popular a Sant Ramon de Penyafort, Vilafranca del Penedès 2005.
  • Rowińska-Szczepaniak M., The traces of the cult of St. Raymond of Penyafort in the preaching of Fabian Birkowski. A contribution to Studies on the Dominicans’ hagiographic writings in Old Poland, „Folia Historica Cracoviensia”, 27 (2021), issue 2, vol. 7-41.