Saint of the day 07/January
Saint of the Day (January 07) ✠ St. Raymond of Pe├▒afort ✠ St. Raymond of Pe├▒afort was born near Barcelona in 1175. He was an accomplished professor of canon law and held the canon law chair at the University of Bologna for three years. His treatise on ecclesiastical legislation is still conserved in the Vatican library. The saint joined the Dominican Order, influenced by the preaching of Blessed Reginald, prior of the Dominicans of Bologna. He received the habit of this order in 1222. At Barcelona, with Saint Peter Nolasco he co-founded the Order of Mercedarians for the ransom of Christian captives of the Moors. The saint also founded institutes at Barcelona and Tunis for the study of middle eastern languages, in order to evangelise the Moors and the Jews. The saint’s reputation as a stellar jurist convinced Pope Gregory IX to have him condense and codify the canons, or laws, of the Catholic ...