Today, January 8th, is the feast of Saint Raymond of Penyafort (1175-1275), one of the first Dominicans (officially known as the Order of Preachers) eventually becoming the third Master General of the Order (after Saint Dominic himself, and Jordan of Saxony), and a fellow Dominican with his even-more famous confrere, Thomas Aquinas, with whom he was contemporaneous (1225-1274). It was Raymond who encouraged Friar Thomas to write his Summa Contra Gentiles for the conversion of the ‘Moors’ (Spanish Muslims). Saint Raymond was one of the first modern compilers and codifiers of the Code of Canon Law, which before his time was scattered in numerous documents. The Code which he formulated, decreed by Pope Gregory IX (hence, known as the Decretals of Gregory IX), became the authoritative law of the Church for 700 years, until reformulated under the impetus of Pope St. Pius X and Benedict XV in 1917, then again under Pope Saint John Paul II in 1983. The current Code of Canon Law was promulgated that year on January 25.
May Saint Raymond intercede for the Holy Father, the bishops and priests of God’s holy Church, to be led by the ‘good counsel’ that law should offer, the ultimate purpose of which, as the final code says, is the salvation of souls.
Here are the saint’s words from today’s Office of Readings, with which we will leave you for now: