Raymond, St

Raymond, St.

(Spanish, San Ramon), a Roman Catholic prelate who flourished in Spain in the first half of the 13th century, is frequently called by his surname Nonnattus, which he owes to the fact that he was taken out of the body of his mother after her death by the Cesarean operation. He was thus born at Portel, in Catalonia, in 1204, and was of a gentleman's family of small fortune. His early life was spent in the mountain fastnesses of his native country; but when he had attained to the years of a maturer youth, he set out for the court, and there attracted attention. The dissipation of his royal associates disgusted him, and he sought the retirement of the cloister. He joined the Order of Mercy, which aimed at the redemption of captives from the Moors, and was admitted by the founder himself, St. Peter Nolasco (q.v.). While in Algiers he was taken up by the authorities, and punished with excruciating tortures of the body; but he bore all meekly, and even continued his work after his release. The story goes that the governor, when informed of the incurability of Raymond's zeal of propagandism, had him seized anew, and his lips were bored through with a red-hot iron and fastened with a padlock. He was released after eight months' imprisonment, and taken back to Spain by friends of his, and under direction of the pope of Rome, who shortly after made him a cardinal. He was also made the general of his order, and as such was invited to visit Rome. On his wav thither he fell sick at Cardona, only six miles from Barcelona, and died Aug. 31,1240. Both pope Gregory IX and king James of Aragon assisted at his funeral. Pope Alexander VII inserted Raymond's name in the Martyrology in 1657. See Butler, Lives of the Saints, 8:567 sq.