Saint Raymond Nonnat
Cardinal
(1201-1240)
Saint Raymond Nonnat perdit sa mère dès sa naissance. Dès l'usage de la raison, se voyant sans mère ici-bas, il se choisit Marie pour Mère. La Sainte Vierge et Son dévot serviteur rivalisaient de dévouement l'un pour l'autre. Partout le pieux enfant saluait l'image de sa Mère céleste, il trouvait chaque jour mille moyens de L'honorer. Le démon lui étant apparu un jour sous la forme d'un berger, pour le tenter, Raymond le reconnut, appela Marie à son aide, et le tentateur disparut avec un cri horrible. Son père, ayant entendu dire que la dévotion de son fils lui faisait négliger la garde de son troupeau, vint un jour l'épier et fut ravi d'admiration de voir un beau jeune homme éclatant de lumière garder le troupeau pendant que Raymond se livrait à la prière dans une chapelle voisine, aux pieds de l'image de la Vierge.
Raymond était arrivé à l'âge de fixer son avenir. Marie calma ses inquiétudes en lui révélant qu'il devait aller à Barcelone et se faire recevoir dans l'Ordre de Notre-Dame-de-la-Merci pour la rédemption des captifs.
Après un noviciat plein de ferveur, il fut envoyé en Afrique, où, n'ayant pas assez d'argent pour racheter tous les prisonniers, il se donna lui-même en otage, afin de les mettre tous en liberté, et ne fut délivré que quand le surplus du payement fut arrivé. Il souffrit avec joie tous les outrages de la captivité en union avec le Rédempteur des âmes outragé pour les péchés du monde. Un jour, il faillit être empalé pour avoir instruit et converti plusieurs infidèles; mais le supplice fut changé en coups de bâton. La bouche cadenassée, il chantait encore les louanges divines, ce qui fut attribué à des enchantements et donna lieu à une persécution nouvelle.
Après sa délivrance, qui fut moins pour lui un sujet de joie qu'un sujet de tristesse, il fut élevé au cardinalat; mais, rentré dans son couvent, il y mena la même vie simple qu'auparavant, et ne consentit à changer ni d'habit, ni de logement, ni de genre de vie. Un jour très froid d'hiver, il avait donné son chapeau à un pauvre vieillard mendiant; la nuit suivante, la Sainte Vierge vint, accompagnée de plusieurs Saints, déposer une couronne sur sa tête.
Près de mourir, il reçut la Communion des mains de Jésus-Christ.
Abbé L. Jaud, Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame, 1950
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_raymond_nonnat.html
Biographie
Raymond, né à Portel, au diocèse d'Urgel, en Catalogne, en 1204, fut surnommé « Nonnat » (non natus) parce que sa mère mourut avant de lui donner le jour, ce qui lui vaut d'être le patron des femmes enceintes et de l'enfant qu'elles portent. Sa mère était morte d'une grave maladie dont elle se vit attaquée au septième mois de sa grossesse ; les médecins assuraient que l'enfant était mort aussi, et que c'était même sa mort qui avait provoqué celle de sa mère ; le père, néanmoins, ne put jamais se résoudre à la voir conduire en terre sans avoir la connaissance de ce qu'elle portait dans ses entrailles ; un de ses parents, qui le vit dans cette perplexité, eut la hardiesse de tirer un poignard de son sein pour en fendre le côté gauche de la défunte, et l'on vit paraître aussitôt un bel enfant plein de vie, contre toute espérance humaine et au grand étonnement de tous ceux qui étaient présents. Son père était de la noble famille des Sarrois, depuis appelée Segers, alliée aux maisons de Foix et de Cardone. Enfant pieux et studieux, fort dévôt à Vierge Marie, il était bouleversé par la misère physique et morale.
Entré dans l'Ordre des Mercédaires[1], récemment fondé par Pierre Nolasque[2] pour venir en aide aux chrétiens tombés aux mains des musulmans, Raymond Nonnat fut chargé d'aller à Alger pour racheter ceux que les barbaresques avaient réduits à l'esclavage. Quand il n'eut plus d'argent, il se livra lui-même contre quelques captifs. D'abord traité durement, il obtint ensuite la permission de circuler pour encourager ses compagnons d'infortune et, comme il avait profité de cette relative liberté pour enseigner quelques musulmans qui se convertirent et qu'il baptisa, il aurait été condamné à être empalé si ceux qui lui servaient de caution n'étaient intervenu ; il fut fouetté dans les rues, puis on lui perça les lèvres avec un fer rouge pour y placer un cadenas dont le gouverneur avait la clef.
Saint Pierre Nolasque finit par rassembler la rançon de Raymond qui, bien qu'il eût voulu rester pour soulager les esclaves chrétiens, obéit à l'ordre de rentrer en Espagne. Peu après, le pape Grégoire IX qui l'appela auprès de lui, le créa cardinal, au titre de Saint-Eustache, sans lui imposer de quitter l'habit de son Ordre. Raymond Nonnat mourut près de Barcelone, avant que d'avoir rejoint le Souverain Pontife. Dès que Raymond Nonnat fut entré dans la maison du comte de Cardone qui était à deux journées de Barcelone, il fut saisi d'une fièvre très-violente, accompagnée de convulsions et de tous les symptômes qui pouvaient être les marques d'une mort prochaine. Il voulut s'y disposer par les moyens ordinaires que l'Eglise présente à tous les fidèles. Mais les religieux de la Merci dépendaient du curé du lieu qui était absent ; il fallut l'attendre pour lui administrer les derniers Sacrements. Alors Raymond, qui craignait de mourir sans être muni du saint Viatique, éleva les yeux au ciel et pria Dieu de ne pas permettre qu'il fût privé de ce bien qu'il désirait avec tant d'ardeur, quoiqu'il s'en reconnût indigne ; et aussitôt il entra, par la porte de la salle où il était couché, en présence du comte, des religieux et de plusieurs autres personnes qui l'assistaient, une belle procession d'hommes inconnus, revêtus d'habits blancs, comme les religieux de la Merci, et tenant chacun un flambeau allumé à la main. Notre-Seigneur les suivait ayant un saint ciboire entre ses mains ; mais la lumière qu'il répandait était si grande, que tous ceux de l'assemblée en furent éblouis : de sorte que personne ne put voir ce qui se passa dans la suite d'une action si miraculeuse qui dura une bonne demi-heure ; après quoi la procession s'en retourna dans le même ordre qu'elle était venue, avec cette différence seulement, qu'en venant, les religieux n'avaient paru que depuis la porte de la chambre jusqu'autour du lit, et, au retour, ils prirent le chemin de la rivière qui arrose le pied du village, et la passèrent à pied sec, marchant sur les eaux comme sur la terre ferme, et disparurent ensuite. Le comte et tous les assistants, qui étaient sortis pour voir la fin de cette merveille, trouvèrent à leur retour le saint cardinal, les genoux en terre, les yeux baignés de larmes, le visage et les mains levés vers le ciel, et comme sortant d'un profond ravissement ; on lui demanda ce qui s'était passé ; mais il ne dit que ce mot de David : « Que le Dieu d'Israël est bon à ceux qui ont le cour droit et innocent[3] ! » Enfin, il avoua qu'il avait reçu le très-auguste Sacrement de nos autels. Ainsi, tous ses désirs étant accomplis, peu de temps après il rendit son esprit à son Créaleur, en prononçant ces paroles du Sauveur expirant sur la croix : « Mon Dieu, je remets mon âme entre vos mains. »
Son visage, après sa mort, devint beau et éclatant comme celui de Moïse, quand il descendit de la montagne où il venait de parler avec Dieu ; et, bien que la chaleur de la saison fùt extrême, et qu'elle fût encore augmentée par le grand concours du peuple qui venait de tous côtés, pour honorer ses précieuses dépouilles, son corps néanmoins ne donna jamais aucune marque de corruption ; il répandait au contraire, par toute la salle, une odeur plus suave que le baume et que les parfums les plus précieux, et il se fit même beaucoup de guérisons surnaturelles, en faveur de ceux que la piété y avait amenés et qui avaient le bonheur de le toucher. Cependant il fallut penser au lieu où l'on mettrait en dépôt un si précieux trésor, et il s'éleva à ce sujet un nouveau ditférend entre le comte de Cardonne qui le voulait retenir, et les religieux de la Merci, qui le voulaient emmener dans leur couvent. Pour apaiser leur contestation, on convint que le saint corps serait mis dans une châsse et ensuite chargé sur une mule aveugle qui ne serait guidée que par son propre instinct, et que le lieu où elle s'arrêterait serait choisi pour cette sépulture. Cet accord fut fidèlement exécuté : car la mule, ayant marché quelque temps, alla s'arrêter enfin proche de l'ermitage de Saint-Nicolas où le serviteur de Dieu avait vu naître sa dévotion envers la sainte Vierge et où cette bonne Mère lui avait fait goûter ses faveurs. Jamais il ne fut possible de faire aller plus avant cette bête : elle fit trois fois le tour de l'ermitage, et ensuite elle tomba morte à la porte de la chapelle.
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[1] Ordre de la Bienheureuse Vierge Marie de la Merci pour la Rédemption des captifs.
[2] Issu de la noble famille des Nolasco, apparenté par sa mère aux comtes de Toulouse et aux rois d'Aragon, Pierre Nolasque, né vers 1189 au mas des Saintes-Puelles, dans l'ancien diocèse de Saint-Papoul, après avoir renoncé au mariage pour se consacrer à Dieu, rejoint les armées de Simon de Montfort. A la bataille de Muret où le roi Pierre d'Aragon est tué, son fils, Jacques, âgé de six ans, est fait prisonnier ; Simon de Monfort le met sous la garde de Pierre Nolasque puis les envoie tous deux en Espagne. Loin de la cour, Pierre Nolasque enseigne son royal élève et lui montre l'exemple de sa piété et de sa charité.
[3] Psaume LXI 1.
SOURCE : http://missel.free.fr/Sanctoral/08/31.php
Leçons des Matines avant 1960.
Au deuxième nocturne.
Quatrième leçon. Raymond a été surnommé Nonnat, en raison d’un fait contraire aux lois ordinaires de la nature : sa mère étant morte avant de le mettre au monde, il fallut lui ouvrir le sein pour amener l’enfant à la lumière. Issu d’une pieuse et illustre famille, il vit le jour à Portel en Catalogne. Dès son enfance, il donna des marques de sa future sainteté. Étranger aux divertissements de son âge, insensible aux attraits du monde, il se donnait tellement à la piété, que tous admiraient dans cet enfant une vertu déjà mûre. En avançant en âge, il s’appliqua à l’étude des lettres ; mais bientôt, sur l’ordre de son père, il se retira à la campagne, où il visitait souvent une petite chapelle dédiée à saint Nicolas, aux environs de Portel, pour y vénérer une image de la sainte Vierge ; image que les fidèles continuent d’entourer encore aujourd’hui d’une très grande vénération. Là, se répandant en prières, il suppliait constamment la Mère de Dieu de l’adopter pour sou fils, de daigner lui enseigner la voie du salut et la science des Saints.
Cinquième leçon. La Vierge très clémente ne repoussa point sa demande ; car elle fit comprendre à Raymond, qu’il lui serait très agréable de le voir entrer dans l’ordre de la Merci ou du rachat des captifs, récemment fondé d’après son inspiration. Aussitôt cet avertissement reçu, il se rendit à Barcelone et embrassa cet institut, voué à une œuvre si excellente de charité envers le prochain. Enrôlé dans cette sainte milice, il garda toujours la virginité, qu’il avait déjà consacrée à Marie. Il se signala également par la pratique des autres vertus et surtout par sa charité envers les Chrétiens qui, tombés au pouvoir des païens, traînaient une vie misérable dans la captivité. Envoyé en Afrique pour racheter ces malheureux, il en délivra un grand nombre, et se constitua comme otage pour ne pas voir ceux qui restaient, faute de rançon, courir le risque d’apostasier. Mais comme, enflammé du zèle le plus ardent pour le salut des âmes, il réussit, par ses prédications à convertir à Jésus Christ un certain nombre de Musulmans, les barbares le jetèrent dans un étroit cachot, et le soumirent à différents supplices : il endura notamment le cruel martyre d’avoir les lèvres percées et tenues fermées par un cadenas de fer.
Sixième leçon. Ces choses, et d’autres actions pleines de courage, lui firent de tous côtés la réputation d’un saint et portèrent Grégoire IX à lui donner une place dans le sacré Collège des Cardinaux de la sainte Église romaine ; mais l’homme de Dieu, conservant dans cette dignité l’horreur qu’il avait de la pompe et du luxe, ne cessa de pratiquer strictement l’humilité religieuse. Il se mit en route pour aller à Rome, mais à peine arrivé à Cordoue il tomba dangereusement malade, et demanda instamment à être muni des sacrements de l’Église. La maladie s’aggravant et le Prêtre tardant à venir, Raymond reçut le saint viatique par le ministère des Anges, qui lui apparurent sous l’aspect de religieux de son Ordre. L’ayant reçu, il rendit grâces à Dieu, et s’en alla au Seigneur le dernier dimanche d’août, l’an douze cent quarante. Une discussion s’étant élevée au sujet du lieu de sa sépulture, son corps, enfermé dans un cercueil, fut placé sur une mule aveugle, qui le transporta, non sans une permission de Dieu à la chapelle de saint Nicolas, pour qu’il fût enseveli au lieu même où Raymond avait jeté les premiers fondements de sa très sainte vie. Un couvent de son Ordre, fut bâti en cet endroit et les fidèles y affluent de toutes les parties de la Catalogne, pour s’acquitter de leurs vœux en venant honorer le Saint, dont la gloire y est manifestée par différentes sortes de miracles et de choses merveilleuses.
Au troisième nocturne. Du Commun.
Lecture du saint Évangile selon saint Luc. Cap. 12, 35-40.
En ce temps-là : Jésus dit à ses disciples : Que vos reins soient ceints, et les lampes allumées dans vos mains. Et le reste.
Homélie de saint Grégoire, Pape. Homilia 13 in Evang.
Septième leçon. Mes très chers frères, le sens de la lecture du saint Évangile que vous venez d’entendre est très clair. Mais de crainte qu’elle ne paraisse, à cause de sa simplicité même, trop élevée à quelques-uns, nous la parcourrons brièvement, afin d’en exposer la signification à ceux qui l’ignorent, sans cependant être à charge à ceux qui la connaissent. Le Seigneur dit : « Que vos reins soient ceints ». Nous ceignons nos reins lorsque nous réprimons les penchants de la chair par la continence. Mais parce que c’est peu de chose de s’abstenir du mal, si l’on ne s’applique également, et par des efforts assidus, à faire du bien, notre Seigneur ajoute aussitôt : « Ayez en vos mains des lampes allumées ». Nous tenons en nos mains des lampes allumées, lorsque nous donnons à notre prochain, par nos bonnes œuvres, des exemples qui l’éclairent. Le Maître désigne assurément ces œuvres-là, quand il dit : « Que votre lumière luise devant les hommes, afin qu’ils voient vos bonnes œuvres, et qu’ils glorifient votre Père qui est dans les cieux ».
Huitième leçon. Voilà donc les deux choses commandées : ceindre ses reins, et tenir des lampes ; ce qui signifie que la chasteté doit parer notre corps, et la lumière de la vérité briller dans nos œuvres. L’une de ces vertus n’est nullement capable de plaire à notre Rédempteur si l’autre ne l’accompagne. Celui qui fait des bonnes actions ne peut lui être agréable s’il n’a renoncé à se souiller par la luxure, ni celui qui garde une chasteté parfaite, s’il ne s’exerce à la pratique des bonnes œuvres. La chasteté n’est donc point une grande vertu sans les bonnes œuvres, et les bonnes œuvres ne sont rien sans la chasteté. Mais si quelqu’un observe les deux préceptes, il lui reste le devoir de tendre par l’espérance à la patrie céleste, et de prendre garde qu’en s’éloignant des vices, il ne le fasse pour l’honneur de ce monde.
Neuvième leçon. « Et vous, soyez semblables à des hommes qui attendent que leur maître revienne des noces, afin que lorsqu’il viendra et frappera à la porte, ils lui ouvrent aussitôt ». Le Seigneur vient en effet quand il se prépare à nous juger ; et il frappe à la porte, lorsque, par les peines de la maladie, il nous annonce une mort prochaine. Nous lui ouvrons aussitôt, si nous l’accueillons avec amour. Il ne veut pas ouvrir à son juge lorsqu’il frappe, celui qui tremble de quitter son corps, et redoute de voir ce juge qu’il se souvient avoir méprisé ; mais celui qui se sent rassuré, et par son espérance et par ses œuvres, ouvre aussitôt au Seigneur lorsqu’il frappe à la porte, car il reçoit son Juge avec joie. Et quand le moment de la mort arrive, sa joie redouble à la pensée d’une glorieuse récompense.
Dom Guéranger, l’Année Liturgique
Août finit comme il a commencé, par une fête de délivrance : sceau divin de l’éternelle Sagesse sur ce mois qui lui est consacré. Depuis qu’au sortir d’Éden, elle fit son but de la rédemption du genre humain que poursuivait son amour, tous ses privilégiés ont eu leur part en ce grand œuvre : part de labeur, de prières, de souffrances, comme fut la sienne en la chair ; part féconde en la mesure même de l’association qu’elle daigne leur octroyer à ses renoncements miséricordieux. Pierre dans ses liens avança plus l’émancipation du monde que les conspirateurs soulevés contre la tyrannie des Césars ; Raymond Nonnat et ses frères, prenant sur eux les chaînes des captifs, firent plus que tous les philosophes égalitaires ou les déclamateurs de liberté pour l’abolition de l’esclavage et l’extinction de la barbarie.
Déjà les fêtes des saints Raymond de Pegnafort et Pierre Nolasque nous ont donné d’assister aux origines de l’Ordre illustre où Raymond Nonnat brille d’un éclat si grand. Bientôt sa fondatrice auguste elle-même, Notre-Dame de la Merci, daignera se prêter à l’expression de la reconnaissance du monde pour tant de bienfaits.
Jusqu’où, illustre Saint, n’avez-vous pas suivi le conseil du Sage [1] ! Les liens de la Sagesse sont des liens de salut, disait-il [2]. Et, non content de livrer vos pieds à ses fers et votre cou à ses entraves [3], vos lèvres sont allées, dans l’allégresse de l’amour, au-devant du cadenas redoutable dont ne parlait pas le fils de Sirach. Mais quelle récompense n’est pas la vôtre, aujourd’hui que cette Sagesse du Père, si totalement embrassée par vous [4] dans la plénitude de la divine charité en son double précepte, vous abreuve au torrent des éternelles délices [5], ornant votre front de cette gloire, de ces grâces [6] qui sont le rayonnement de sa propre beauté ! Afin que nous puissions vous rejoindre un jour près de son trône de lumière, montrez-nous à marcher en ce monde par ses voies toujours belles, par ses sentiers où la paix n’est jamais troublée [7], fût-ce au fond des cachots [8]. Délivrez nos âmes, si le péché les captive encore ; rompez leurs attaches égoïstes, et remplacez-les par ces liens heureux de la Sagesse qui sont l’humilité, le renoncement, l’oubli de soi, l’amour de nos frères pour Dieu, de Dieu pour lui-même.
[1] Eccli. VI, 24.
[2] Ibid. 31.
[3] Ibid. 25.
[4] Prov. V, 8.
[5] Psalm. XXXV, 9.
[6] Prov. V, 9.
[7] Ibid. III, 17.
[8] Sap. X, 9-21.
Juan de Mesa (1583-1627). Estatua de San Ramón Nonato, 1626
Bhx cardinal Schuster, Liber Sacramentorum
La fête de ce fils héroïque de l’Ordre de Notre-Dame de la Merci, à qui, en raison des longs et cruels tourments soufferts par lui, en Afrique, pour la défense de la sainte Foi, revient le titre de confesseur au sens primitif que lui attribuaient nos pères, fut introduite dans le Bréviaire par ordre de Clément IX et d’Innocent XI.
La messe est du Commun, sauf la première collecte qui est propre.
Prière. — « Seigneur qui, pour racheter vos fidèles de la servitude des Mahométans, avez rendu admirable le zèle du bienheureux Raymond ; faites que, par ses prières, affranchis des liens de nos péchés, nous nous appliquions en toute liberté d’esprit à accomplir ce qui plaît à votre sainte volonté ».
La liberté ! Voilà le grand don que Dieu a accordé à l’humanité et que le Christ lui a ensuite restitué. C’est pourquoi saint Colomban disait à un tyran couronné : si aufers libertatem, aufers dignitatem. Nous devons garder jalousement cette prérogative de notre dignité de fils de Dieu, sans jamais nous assujettir à la servitude dégradante des passions. La liberté est ordre et harmonie ; et pour jouir des fruits de cette vraie liberté, il faut se dominer soi-même et mettre spontanément sur ses épaules le joug suave de la loi du Christ.
Dom Pius Parsch, Le guide dans l’année liturgique
Hors de l’esclavage du démon.
1. Saint Raymond. — Jour de mort : 31 août 1240. Tombeau : Une discussion s’étant élevée au sujet du lieu de sa sépulture, on chargea son corps, enfermé dans un cercueil, sur une mule aveugle qui le transporta à la chapelle de Saint-Nicolas, aux environs de Portel (Espagne), où il fut enterré. Vie : Saint Raymond reçut le surnom de Nonnat, c’est-à-dire « qui n’est pas né », parce que, sa mère étant morte avant sa naissance, on le tira de son corps par l’opération césarienne. Il entra dans l’ordre de Notre-Dame de la Merci, spécialement institué pour le rachat des captifs chrétiens. Il fut envoyé en Afrique où, ses ressources épuisées, il se donna lui-même en otage. Ayant converti par sa prédication un certain nombre de Musulmans, il fut jeté par les barbares dans un étroit cachot. Les lèvres percées et cadenassées, il endura longtemps ce supplice avec beaucoup de patience. Le pape Grégoire IX, informé de ces faits, le nomma cardinal, alors qu’il portait encore ses vêtements d’esclave. La mort le frappa subitement à l’âge de 36 ans. Le prêtre qui devait lui administrer les derniers sacrements tardant à venir, il reçut le saint viatique de la main des anges qui lui apparurent sous le costume de religieux de son ordre. Saint Raymond Nonnat appartient à la liste glorieuse des héros qui sacrifient leur vie pour le salut de leurs frères.
2. La messe. — C’est la messe Os iusti du commun des Confesseurs. Nous avons reconnu hier sainte Rose de Lima, et nous avec elle, sous les traits de la jeune vierge qui attend, dans la nuit, une lampe ardente à la main, l’arrivée de l’Époux qui l’introduit dans la salle du festin. Aujourd’hui, nous nous trouvons en présence d’un spectacle analogue : le serviteur vigilant se tient prêt, dans la nuit, une lampe allumée à la main, pour le retour du maître qui, pour le récompenser, le fait asseoir à sa table et s’approche pour le servir. Nous constatons trois points de ressemblance entre ces deux paraboles ; la lampe allumée, l’attente, et la récompense, Admirons comment l’une et l’autre symbolisent à merveille la vie chrétienne. La lampe allumée est la vita æterna que nous avons reçue au baptême, la fides et devotio (la foi et le don de soi) ; l’attente est celle de la parousie ; et la récompense, enfin, le bonheur : éternel qu’on dépeint si volontiers en effet comme un festin de mariage, — Mais notre parabole aujourd’hui représente en même temps la messe. Au Saint-Sacrifice, en effet, il est absolument vrai que le Seigneur vient à nous, le serviteur vigilant, qu’il nous invite à sa table et nous « sert en passant » (transiens ministrabit) sa chair et son sang. On voit, par suite, que la messe est un symbole et une anticipation du festin céleste ; ici-bas, nous possédons Dieu « en passant » là-haut, ce sera pour l’éternité.
SOURCE : http://www.introibo.fr/31-08-St-Raymond-Nonnat-confesseur
St. Raymond Nonnatus
St. Raymond was born at Portella, Catalonia, Spain. He
was delivered by caesarean operation when his mother died in childbirth. Hence
his name non natus (not born). He joined the Mercedarians under St. Peter
Nolasco at Barcelona. He succeeded Peter as chief ransomer and went to Algeria
to ransom slaves.
He remained as hostage
for several slaves when his money ran out and was sentenced to be impaled when
the governor learned that he had converted several Mohammedans. He escaped the
death sentence because of the ransom he would bring, but was forced to run the
gauntlet. He was then tortured for continuing his evangelizing activities but
was ransomed eight months later by Peter Nolasco. On his return to Barcelona in
1239, he was appointed Cardinal by Pope Gregory IX, but died at Cardona a short
distance from Barcelona the next year while on the way to Rome.
He was canonized in
1657. He is the patron saint of expectant mothers and midwives because of the
nature of his own birth. Although his mother died in labor, Raymond
miraculously survived the ordeal. His feast day is August 31.
SOURCE : http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/saint-raymond-nonnatus/
St. Raymond Nonnatus
(In Spanish SAN RAMON).
Born 1200 or 1204 at Portello in the Diocese of Urgel in Catalonia; died at Cardona, 31 August, 1240. His feast is celebrated on 31 August. He is pictured in the habit of his order surrounded by ransomed slaves, with a padlock on his lips. He was taken from the womb of his mother after her death, hence his name. Of noble but poor family, he showed early traits of piety and great talent. His father ordered him to tend a farm, but later gave him permission to take the habit with the Mercedarians at Barcelona, at the hands of the founder, St. Peter Nolasco. Raymond made such progress in the religious life that he was soon considered worthy to succeed his master in the office of ransomer. He was sent to Algiers and liberated many captives. When money failed he gave himself as a hostage. He was zealous in teaching the Christian religion and made many converts, which embittered the Mohammedan authorities. Raymond was subjected to all kinds of indignities and cruelty, was made to run the gauntlet, and was at last sentenced to impalement. The hope of a greater sum of money as ransom caused the governor to commute the sentence into imprisonment. To prevent him from preaching for Christ, his lips were pierced with a red-hot iron and closed with a padlock. After his arrival in Spain, in 1239, he was made a cardinal by Gregory IX. In the next year he was called to Rome by the pope, but came only as far as Cardona, about six miles from Barcelona, where he died. His body was brought to the chapel of St. Nicholas near his old farm. In 1657 his name was placed in the Roman martyrology by Alexander VII. He is invoked by women in labour and by persons falsely accused. The appendix to the Roman ritual gives a formula for the blessing of water, in his honour, to be used by the sick, and another of candles.
Sources
St. Raymond Nonnatus
(In Spanish SAN RAMON).
Born 1200 or 1204 at Portello in the Diocese of Urgel in Catalonia; died at Cardona, 31 August, 1240. His feast is celebrated on 31 August. He is pictured in the habit of his order surrounded by ransomed slaves, with a padlock on his lips. He was taken from the womb of his mother after her death, hence his name. Of noble but poor family, he showed early traits of piety and great talent. His father ordered him to tend a farm, but later gave him permission to take the habit with the Mercedarians at Barcelona, at the hands of the founder, St. Peter Nolasco. Raymond made such progress in the religious life that he was soon considered worthy to succeed his master in the office of ransomer. He was sent to Algiers and liberated many captives. When money failed he gave himself as a hostage. He was zealous in teaching the Christian religion and made many converts, which embittered the Mohammedan authorities. Raymond was subjected to all kinds of indignities and cruelty, was made to run the gauntlet, and was at last sentenced to impalement. The hope of a greater sum of money as ransom caused the governor to commute the sentence into imprisonment. To prevent him from preaching for Christ, his lips were pierced with a red-hot iron and closed with a padlock. After his arrival in Spain, in 1239, he was made a cardinal by Gregory IX. In the next year he was called to Rome by the pope, but came only as far as Cardona, about six miles from Barcelona, where he died. His body was brought to the chapel of St. Nicholas near his old farm. In 1657 his name was placed in the Roman martyrology by Alexander VII. He is invoked by women in labour and by persons falsely accused. The appendix to the Roman ritual gives a formula for the blessing of water, in his honour, to be used by the sick, and another of candles.
Sources
BUTLER, Lives of the Saints ; STADLER, Heiligenlexicon ; GAMS, Kirchengesch. von Spanien, III; Acta SS., VI, 729.
Mershman, F. (1911). St. Raymond Nonnatus. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved August 31, 2015 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12671b.htm
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12671b.htm
Raymond Nonnatus, O.Merc. Cardinal (RM)
Born at Portella, Catalonia, Spain, in 1204; died at Cardona, near Barcelona, Spain, in 1240; canonized in 1657.
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0831.shtml
ACCORDING to the rule laid down by our divine Redeemer, 1 that Christian approves himself his most faithful disciple, and gives the surest and greatest proof of his love of God, who most perfectly loves his neighbour for God’s sake. By this test of true sanctity we are to form our judgment of the glorious saint whom the church honours on this day. Saint Raymund Nonnatus 2 was born at Portel in the diocess of Urgel, in Catalonia, in the year 1204, and was descended of a gentleman’s family of a small fortune. In his childhood he seemed to find no other pleasure than in his devotions and serious duties. Such was his application to his grammar studies, and so happy his genius, as to spare his preceptor much pains in his education. His father, resolving to cross his inclination to a religious or ecclesiastical state, which he began to perceive in him, took him from school, and sent him to take care of a farm which he had in the country. Raymund readily obeyed, and in order to enjoy the opportunity of holy solitude, by voluntary choice, kept the sheep himself, and in the mountains and forests spent his time in holy meditation and prayer, imitating the austerities of the ancient anchorets. Some time after he was pressed by his friends to go to the court of Arragon, where, by his prudence and abilities, he could not fail to make a fortune, being related to the illustrious houses of Foix and Cardona. These importunities obliged him to hasten the execution of his resolution of taking the religious habit in the new order of our Lady of Mercy for the redemption of captives. Our saint could say with holy Job, that compassion for the poor or distressed had grown up with him from his childhood. The sufferings of the Christians, who, in neighbouring provinces, almost under his eyes, groaned in the most inhuman slavery, under the Moors, particularly afflicted his tender heart; by compassion he bore all their burdens, and felt the weight of all their chains. But if he was moved at their corporal sufferings, and earnestly desired to devote himself, and all that he possessed, to procure them comfort and relief under their temporal afflictions, he was much more afflicted by their spiritual dangers of sinking under their calamities, and losing their immortal souls by impatience or apostacy from Christ. For this he never ceased to weep and pray, entreating the God of mercy to be himself the comfort and support of the weak and of the strong; and he wished with St. Paul, 3 to spend and be spent himself for their souls. In these dispositions he obtained of his unwilling father, through the mediation of the Count of Cardona, leave to embrace the above-mentioned order; and was accordingly admitted to his profession at Barcelona by the holy founder St. Peter Nolasco.
The extraordinary fervour of the saint in this new state, his perfect disengagement from the world, his profound humility, sincere obedience, wonderful spirit of mortification and penance, seraphic devotion, and constant recollection, rendered him the model and the admiration of his brethren. So surprising was the progress that he made in the perfection of his holy institute, that, within two or three years after his profession, he was judged the best qualified to discharge the office of ransomer, in which he succeeded St. Peter. Being sent into Barbary with a considerable sum of money, he purchased, at Algiers, the liberty of a great number of slaves. When all this treasure was laid out in that charitable way, he voluntarily gave himself up as a hostage for the ransom of certain others, whose situation was hardest, and whose faith seemed exposed to imminent danger. The magnanimous sacrifice which the saint had made of his own liberty served only to exasperate the Mahometans, who treated him with uncommon barbarity, till the infidels, fearing lest if he died in their hands they should lose the ransom which was stipulated to be paid for the slaves for whom he remained a hostage, upon a remonstrance made on that account by the cadi or magistrate of the city, gave orders that he should be treated with more humanity. Hereupon he was permitted to go abroad about the streets; which liberty he made use of to comfort and encourage the Christians in their chains, and he converted and baptized some Mahometans. Upon information hereof, the governor condemned him to be impaled, that is, to be put to death by thrusting a stake into the body through the hinder parts; this being a barbarous manner of executing criminals much in use among those infidels. However, the persons who were interested in the ransom of the captives, lest they should be losers, prevailed that his life should be spared; and, by a commutation of his punishment, he underwent a cruel bastinado. This torment did not daunt his courage. So long as he saw souls in danger of perishing eternally, he thought he had yet done nothing; nor could he let slip any opportunity of endeavouring to prevent their so frightful misfortune. He considered that, as St. Chrysostom says: 4 “Though a person shall have bestowed an immense treasure in alms, he has done nothing equal to him who has contributed to the salvation of a soul. This is a greater alms than ten thousand talents; than this whole world, how great soever it appears to the eye; for a man is more precious than the whole world.”
St. Raymund had on one side no more money to employ in releasing poor captives; and, on the other, to speak to a Mahometan upon the subject of religion was capital by the standing laws of the Mussulmans. He could, however, still exert his endeavours, with hopes of some success, or of dying a martyr of charity. He therefore resumed his former method of instructing and exhorting both the Christians and the Infidels. The governor, who was immediately apprized of his behaviour, was strangely enraged, and commanded the zealous servant of Christ to be whipped at the corners of all the streets in the city, his lips to be bored with a red-hot iron in the market-place, and his mouth shut up with a padlock, the key of which he kept himself, and only gave to the keepers when the prisoner was to eat. In this condition he was loaded with iron bolts and chains, and cast into a dark dungeon, where he lay full eight months, till his ransom was brought by some religious men of his Order, who were sent with it by St. Peter. Raymund was unwilling to leave his dungeon, or at least the country of the infidels, where he desired to remain to assist the slaves; but he acquiesced in obedience to the orders of his general, begging God would accept his tears, seeing he was not worthy to shed his blood for the souls of his neighbours
Upon his return to Spain he was nominated cardinal by Pope Gregory IX. But so little was he affected with the involuntary honour, that he neither changed his dress, nor his poor cell in the convent, nor his manner of living. Much less could he be prevailed upon by the nobility of the country to accept of a palace, to admit an equipage or train, or to suffer any rich furniture to be added to his little necessaries in his cell. The pope, being desirous to have so holy a man about his person, and to employ him in the public affairs of the church, called him to Rome. The saint obeyed, but could not be persuaded to travel otherwise than as a poor religious man. He went no further than Cardona, which is only six miles from Barcelona, when he was seized with a violent fever, which, by the symptoms which attended it, soon appeared to be mortal. St. Raymund prepared himself for his last passage. Some historians relate that he was favoured with a vision of angels, in which he received the holy viaticum. His death happened on the 31st of August, in the year 1240, the thirty-seventh of his age. He was buried in a chapel of St. Nicholas, near the farm in which he had formerly lived. St. Peter Nolasco founded a great convent in that place, in 1255, and St. Raymund’s relics are still kept in that church. The history of many miracles wrought by his means is to be seen in the Bollandists. Pope Alexander VII. inserted his name in the Martyrology in 1657.
This saint gave not only his substance but also his liberty, and even exposed himself to the most cruel torments and death, for the redemption of captives, and the salvation of souls. But alas! how cold now-a-days is charity in our breasts, though it be the essential characteristic of true Christians! Far from the heroic sentiments of the saints, do not we, merely to gratify our prodigality, vanity, or avarice, refuse to give the superfluous part of our possessions to the poor, who, for want of it, are perishing with cold and hunger? Are not we slothful and backward in affording a visit or comfort to poor prisoners, or sick persons, or in using our interest to procure some relief for the distressed? Are we not so insensible to their spiritual miseries as to be without all feeling for them, and to neglect even to commend them to God with sufficient earnestness, to admonish sinners according to our circumstances and the rules of prudence, or to instruct, by ourselves and others, those under our care? By this mark is it not manifest that self-love, and not the love of God and our neighbour, reigns in our hearts, whilst we seek and pursue so inordinately our own worldly interest, and are sensible to it alone? Let us sound our own hearts, and take an impartial view of our lives, and we shall feel whether this test of Christ, or that of Satan, which is self-love, be more sensible in our affections, and which of them is the governing principle of our actions.
Note 1. John xiii. 34, 35, xv. 12, &c. [back]
Note 2. The surname of Nonnatus or Unborn, was given him, because he was taken out of the body of his mother after her death by the Cæsarian operation. M. Mery has started objections in theory against the possibility of such an operation, which deserve the attention of practitioners. (Mem. de l’Acad. an. 1708.) Nevertheless, it is justified by many remarkable instances: among others, Scipio Africanus, thence surnamed Cæsar, Manlius of Carthage, and according to some authors, Julius Cæsar, were by this means saved from perishing in the womb. See Heister’s Surgery on this article, &c. Such an operation is never to be attempted without undoubted marks that the mother is really dead, lest a like misfortune happen to that by which an eminent surgeon was so shocked, as to renounce from that moment his profession. [back]
Note 3. 2 Cor. xii. 15. [back]
Note 4. S. Chrys. Or. 3, contra Jud. [back]
Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume VIII: August. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/8/311.html
Mershman, F. (1911). St. Raymond Nonnatus. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved August 31, 2015 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12671b.htm
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12671b.htm
Raymond Nonnatus, O.Merc. Cardinal (RM)
Born at Portella, Catalonia, Spain, in 1204; died at Cardona, near Barcelona, Spain, in 1240; canonized in 1657.
What we know of
Raymond's life comes from late and somewhat deficient sources. His surname is
not that of his family but because his mother died giving him birth and he had
to be removed from the womb by Caesarian section (nonnatus = "not
born"). He was not expected to live, but he did. His father, a wealthy,
authoritarian man, was ambitious for his son to play a part in the court of the
king of Aragon and ensured he had a good education. Raymond, however, preferred
to study religious books rather than secular subjects. Alone in his room, he
grew in piety. His father, alarmed at his growing vocation, sent Raymond to one
of his farms and appointed him its manager. Soon the young saint settled down
where he went off to live with shepherds. He enjoyed the life, ignored its
hardships, and lost himself in solitude and prayer. But his lifestyle aroused
the envy and suspicion of others, and so, once again, Raymond was forcibly
moved.
When he was able,
he entered the Order of Our Lady of Mercy or the Mercaderians, which had been
founded by Peter Nolasco at Barcelona. The order was dedicated to the ransoming
of Christian captives who had been taken by the Islamics and were being held in
prison in Algeria. Raymond quickly settled in, followed the exercises of faith
that taught him patience, detachment, charity, the poverty of the poor, and the
humility of the truly humble. When the founder retired, Raymond took his place
as chief almoner and set off for Algiers with the gold that had been
contributed by Christians.
This was a labor of
love for the saint to deliver so many prisoners from their chains and dungeons
and despair, especially when he realized that the faith of the prisoners was in
even greater danger than their bodies. When he had spent all the money, he
unhesitatingly offered himself in exchange. He was imprisoned, but gave thanks
to our Lady for it.
In prison he
converted some of his guards to Christianity, which enraged the Moors. He was
denounced, beaten in public. The governor would have killed him by impalement
had not others realized that a rich ransom would be paid for this particular
Christian. Instead his lips were pierced and closed with a chain so that he
could no longer comfort his friends or convert his jailers. After eight months
of torture, Peter Nolasco arrived and paid his ransom. When he left for
Barcelona, he was saddened at having left so many others behind, but Saint
Peter forbade him to remain.
When Pope Gregory
IX made him a cardinal of Saint Eustacius, Raymond did nothing to change his
lifestyle. He wore the same clothes, ate the same food, lived in the same
monastery in a cell as before this honor. He received few visitors and ignored
the count of Cardona and other important personages who disapproved of his
simplicity and tried to persuade him to adopt one more suited to his dignity as
a cardinal.
In 1240, Pope
Gregory summoned Raymond to Rome, perhaps to see this man whose reputation for
holiness was so great. When Raymond left the monastery, people ran to see him
and do him honor. But at Cardona, he was struck with fever and died the same
day at the age of 36 (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia,
Farmer).
In art, Saint
Raymond is a Mercedarian (white robe with badge on the breast) with a chain and
padlock on his lips in remembrance of his captivity. He may also be shown
surrounded by Moors and captives or dressed as a cardinal and presiding at
chapter (Roeder). He is highly venerated in Spain as the patron of children,
domestic animals, innocent captives, the falsely accused, nurses (Roeder), and
midwives (Delaney). He is invoked during childbirth and fever (Roeder).
St. Raymund Nonnatus, Confessor
From the Chronicles of his Order, and other Memoirs
collected by Pinius the Bollandist, Augusti, t. 6, p. 729. See also Helyot, who
chiefly copies Baillet.
A.D. 1240.
ACCORDING to the rule laid down by our divine Redeemer, 1 that Christian approves himself his most faithful disciple, and gives the surest and greatest proof of his love of God, who most perfectly loves his neighbour for God’s sake. By this test of true sanctity we are to form our judgment of the glorious saint whom the church honours on this day. Saint Raymund Nonnatus 2 was born at Portel in the diocess of Urgel, in Catalonia, in the year 1204, and was descended of a gentleman’s family of a small fortune. In his childhood he seemed to find no other pleasure than in his devotions and serious duties. Such was his application to his grammar studies, and so happy his genius, as to spare his preceptor much pains in his education. His father, resolving to cross his inclination to a religious or ecclesiastical state, which he began to perceive in him, took him from school, and sent him to take care of a farm which he had in the country. Raymund readily obeyed, and in order to enjoy the opportunity of holy solitude, by voluntary choice, kept the sheep himself, and in the mountains and forests spent his time in holy meditation and prayer, imitating the austerities of the ancient anchorets. Some time after he was pressed by his friends to go to the court of Arragon, where, by his prudence and abilities, he could not fail to make a fortune, being related to the illustrious houses of Foix and Cardona. These importunities obliged him to hasten the execution of his resolution of taking the religious habit in the new order of our Lady of Mercy for the redemption of captives. Our saint could say with holy Job, that compassion for the poor or distressed had grown up with him from his childhood. The sufferings of the Christians, who, in neighbouring provinces, almost under his eyes, groaned in the most inhuman slavery, under the Moors, particularly afflicted his tender heart; by compassion he bore all their burdens, and felt the weight of all their chains. But if he was moved at their corporal sufferings, and earnestly desired to devote himself, and all that he possessed, to procure them comfort and relief under their temporal afflictions, he was much more afflicted by their spiritual dangers of sinking under their calamities, and losing their immortal souls by impatience or apostacy from Christ. For this he never ceased to weep and pray, entreating the God of mercy to be himself the comfort and support of the weak and of the strong; and he wished with St. Paul, 3 to spend and be spent himself for their souls. In these dispositions he obtained of his unwilling father, through the mediation of the Count of Cardona, leave to embrace the above-mentioned order; and was accordingly admitted to his profession at Barcelona by the holy founder St. Peter Nolasco.
The extraordinary fervour of the saint in this new state, his perfect disengagement from the world, his profound humility, sincere obedience, wonderful spirit of mortification and penance, seraphic devotion, and constant recollection, rendered him the model and the admiration of his brethren. So surprising was the progress that he made in the perfection of his holy institute, that, within two or three years after his profession, he was judged the best qualified to discharge the office of ransomer, in which he succeeded St. Peter. Being sent into Barbary with a considerable sum of money, he purchased, at Algiers, the liberty of a great number of slaves. When all this treasure was laid out in that charitable way, he voluntarily gave himself up as a hostage for the ransom of certain others, whose situation was hardest, and whose faith seemed exposed to imminent danger. The magnanimous sacrifice which the saint had made of his own liberty served only to exasperate the Mahometans, who treated him with uncommon barbarity, till the infidels, fearing lest if he died in their hands they should lose the ransom which was stipulated to be paid for the slaves for whom he remained a hostage, upon a remonstrance made on that account by the cadi or magistrate of the city, gave orders that he should be treated with more humanity. Hereupon he was permitted to go abroad about the streets; which liberty he made use of to comfort and encourage the Christians in their chains, and he converted and baptized some Mahometans. Upon information hereof, the governor condemned him to be impaled, that is, to be put to death by thrusting a stake into the body through the hinder parts; this being a barbarous manner of executing criminals much in use among those infidels. However, the persons who were interested in the ransom of the captives, lest they should be losers, prevailed that his life should be spared; and, by a commutation of his punishment, he underwent a cruel bastinado. This torment did not daunt his courage. So long as he saw souls in danger of perishing eternally, he thought he had yet done nothing; nor could he let slip any opportunity of endeavouring to prevent their so frightful misfortune. He considered that, as St. Chrysostom says: 4 “Though a person shall have bestowed an immense treasure in alms, he has done nothing equal to him who has contributed to the salvation of a soul. This is a greater alms than ten thousand talents; than this whole world, how great soever it appears to the eye; for a man is more precious than the whole world.”
St. Raymund had on one side no more money to employ in releasing poor captives; and, on the other, to speak to a Mahometan upon the subject of religion was capital by the standing laws of the Mussulmans. He could, however, still exert his endeavours, with hopes of some success, or of dying a martyr of charity. He therefore resumed his former method of instructing and exhorting both the Christians and the Infidels. The governor, who was immediately apprized of his behaviour, was strangely enraged, and commanded the zealous servant of Christ to be whipped at the corners of all the streets in the city, his lips to be bored with a red-hot iron in the market-place, and his mouth shut up with a padlock, the key of which he kept himself, and only gave to the keepers when the prisoner was to eat. In this condition he was loaded with iron bolts and chains, and cast into a dark dungeon, where he lay full eight months, till his ransom was brought by some religious men of his Order, who were sent with it by St. Peter. Raymund was unwilling to leave his dungeon, or at least the country of the infidels, where he desired to remain to assist the slaves; but he acquiesced in obedience to the orders of his general, begging God would accept his tears, seeing he was not worthy to shed his blood for the souls of his neighbours
Upon his return to Spain he was nominated cardinal by Pope Gregory IX. But so little was he affected with the involuntary honour, that he neither changed his dress, nor his poor cell in the convent, nor his manner of living. Much less could he be prevailed upon by the nobility of the country to accept of a palace, to admit an equipage or train, or to suffer any rich furniture to be added to his little necessaries in his cell. The pope, being desirous to have so holy a man about his person, and to employ him in the public affairs of the church, called him to Rome. The saint obeyed, but could not be persuaded to travel otherwise than as a poor religious man. He went no further than Cardona, which is only six miles from Barcelona, when he was seized with a violent fever, which, by the symptoms which attended it, soon appeared to be mortal. St. Raymund prepared himself for his last passage. Some historians relate that he was favoured with a vision of angels, in which he received the holy viaticum. His death happened on the 31st of August, in the year 1240, the thirty-seventh of his age. He was buried in a chapel of St. Nicholas, near the farm in which he had formerly lived. St. Peter Nolasco founded a great convent in that place, in 1255, and St. Raymund’s relics are still kept in that church. The history of many miracles wrought by his means is to be seen in the Bollandists. Pope Alexander VII. inserted his name in the Martyrology in 1657.
This saint gave not only his substance but also his liberty, and even exposed himself to the most cruel torments and death, for the redemption of captives, and the salvation of souls. But alas! how cold now-a-days is charity in our breasts, though it be the essential characteristic of true Christians! Far from the heroic sentiments of the saints, do not we, merely to gratify our prodigality, vanity, or avarice, refuse to give the superfluous part of our possessions to the poor, who, for want of it, are perishing with cold and hunger? Are not we slothful and backward in affording a visit or comfort to poor prisoners, or sick persons, or in using our interest to procure some relief for the distressed? Are we not so insensible to their spiritual miseries as to be without all feeling for them, and to neglect even to commend them to God with sufficient earnestness, to admonish sinners according to our circumstances and the rules of prudence, or to instruct, by ourselves and others, those under our care? By this mark is it not manifest that self-love, and not the love of God and our neighbour, reigns in our hearts, whilst we seek and pursue so inordinately our own worldly interest, and are sensible to it alone? Let us sound our own hearts, and take an impartial view of our lives, and we shall feel whether this test of Christ, or that of Satan, which is self-love, be more sensible in our affections, and which of them is the governing principle of our actions.
Note 1. John xiii. 34, 35, xv. 12, &c. [back]
Note 2. The surname of Nonnatus or Unborn, was given him, because he was taken out of the body of his mother after her death by the Cæsarian operation. M. Mery has started objections in theory against the possibility of such an operation, which deserve the attention of practitioners. (Mem. de l’Acad. an. 1708.) Nevertheless, it is justified by many remarkable instances: among others, Scipio Africanus, thence surnamed Cæsar, Manlius of Carthage, and according to some authors, Julius Cæsar, were by this means saved from perishing in the womb. See Heister’s Surgery on this article, &c. Such an operation is never to be attempted without undoubted marks that the mother is really dead, lest a like misfortune happen to that by which an eminent surgeon was so shocked, as to renounce from that moment his profession. [back]
Note 3. 2 Cor. xii. 15. [back]
Note 4. S. Chrys. Or. 3, contra Jud. [back]
Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume VIII: August. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/8/311.html
San Raimondo Nonnato Religioso
Portell (Spagna), 1200 - Cardona (Spagna), 31 agosto 1240
Non
si sa molto della sua vita. Il soprannome significa non partorito dalla madre
viva, «non-nato», ossia estratto dal corpo senza vita di lei, morta prima di
darlo alla luce. Forse di nobile famiglia, Raimondo verso il 1224 entrò
nell'Ordine religioso della Mercede (detto anche dei Mercedari), fondato pochi
anni prima con lo scopo di riscattare e di curare la formazione religiosa e
morale degli schiavi nelle regioni spagnole ancora occupate dagli Arabi. Dopo
che gli spagnoli liberarono gran parte del territorio, Raimondo partì per
l'Algeria, dove venne fatto prigioniero. Per impedirgli di predicare, gli misero una sorta di morso. Tornato in
Catalogna, diventato ormai famoso, venne chiamato a Roma da papa Gregorio IX
che nel 1239 lo nominò cardinale. Ma durante il viaggio, morì assalito da
violenti febbri. San Raimondo è considerato anche il patrono delle ostetriche.(Avvenire)
Etimologia: Raimondo = intelligenza protettrice,
dal tedesco
Martirologio Romano: A Cardona in Catalogna, san Raimondo
Nonnato, che fu tra i primi compagni di san Pietro Nolasco nell’Ordine della
Beata Maria Vergine della Mercede e si tramanda che abbia molto patito in nome
di Cristo per la liberazione dei prigionieri.
Nonnato è un soprannome, che ricorda in mezzo a quale tragedia familiare
Raimondo è venuto al mondo. Non-nato, ossia non partorito dalla madre viva,
bensì estratto dal corpo senza vita di lei, morta prima di darlo alla luce. Pare che fosse di famiglia nobile, con alte parentele
nell’aristocrazia catalana. Ma non abbiamo molte informazioni sicure sul suo
casato e anche sulla vita. Nella sua Catalogna libera dalla dominazione araba,
Raimondo vive i tempi della Reconquista, cioè della riscossa guidata dalla coalizione
dei re di Navarra, di Aragona e di Castiglia, che lascerà infine sotto
controllo arabo soltanto il modesto regno meridionale di Granada.
Lui però non combatte in queste
guerre. Verso il 1224 si arruola in un esercito tutto speciale: l’Ordine religioso
della Mercede (detto anche dei Mercedari), fondato pochi anni prima dal suo
amico Pietro Nolasco con uno scopo principale: il riscatto e la formazione
religiosa e morale degli schiavi nelle regioni spagnole ancora occupate dagli
Arabi. Riscatto in senso letterale: i Mercedari, infatti, pagano una somma per
liberare gli schiavi e li riportano nei luoghi d’origine, dedicandosi pure
all’assistenza e all’istruzione religiosa di questi infelici.
Non abbiamo notizie precise sugli studi di Raimondo. Ma c’è una notizia che
consente di attribuirgli una certa preparazione giuridica, una conoscenza del
diritto canonico. L’Ordine dei Mercedari, infatti, lo manda a Roma come
patrocinatore di una sua causa presso la Santa Sede.
Quando le guerre dei re spagnoli liberano gran parte del territorio, uno dei
campi d’azione dei Mercedari resta il Nord-Africa, dove ci sono molti
prigionieri in mano a capi locali. Raimondo va a stabilirsi in Algeria, ma qui
viene fatto prigioniero. O lo tengono come ostaggio. Comunque si vuole
impedirgli di parlare e predicare agli schiavi. Ma siccome lui continua
ugualmente la sua opera, si cerca di farlo tacere con la forza. (E anche,
secondo un racconto, con una sorta di morso che gli serra la bocca). Ritrovata
la libertà, torna in Catalogna, dove l’avventura africana lo ha reso
popolarissimo. Già gli si attribuiscono miracoli. Papa Gregorio IX nel 1239 lo
nomina cardinale, chiamandolo a Roma come suo consigliere. Raimondo incomincia
appena il viaggio nell’estate del 1240, e già a Cardona, presso Barcellona, è
bloccato da violente febbri, che troncano la sua vita ad appena quarant’anni.
Lì viene sepolto, in una chiesetta che diventerà santuario in suo onore, con un
culto popolare che avrà la sanzione pontificia solo nel 1657 (inserimento del suo
nome nel Martirologio romano) e nel 1681 (estensione della sua festa a tutta la
Chiesa). Date le condizioni in cui è nato, san Raimondo è considerato anche il
patrono delle ostetriche.
Autore: Domenico Agasso
