Daily Saint

St. Raymond of Peñafort was a Spanish Dominican friar whose expertise in canon law and theological knowledge made significant contributions to the Church.

Born into a noble family near Barcelona, in Catalonia, St. Raymond enjoyed a strong early education in philosophy, rhetoric, and law. He earned doctorates in both canon and civil law in Bologna and later taught there.

Pope Gregory IX commissioned him to gather and organize papal decrees and decisions into a coherent collection known as the Decretals of Gregory IX, which standardized canon law and remained central to its practice in the Western Church until recent codifications in 1917. St. Raymond also wrote a manual called Summa of Cases of Penance to assist confessors in resolving moral and canonical questions.

St. Raymond also had a strong concern for the plight of Christian captives. Together with St. Peter Nolasco, he helped found the Order of Mercedarians with the approval of King James I. Their mission was to ransom Christian slaves held by the Moors.

St. Raymond also encouraged missionary work, debate, and the study of Arabic and Hebrew to foster understanding of the Christian Faith. He urged his fellow friars to engage in dialogue with Muslims and Jews, and he persuaded Thomas Aquinas to write his Summa Contra Gentiles as a tool for evangelization and defense of the Faith.

At about age 47, St. Raymond entered the Dominican Order in Barcelona, drawn by the preaching of Blessed Reginald and a growing zeal to preach the Gospel. Later, he was elected Master General of the Dominicans and reorganized the order’s constitutions.

He died in Barcelona on January 6, 1275, at the age of 100. He was canonized by Pope Clement VIII in 1601.