Saint Raymond of Peñafort (1175-1275)

Birth at Penyafort Castle, around 1175

Raymond was born around 1175 in Catalonia in the county of Barcelona, at the Penyafort castle (castrum de Pennaforti), near the current Santa Margarida i els Monjos, in the region of Vilafranca del Penedès.^[8][9] His noble family is related to the royal house of Aragon.^[10][11] His name — Penyafort, “strong rock” — will remain attached to the jurist who gave the Church a stone building as solid as the walls of his native castle.

The exact date of his birth remains uncertain: tradition places it around 1175, which, taken together with his death in 1275, gives him a life of approximately one hundred years. lives would have been enough to fill an ordinary existence.

Barcelona, ​​then Bologna: the training of a lawyer

The young Raymond received his first training in Barcelona, where he taught liberal arts very early.^[12] But it was towards Bologna that he headed, attracted by the most prestigious university of law in Christendom.^[13] There, in the city which then formed the entire legal elite of Europe, he obtained the doctorate in utroque jure — in both law, civil and canonical.^[14]

His knowledge was such that he was entrusted with a chair of canon law in Bologna, which he held for several years.^[15][16] It is reported that he taught without remuneration, refusing to deal in sacred science - a trait which already announces the detachment of the future religious.^[17] When he returned to Catalonia, around 1222, he was one of the most renowned canonists of his time.

The meeting of the emerging Order (around 1222)

Back in Barcelona, ​​Raymond was named canon then archdeacon of the cathedral. ^[18] It was then that he discovered the Order of Preachers, founded a few years earlier by Saint Dominic, and entirely dedicated to the study of the truth and to preaching. According to tradition, it was under the influence of the preaching of Blessed Réginald of Orléans, prior of the Dominicans of Bologna, that his vocation matured.^[19]

In 1222 - the year following the death of Saint Dominic -, Raymond received the Dominican habit at the convent of Barcelona. The most listened to scholar in Catalonia humbly ranks among the novices.

“He left the century at the height of his reputation, and made himself the disciple of those he could have taught. » — Dominican tradition on the vocation of Raymond^[20]

A scholar at the service of souls

Far from putting his knowledge aside, Raymond converted it into a pastoral instrument. For him, the science of law no longer serves his career but his salvation. He preached, confessed, trained the brothers, and undertook, at the request of his superiors, a work intended to last for centuries: a manual for confessors, where the rigor of the jurist is put at the service of mercy towards sinners.^[21][22]

This is the secret of his whole life: he was a canonist, but never a legalist. Law, for Raymond, is the framework that supports charity; the laws of the Church exist to lead souls to God, not to crush them. This conviction can be found even in its codification of pontifical law.

The legal chaos of the 13th century

At the beginning of the 13th century, Church law was a labyrinth. Since the Decree of Gratian (c. 1140), thousands of decretals — pontifical letters having the force of law — had accumulated in partial, contradictory, poorly classified compilations, designated under the name of Quinque compilationes antiquae (“five ancient compilations”).^[23][24] The ecclesiastical judges were lost; the same questions received divergent answers depending on the collection consulted.

The Pope's order (1230)

In 1230, Pope Gregory IX called Raymond to Rome, named him his chaplain and his great penitentiary, and entrusted him with an immense task: to gather, order and harmonize a century of papal legislation into a single, authoritative corpus.^[25][26][27]

“We have charged you with bringing together in a single volume, by removing superfluities, the constitutions scattered in various collections. » — according to the bull Rex pacificus of Gregory IX (1234)^[28]

For four years, Raymond stripped down the old compilations, removed the repetitions, resolved the contradictions, shortened the texts (the famous partes decisae) and organized the whole into five books according to a plan that remains famous: iudex, iudicium, clerus, conubia, crimen — the judge, the judgment, the clergy, the marriages, the crimes.^[29][30]

The promulgation of the Liber Extra (September 5, 1234)

On September 5, 1234, by the bull Rex pacificus, Gregory IX promulgated the completed work and sent it to the universities of Bologna and Paris. Gratien.^[31]

The scope of the act is considerable. The Pope declares this compilation the only authentic and forbids the composition of others without the authorization of the Apostolic See:

“We want and strictly order that everyone use only this compilation in judgments and in schools. » — Grégoire IX, bull Rex pacificus, 1234^[32]

Raymond's Decretals thus become the heart of canon law of the Latin Church. They will form, with Gratian's Decree, the core of the future Corpus iuris canonici, and will remain in force until the promulgation of the Code of Canon Law of 1917 - that is to say nearly seven centuries of uninterrupted authority.^[33][34] Few men have left such a lasting imprint on the life of the Church.

Why Raymond is the “father of canonists”

It is this work which earned Raymond his most lasting title: patron of canonists and faculties of canon law.^[35][36] Not because he invented Church law, but because he gave it its classical form, clear, manageable, teachable. For centuries, studying canon law meant commenting on the Decretals of Raymond. The Catalan jurist did for law what Thomas Aquinas will do for theology: an ordered sum, where each piece finds its place.

The first great manual of confessors

Even before the Decretals, Raymond had undertaken a work of another genre, but animated by the same spirit: the Summa de casibus poenitentiae, sometimes called Summa de poenitentia. the confessors** — a sum of cases of conscience intended to guide the priest in the tribunal of penance.^[37]

The work was immensely successful: copied in hundreds of manuscripts, it became the model of an entire literature of confession manuals which developed until the end of the Middle Ages.^[38][39] Here again, Raymond combines the rigor of the jurist with the concern of the pastor: it is a question of knowing the laws, but to better discern souls.

Mercy regulated by science

The Summa de casibus says a lot about Raymond's spirituality. The confessor, in his eyes, is neither a heartless judge nor an unprincipled complacent: he is a doctor of souls who must know the remedies. Putting matters of conscience in order means helping the penitent to receive true mercy, which heals without flattering and which relieves without condemning.

“The confessor must be discreet and prudent, like an experienced doctor who pours wine and oil on the wounds. » — according to the penitential doctrine of the Summa de casibus^[40]

We understand better, therefore, why Gregory IX made it his great penitentiary: Raymond was the man who knew how to unite the letter of the law and the spirit of grace. (On the practice of the sacrament, see Confession.)

An election that he had not sought

At the death of Rome, Raymond had refused all the dignities: he notably declined the archbishopric of Tarragona, which Gregory IX wanted to impose on him, alleging his unworthiness and obtaining, it is said, to be exempted from it at the cost of illness.^[41][42] But in 1238, the general chapter of the Order of Preachers, meeting in Bologna, elects him third Master General, successor to Saint Dominic and Jordan of Saxony.^[43][44]

Reforming constitutions and knowing how to leave

Faithful to his genius as a jurist, Raymond immediately began to revise and reorder the constitutions of the Order, giving them a clear structure which would be largely preserved.^[45][46] He notably introduced a clause allowing a Master General to resign — a provision of which he would be the first beneficiary.

Because barely two years after his election, in 1240, judging his task accomplished and citing his age and his desire for a hidden life, he resigned.^[47][48] The gesture is eloquent: the man who had codified power also knew how to renounce it. He had thirty-five years to live — which he would devote not to the government, but to the mission.

Convert rather than fight

Returned to ordinary life, Raymond threw himself into what would be the great passion of his old age: the evangelization of Muslims and Jews of the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb. In a Spain still largely marked by the presence of Islam, and where large Jewish communities lived, Raymond did not dream of a crusade but of conversion through preaching and argument.^[49][50]

Oriental language schools

With a remarkably modern intuition, he understands that one cannot convert a people whose language and books are unknown. He therefore pushed the Order to found studia linguarum — schools where the brothers would learn Arabic and Hebrew to argue with the doctors of Islam and the Synagogue.^[51][52] Tradition attributes to him the founding of a Studium arabicum in Tunis (c. 1245) and of a Hebrew school in Murcia (c. 1266).^[53]

From these schools will emerge in particular Raymond Martin (Ramón Martí), Dominican orientalist author of the famous Pugio Fidei ("The Dagger of Faith"), a vast scholarly refutation nourished by quotations from the Talmud.^[54][55] Raymond de Penyafort's project bore intellectual fruits of the first order.

Saint Thomas Aquinas and the Summa against the Gentiles

It is in this missionary context that one of Raymond's most fruitful acts takes place. The Dominican tradition, ancient and constant, reports that he asked Saint Thomas Aquinas to compose a work intended to provide missionaries with rational arguments capable of convincing those who do not recognize the authority of Scripture - Muslims and Jews.^[56][57]

This work would be the Summa contra Gentiles (“Summa against the Gentiles”), one of the summits of Christian thought, where Thomas shows that faith never contradicts reason. If the attribution of this command to Raymond remains debated by historians, it speaks a profound truth about the character: he wanted the mission to be intelligent, armed not only with zeal but with science.^[58]

The founding of the Order of Mercy

Raymond's charity was not limited to argument: it extended to the redeeming of Christian captives reduced to slavery in the land of Islam. Tradition presents him as one of the decisive supporters of the foundation, in Barcelona, of the Order of Our Lady of Mercy (Mercedarians) in 1218, alongside Saint Peter Nolasque and King Jacques Iᵉʳ of Aragon.^[59][60] Raymond would have contributed to giving the nascent Order its ruler and its orientation.^[61]

Thus the three paths of his zeal for captives and infidels come together: the word which converts, the knowledge which enlightens, and the money which redeems the chained bodies. (On the work of redeeming captives, see also Saint John of Matha, founder of the Trinitarians.)

A controversy organized by Raymond

The most famous episode of Raymond's missionary old age was the famous Disputation of Barcelona, which was held from July 20 to 24, 1263 at the royal palace of James I of Aragon. Christiani to the greatest rabbi of Jewish Spain, Moses Nahmanides (Ramban).^[62]

The debate, conducted before the king and his court, concerns three questions: has the Messiah already come? Is the Messiah announced by the prophets divine or simply human? Which is the true faith, that of the Jews or that of the Christians?^[63] Notably, Nahmanides obtains and maintains complete freedom of speech during the four days.^[64]

A mission through words, not through constraint

The Barcelona Disputation illustrates Raymond's method: it is about convincing by argument, in an open debate, and not coercing by force. It is this concern for conversion through persuasion that drives his entire strategy — language schools, Summon against the Gentiles, public controversies.

Replaced in its century, this method marks a real effort to meet the interlocutor on the ground of reason and Scripture, where others would have seen only the sword. The historian will judge the limits of these medieval controversies; but Raymond's intention — to win minds rather than break bodies — belongs to what is best in the Dominican missionary tradition.

A king, a favorite, an intractable confessor

The most picturesque episode of Raymond's life - and the most popular in iconography - features the saint and his royal penitent, James Iᵉʳ of Aragon. Raymond rebuked him with the firmness of a confessor; the king promised, but did not send the woman away.^[65]

Seeing that his remonstrances remained in vain, Raymond decided to leave the island so as not to condone the prince's sin. But the king, furious, forbade any captain to take him on board, threatening death to anyone who transported the brother.^[66]

“He spread his cloak on the waves”

It was then, says tradition, that the miracle occurred. Raymond went to the shore, spread his cloak (the Dominican cappa) on the sea, attached a section of it to his staff as a mast, made the sign of the cross, got on this frail skiff and sailed from Majorca to Barcelona — about 160 miles — in a few hours.^[67][68]

“He spread his cover over the waters, raised a corner of it to make a sail, and, carried by the sole power of God, crossed the sea to Barcelona. » — hagiographic tradition on the crossing of Raymond^[69]

Arriving at the port of Barcelona, ​​he took back his perfectly dry coat and returned to his convent. The king, overwhelmed by the prodigy, converted, sent away his favorite and was henceforth docile to his confessor.^[70] The scene - a Dominican standing on his cape spread out in the middle of the waves - became the most recognizable image of the saint in Spanish art.

How to read this story

Should we take this story literally? The Catholic compass here invites caution and respect: this prodigy, attested by an ancient and constant tradition, relates to stories that the Church relates without making it an article of faith, but which it does not reflexively disqualify. The spiritual meaning, in any case, is clear: the confessor prefers to face the sea rather than betray the truth before a king. The miracle, if it says anything, speaks of the sovereign freedom of the saint in the face of power - the very freedom that makes true pastors.

An old age of prayer and humility

Returned to his convent in Barcelona, ​​Raymond lived his last decades in prayer, penance and service of souls, continuing to advise kings, popes and bishops who had recourse to his knowledge and his holiness.^[71][72] People came to consult him from all over Spain; he remained, until the end, the confessor and the wise to whom the most difficult cases were referred.

Death, almost a hundred years (January 6, 1275)

Raymond died in Barcelona on January 6, 1275, having reached an age close to one hundred years.^[73][74] The kings of Aragon and Castile, James Iᵉʳ and **Alphonse dignities.^[75][76] His relics rest at the Barcelona Cathedral, in a chapel dedicated to him.^[77][78]

Canonization by Clement VIII (1601)

The cult of Raymond developed immediately after his death, supported by the miracles attributed to his intercession.^[79] But his solemn canonization did not come until more than three centuries later: on April 29, 1601, Pope Clement VIII included him in the catalog of saints.^[80][81] His feast day was then extended to the entire Church: fixed first on January 23 (inserted in the general Roman calendar in 1671), it was moved in 1969 to January 7, closer to the actual date of his death.^[82]

Patron of canonists and jurists

Raymond de Penyafort is universally honored as the patron of canonists, jurists and lawyers, and of faculties of canon law.^[83][84] The choice is right: no saint has, as much as he, shaped the law of the Church. But patronage also speaks of a spiritual requirement - that of a law which remains in the service of salvation, and of a jurist who never forgets that laws are made for souls.

What Raymond leaves us

The legacy of Raymond de Penyafort consists of three lessons which have lost none of their relevance:

• Science is a service. The greatest jurist of his century put all his knowledge at the service of the Church and salvation, without ever making it an instrument of career or power.
• The law is at the service of mercy. The codifier of pontifical law was also the theoretician of confession: with him, legal rigor never crushes charity, it serves it.
• The mission requires intelligence. Learning languages, arousing Summon against the Gentiles, organizing controversies: Raymond wanted evangelization armed with reason as much as zeal.

A saint of justice and mercy

The whole figure of Raymond is in the union of justice and mercy. The canonist knew the letter of the law better than anyone; the penitentiary knew better than anyone that above the law reigns the charity of Christ, who came not to lose but to save. What Scripture says about Christ — “full of grace and truth” — Raymond sought to translate it into the order of ecclesiastical laws.

“Mercy and truth have met, justice and peace have embraced each other. » — Psalm 84 (85), 11^[85]

The honors detachment

Raymond refused an archbishopric, resigned as head of his Order, and fled honors with a constancy that struck his contemporaries. This inner freedom is the sign of a soul which only expected its greatness from God. The man who could command chose to obey; the one whom the kings consulted preferred the cell of the convent.

A model for Christian lawyers

For the jurist, the lawyer, the Christian magistrate of today, Raymond remains a master: he shows that one can be a rigorous legal technician without ever losing one's soul, and that the highest legal competence finds its end not in itself, but in the service of truth and people. For him, law is never an end: it is a path to God.

• Read Saint Dominic (1170-1221): the founder of the Order of Preachers, of which Raymond was the third successor at the head of the Order.
• Read Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274): the Dominican friar to whom Raymond would have asked to write the Summa against the Gentiles for the mission.
• Read Saint Pierre Nolasque (1180-1256): founder of the Order of Mercy, which Raymond supported for the redemption of Christian captives.
• Read Saint Peter of Verona (1206-1252): another great Dominican saint of the 13th century, martyr of the faith.
• Understand the sacrament of which Raymond was the theoretician: The confession.
• Remember the essentials: Saint Raymond of Penyafort, a Catalan jurist who became a Dominican at almost fifty years old, codified all the law of the Church in the Decretals of 1234, wrote the first great manual for confessors, briefly governed the Order, then devoted his long old age to the conversion of Muslims and Jews. Died almost a hundred years old in 1275 and canonized in 1601, he remains the patron of canonists — the saint who put law in the service of salvation.