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Today is the Optional Memorial of St. Raymond of Penyafort, Priest (1175-1275). Born in Barcelona, Spain, St. Raymond of Peñafort was the third Superior-General of the Domincan Order. He is famous for his work in the freeing of slaves. He wrote five books of Decretals which are now a valuable part of the Canon Law of the Church. The Summa Casuum, which is about the correct and fruitful administration of the Sacrament of Penance, is the most notable of his works.

The Church in Canada celebrates the feast of St. André Bessette today. See January 6 for prayers and information.

Epiphany Reflection: The Feast of the Epiphany, The Lord of All
1. "Behold the Lord the Ruler is come; and the kingdom is in His hand, and power and dominion." On the obelisk which stands in the plaza of St. Peter's in Rome, the following words are emblazoned in great, golden letters: Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat: "Christ has conquered, Christ reigns, Christ commands."

2. Christ is King of all visible creation. "All power is given to Me in heaven and in earth" (Matt, 28:18). "Thou hast subjected all things under His feet" (Ps. 8:8; Heb. 28). By virtue of this plenitude of power He established His kingdom on earth, the Church. He chooses His disciples and apostles, and sends them forth endowed with His power to teach and with the power to loose and to bind. Then He gives up His life, and through His death and resurrection He conquers death, sin, hell, and the Prince of this world, and acquires that perfection and glorification which will be displayed before all His creatures. The glory that is His, He will communicate to all who belong to Him. His victory over death and the powers of hell will become their victory. In a little while all creation will share His victory, "and of His kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1:33).

"And behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world" (Matt. 28:20). "For where there are two or three gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt. 18:20). He is the King of all realms and kingdoms, and governs all by means of His spirit. Whatever any creature on earth seeks and desires, conceives and accomplishes, undergoes and suffers, believes and trusts, has its source in Him. He, the King, leads and governs all His subjects. He fondly cherishes all His creatures and sends forth His spirit into their hearts and rules their souls with His divine strength. "Behold the Lord the Ruler is come." Come let us seek Him, greet Him, adore Him, and serve Him.

Christ is the King of our soul. He inspires the soul to search for that which is good. He penetrates the spirit with His light, and subjects it to His truth and to the precepts of our holy faith. He rules in the consciences of men, and metes out the proper rewards and punishments. It is He who lays down the principles by which the human will must be governed and by which it will be judged. He guides and directs the steps of every soul and watches over them at every moment with an all-seeing eye and a mighty arm. There are no pure accidents in the life of the soul. Everything is subject to the touch of His hand. He rules with a benevolent providence in every soul that He has destined for eternal happiness. With His all-powerful graces He illumines the eyes, sways the heart, and floods the soul with a supernatural light. He moves the will to attain the precious fruits of salvation. "But to every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the giving of Christ.... From whom the whole body, being compacted and fitly joined together, by what every joint supplieth, according to the operation in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in charity" (Eph. 4:7, 16). How wonderfully the power of His rule is manifested in the souls of the saints! They are the product of the irresistible grace of Christ. His kingdom will not be fully revealed until the time of the general judgment, when He will return with power and majesty. What a revelation when the full glory of His kingdom is revealed in eternity, and we are permitted to gaze upon it forever!

3. Christ is King. All creation is His kingdom. All that exists in heaven and on earth is His and is subject to the divine King who rules from the crib and the tabernacle. All things are laid at His feet by His heavenly Father, and He guides and controls all by the touch of His hand. All this we believe, and for this we adore Him. Christ "is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature. For in Him were all things created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by Him and in Him. And He is before all, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the Church, who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; that in all things He may hold the primacy; because in Him it hath well pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell [the fullness of divine life, of grace, and of glory]. And through Him to reconcile all things unto Himself" (Col. 1:15-20).
—Excerpted from The Light of the World, Volume One by Benedict Baur, O.S.B.

St. Raymond of Penyafort
The blessed Raymond was born at Barcelona, of the noble family of Peñafort. Having been imbued with the rudiments of the Christian faith, the admirable gifts he had received, both of mind and body, were such that even when quite a boy he seemed to promise great things in his later life.

Whilst still young, he taught humanities in Barcelona. Later on, he went to Bologna, where he applied himself with much diligence to the exercises of a virtuous life, and to the study of canon and civil law. He there received the Doctor's cap, and interpreted the sacred canons so ably that he was the admiration of his hearers. The holiness of his life becoming known far and wide, Berengarius, the Bishop of Barcelona, when returning to his diocese from Rome, visited Bologna in order to see him; and after most earnest entreaties, induced Raymond to accompany him to Barcelona. He was shortly after made Canon and Provost of that Church, and became a model to the clergy and people by his uprightness, modesty, learning and meekness. His tender devotion to the Holy Mother of God was extraordinary, and he never neglected an opportunity of zealously promoting the devotion and honor which are due to her.

When he was about forty-five years of age, he made his solemn profession in the Order of the Friars Preachers. He then, as a soldier but just entered into service, devoted himself to the exercise of every virtue, but above all to charity to the poor, and this mainly to the captives who had been taken by the infidels. It was by his exhortation that St Peter Nolasco (who was his penitent) was induced to devote all his riches to this work of most meritorious charity. The Blessed Virgin appeared to Peter, as also to blessed Raymond and to James the First, King of Aragon, telling them that it would be exceedingly pleasing to herself and her divine Child, if an Order of Religious men were instituted whose mission it should be to deliver captives from the tyranny of infidels. Whereupon, after deliberating together, they founded the Order of our Lady of Mercy for the Ransom of Captives; and blessed Raymond drew up certain rules of life, which were admirably adapted to the spirit and vocation of the said Order. Some years after, he obtained their approbation from Gregory the Ninth, and made St Peter Nolasco, to whom he gave the habit with his own hands, first General of the Order.

Raymond was called to Rome by the same Pope, who appointed him to be his Chaplain, Penitentiary, and Confessor. It was by Gregory's order that he collected together, in the volume called the Decretals, the Decrees of the Roman Pontiffs, which were to be found separately in the various Councils and Letters. He was most resolute in refusing the Archbishopric of Tarragona, which the same Pontiff offered to him, and, of his own accord resigned the Generalship of the Dominican Order, which office he had discharged in a most holy manner for the space of two years. He persuaded James the King of Aragon to establish in his dominions the Holy Office of the Inquisition. He worked many miracles; among which is that most celebrated one of his having, when returning to Barcelona from the island of Majorca, spread his cloak upon the sea, and sailed upon it, in the space of six hours, the distance of a hundred and sixty miles, and having reached his convent, entered it through the closed doors. At length, when he had almost reached the hundredth year of his age, and was full of virtue and merit, he slept in the Lord, in the year of the Incarnation 1275. He was canonized by Pope Clement the Eighth.

Patronage: Attorneys; barristers; canon lawyers; lawyers; medical record librarians; Barcelona, Spain; Navarre, Spain; Majorca, Spain

Symbols and Representation: book; cloak; key; Dominican using his cloak as a sail

Highlights and Things to Do:

• St. Raymond diligently studied Canon Law. Spend some time learning what are the obligations and rights of the laity under Church law.
• Read more about St. Raymond:
  • Catholic Encyclopedia
  • Catholic Ireland
  • CNA
  • Saints Stories for All Ages
  • CatholicSaints.info
• Learn more about the Spanish Inquistion.
• Raymond died at the age of 100 years old and is buried in the the Cathedral of Barcelona, The Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia.
• St. Raymond contributed much to the understanding of the Sacrament of Penance.
• See Catholic Cuisine for some clever food ideas for this saint.