**ST RAYMOND OF PEÑAFORT.** - Dominican, b. at Barcelona in 1175, d. there 6 Jan. 1275. He studied and then taught rhetoric and logic at Barcelona. He then studied at Bologna (1210-16), where he was promoted doctor of law in 1216. Returning to Barcelona at the wish of his bishop (1219) and appointed canon penitentiary and later precentor of the cathedral chapter, he soon entered the Dominican Order (1222). He played a notable part in the foundation of the Order of Mercy, for which he compiled much of the Constitutions and obtained its approval (1235).
He accompanied and assisted Cardinal John of Abbeville in his legation in Spain (1229) and was then entrusted by the Pope with preaching in the provinces of Arles and Narbonne in favour of the expedition to Majorca against the Moors. Gregory IX appointed him his confessor, chaplain and penitentiary and entrusted him with the compilation of the new authentic collection of Decretals, which was officially promulgated by him on 5 Sept. 1234 and presented to the Universities of Paris and Bologna (v. CORPUS IURIS CANONICI). In the same period, in the Pope’s name, he gave numerous replies to legal consultations, which go under the name of *Dubitalia*, edited by Schultze (*Die canonischen Handschriften...*, Prague 1868, p. 68 ff.). He refused the archbishopric of Tarragona. Elected Master General of the Order (23 May 1238), he accepted very reluctantly; he compiled a redaction of the Dominican Constitutions, which remained fundamentally unchanged until the revision of 1924. In 1240 he resigned the office of Master General to devote himself to the conversion of Jews and Moors in Spain and Africa. Through his efforts a school of Arabic was founded at Tunis (1250) and one of Hebrew at Murcia (the first of their kind) to prepare missionaries adequately. He urged St Thomas Aquinas to write the *Summa contra Gentiles*. Canonized in 1601. Feast 23 Jan.
Among his works must be noted: the *Summa iuris* (partially preserved in the ms. of the Vatican Library Borgh. 261), written at Bologna (1216-19), which is a manual of law, compiled according to the order of the Decree and of Book I of the Compilations of Decretals (ed. J. Rius, Barcelona 1945); more famous is the *Summa de poenitentia*, which had wide diffusion. It is an excellent guide for the
ST RAYMOND NONNATUS. - The biographical notices and information on the cult of St R. are of late and very uncertain origin. From the unusual manner of his birth he received the surname of Nonnatus. Coming from Portell in Catalonia, at about the age of 20 (1220) he entered the Order of Mercy, then recently founded.
He devoted himself entirely to the liberation and conversion of captives, especially in Spanish territory occupied by the Moors. After a mission to Rome to plead a cause of his Order, R. N. went to Algeria for the redemption of other infidel prisoners. Having himself remained as a hostage in their favour, while in Spain offerings were being collected for his and others’ ransom, R. N. heroically endured unheard-of torments, among which is famous also the piercing of his lips. For the fame of such virtue Gregory IX thought to raise him to the dignity of cardinal (1239) and to have him as counsellor in Rome. While, in obedience, R. N. was setting out for the Urbe, he died at Cardona, and was buried in the little church of St Nicholas, which, because of his cult, was soon transformed into a sanctuary. The probable day of his death (31 Aug. 1240) was fixed as the date of the feast, which, however, was inserted in the Roman Martyrology only by order of Alexander VII in 1657; Innocent XI in 1667 extended the feast to the whole Church.