Today,
in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we celebrate the feast of St. Raymond of Pennafort, Confessor, of the Order of Preachers. At the time the 1962 Breviary was published, his feast was III Class and contained a full set of propers for the entire office. Between then, and the printing of the 1967 English translation of the Breviary, the Order made his feast II Class. At Lauds, the Psalms of Sunday are prayed and a commemoration of St. Emerentiana, virgin and martyr is made.
From
“Short Lives of the Dominican Saints” (London, Kegan Paul, Trench, and Trübner
& Co., Ltd., 1901):
This great Saint was born in Spain, at the castle of Pennafort, six
leagues distant from Barcelona, A.D. 1175. He belonged to a noble family,
allied to the former Counts of Barcelona and to the kings of Aragon. Entering the ecclesiastical state, he left his
native land to go and study at the celebrated University of Bologna. Having taken his doctor's degree in civil and
canon law, he began to teach with great applause in that city. After some time, the Bishop of Barcelona
persuaded him to return to Spain, and made him one of the canons of his
cathedral. But Raymond thirsted after a
closer union with God, and on Good Friday, A.D. 1222, at the age of forty-seven,
he begged to be admitted into the Order of Saint Dominic. It is said that he
was moved to take this step partly by remorse for having once dissuaded a young
man, who consulted him, from joining a religious Order.
From this time he increased in holiness of life, and was the means of
leading very many to leave the world and take the Dominican habit. He became Confessor
to King James of Aragon, and was greatly distinguished for his skill in settling cases of conscience. At the command of his superiors, he drew up a
book on this subject, which was the first ever written of the kind. It bears
his name, "Raimundina."
The Moors were at this time exercising great cruelties upon their
Christian captives in Spain. On the night of the 1st of August, A.D. 1223, as Raymond was praying for these
unhappy prisoners, our Lady appeared to him and told him that it was her will that a religious
Order should be founded for their relief. On the same night, the Queen of Heaven made a similar
revelation to King James of Aragon and to Saint Peter Nolasco, a penitent of
Saint Raymond's, who for some years had devoted himself to this work of
charity, and who was destined to be the founder of the new Order of Our Lady of
Mercy for the redemption of captives. Its
statutes were drawn up by Saint Raymond, who with his own hands gave the habit
to Saint Peter Nolasco. It resembled exactly that of the Order to which he himself
belonged, save that the mantle was white and the scapular emblazoned with the
royal arms of Aragon.
Saint Raymond was now summoned to Rome by Gregory IX., where he became
Confessor to the Holy Father and Grand Penitentiary. In obedience to the Pope's command, he
collected all the Decretals, i.e. the decrees and replies of the Sovereign
Pontiffs to questions which had been submitted to the Holy See, and he added
explanations to those the meaning of which seemed obscure. He accomplished this
gigantic task in the short space of three years. The Pope twice named him to an
Archbishopric, but the Saint each time succeeded in obtaining his release from
an honor which would have been painful to his humility.
After the lamented death of Blessed Jordan, the first successor of
Saint Dominic, Saint Raymond was elected Master-General of the Order by the Chapter of Bologna, A.D.
1238. During the two years of his government, the Saint made some admirable regulations,
and divided the Constitutions into two parts, the first relating to the
religious life of the Brethren and the second to their external life, their
duties, and offices. At the General Chapter of A.D. 1240, he prevailed on the
electors to accept his resignation on the plea of ill-health and infirmity ;
but so great was the grief of the entire Order at losing their saintly
superior, that a subsequent General Chapter inflicted severe penances and
absolution from office on all those who had accepted this resignation.
The Saint lived thirty-five years after he had given up office, leading
a most saintly existence in his convent at Barcelona. Almost every night his
guardian angel awoke him before Matins and summoned him to prayer. He labored incessantly
to procure the conversion of the Moors, as well as of Jews and heretics, and it
was at his request that Saint Thomas Aquinas composed his Summa contra
Gentiles. He accompanied King James of Aragon in his expedition to the island
of Majorca and boldly rebuked him for giving public scandal. Finding his remonstrance’s
of no effect, the Saint prepared to return to his Convent at Barcelona. The
King endeavored to retain him on the island by force; but Saint Raymond, in
presence of a multitude of spectators, threw his mantle on the sea, fastened
the end of it to his staff, which served as a mast, and kneeling upon it, as if
in a boat, he crossed in this way to the mainland, accomplishing the passage, a
distance of about a hundred miles, in six hours. On reaching Barcelona, he quietly took up his
mantle, which was perfectly dry, and returned to his Convent. The doors were closed, as it was the hour of the mid-day siesta, but
the Saint found himself miraculously transported within the walls and thus escaped from the acclamations of the
admiring crowd who had witnessed his landing. The King was so touched by the miracle
that he renounced his evil courses and thenceforth led a good life.
Saint Raymond was universally regarded as the greatest ecclesiastic of
his time. At length, worn out by age, infirmities, and penances, he happily departed to our Lord on
the Feast of the Epiphany, A.D. 1275, being in his hundredth year. Numerous
prodigies were worked at his tomb, whence issued a miraculous dust which
restored health to many persons. He was beatified by Pope Paul V., and
canonized by Pope Clement VIII., A.D. 1601.
Prayer
O God, you chose the blessed Raymond to be an outstanding minister of the sacrament of Penance, and you guided him wonderfully across the waves of the sea; grant that, through his intercession, we may produce fruit worthy of penance, and may at length reach the port of eternal salvation. Through our Lord...