Saint Raymond of Penyafort

Today is St. Raymond of Penyfort's feast day. He wrote something that makes you think; maybe it even gives you hope.

*...all who want to live righteously in Christ will suffer persecution. 

So when you don't go along with the crowd, or don't think like the current culture, or you seem to think that you don't fit in, you are blessed. *May you never be numbered among those whose house is peaceful, quiet and free from care...Your purity of life, your devotion, deserve and call for a reward; because you are acceptable and pleasing to God your purity of life must be made purer still, by frequent buffetings, until you attain perfect sincerity of heart. If from time to time you feel the sword falling on you with double or treble force, this also should be seen as sheer joy and the mark of love.

May the prayers of Saint Raymond free you from concern of what others think.

January 7 St. Raymond of Penyafort 1175 – 1275 Having lived for 100 years, St. Raymond of Penyfort had the opportunity to do a lot of good in his life.  He was born of Spanish nobility and was well educated, first in philosophy, then in canon and civil law.  At the age of 41 he became a Dominican. Pope Gregory IX called Raymond of Penyfort to Rome to work for him and to be his confessor.  Pope Gregory asked Raymond to gather together past documents of the law, including all the decrees by popes and councils over the last 80 years, and organize them.  St. Raymond did this, compiling five books in the process; the result became the best organized body of Church law until the 1917 codification of canon law. When Raymond was 63, the Dominicans elected him head of the entire Dominican order, the successor of St. Dominic.  St. Raymond tirelessly traveled the countryside on foot visiting his fellow Dominicans, helping them reorganize their constitutions and spending time with them personally.  He retired from this position at age 65.  He spent his last 35 years fighting heretics and trying to convert the Moors to Christianity. St. Raymond believed that the spirit of the law was just as important as the letter of the law.  He felt that if people focused just on the letter of the law, the reason the law was made to begin with and the thing it was intended to protect would be overlooked. St. Raymond of Pennafort, Patron Saint of Canonists (Feast day - January 7) Born in Spain, St. Raymond was a relative of the King of Aragon. From childhood he had a tender love and devotion to the Blessed Mother. He finished his studies at an early age, and became a famous teacher. He then gave up all his honors and entered the Order of the Dominicans. St. Raymond was very humble and very close to God. He did much penance and was so good and kind that he won many sinners to God. With King James of Aragon and St. PeterNolasco he founded the Order of Our Lady of Ransom. The brave religious of this Order devoted themselves to saving poor Christians captured by the Moors. Once he went with King James to the Island of Majorca to preach about Jesus. King James was a man of great qualities, but he let himself be ruled by passions. There on the Island, too, he was giving bad example. The Saint commanded him to send the woman away. The King said he would, but he did not keep his promise. So St. Raymond decided to leave the Island. The King declared he would punish any ship captain who brought the Saint back to Barcelona. Putting all his trust in God, Saint Raymond spread his cloak upon the water, tied up one corner of it to a stick for a sail, made the Sign of the Cross, stepped onto the cloak, and sailed along for six hours until he reached Barcelona. This miracle moved the King. He was sorry for what he had done, and he became a true follower of St. Raymond. St. Raymond was one hundred years old at the time of his death.