Confessor.
He is called Nonnatus (non natus, unborn), because he was removed from the entrails of his deceased mother. From a noble Catalan family, the Blessed Virgin called him to the newly founded Order of Mercy.
He went to Africa to redeem captives and, running out of money, he stayed in the place of a Christian who wavered in faith. There he converted many Mohammedans, for which he was barbarously tormented, and his lips were pierced to put a padlock on them to prevent him from preaching.
Returned to Spain with the aureole of martyrdom, Gregory IX promoted him as cardinal; but, on his way to Rome, he fell ill and died most holy in Cardona, in the year 1240.
V: Saint Raymond Nonnatus.
A: Pray for us.
Info of the Saint:
Feast | August 31 |
Born | 1204 Portell, Lleida |
Died | Aug. 31, 1240 Cardona, Barcelona |
Nationality | Spaniard |
Canonization | 1657, by Pope Alexander VII |
Patronage | Childbirth; expectant mothers; pregnant women; newborn babies; infants; children; obstetricians; midwives; fever; the falsely accused; confidentiality of confession. |