Solemnity of St. Raymond of Penafort
April 2, 2025 Column Father De Celles
Merry Christmas, and Happy Feast of St. Raymond! Today is the last day of the Christmas Season. The rule is that “Christmas Time runs from…the Nativity of the Lord up to and including the Sunday after Epiphany…” And normally, “The Sunday falling after [Epiphany] is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.”
UNLESS…. a feast of “higher rank” falls on that same Sunday, the Sunday after Epiphany. And this year, it does, because I said so. (Just kidding, sort of).
Solemnity of St. Raymond. Our patron saint’s feast is normally celebrated on January 7, but canon law allows the pastor to move the patronal feast (“title of the church”) to the following Sunday. So, after consulting with Bishop Burbidge I have transferred the liturgical observation of St. Raymond’s to Sunday, January 12th. And since, according to the rules. The feast of “title of the church” outranks the “Feast of the Baptism of the Lord,” we transfer that lower feast to tomorrow, Monday, January 13. So, this is one of the only times “The Baptism of the Lord” falls outside of Christmas Time. Interesting trivia.
So, let’s celebrate our patronal Solemnity and join the Knights of Columbus for a free pancake breakfast after the Sunday morning Masses.
St. Raymond. For those of you who don’t know much about St. Raymond, I invite you to read the 32-page biography we published a few years ago. If you don’t have one, they are available in the parish office.
As a brief reminAder…Raymond was born of a noble family, near Barcelona, in 1175. At the age of 20 he became professor of canon law. In 1210 he left teaching to complete his studies in civil and canon law at the University of Bologna. He went on to hold a chair of canon law at that university for three years. (The date of his priestly ordination is uncertain, but it would seem to be around 1195).
On August 1, 1218, Raymond received a heavenly vision in which the Blessed Mother (“Our Lady of Ransom”) instructed him to help St. Peter Nolasco found the Order of Mercedarians, which would be devoted to the ransom of Christians taken captive by the Moors (Spanish Muslims) (a scene depicted in our new mural). Raymond did not, however, join that order but rather entered the Order of Preachers (“Dominicans”) in Barcelona in 1222. As a Dominican, Raymond continued to teach and preach, and devoted considerable effort working to convert Moors and Jews, coaxing St. Thomas Aquinas to write his Summa Contra Gentiles to help in his efforts.
At the request of his superiors Raymond published the Summa Casuum, a book on cases of conscience for the guidance of confessors and moralists, the first guide of its kind. This work eventually led to his appointment as confessor and theologian to Pope Gregory IX in 1230. The Pope soon directed Raymond to re-arrange and codify the canons (juridical laws) of the Church, which required him to rewrite and condense centuries of Church decrees. The Pope published Raymond’s work in 1231, and commanded that it alone should be considered authoritative. From then on St. Raymond would be known as the “Father of canon law.”
In 1238 he was elected Master General of the Dominican Order, the second successor to St. Dominic, but he resigned two years later, claiming that at 63 years old he was too old for the job. He continued his writing, preaching and pastoral work, as well many important responsibilities entrusted to him by various popes, for another 37 years until his death in Barcelona on January 6, 1275, at the age of 100.
But St. Raymond had one last great miracle to perform. Six years before his death, King James of Aragon invited him to come to Majorca with him to preach to the Muslim inhabitants. But when he arrived on the island the saint discovered that King James had brought his mistress along. Raymond demanded he send her away, and when the King refused, Raymond went searching for a ship to go back to Spain. When he discovered that the King had forbidden any ship to let him board, Raymond simply bowed his head in prayer, made the sign of the cross, and, by the grace of God, sailed 160 miles back to Spain using just his great cape as both a skiff and a sail.
He is the patron saint of lawyers, both canon and civil. And our patron as well! St. Raymond of Peñafort, pray for us!
What About Vatican II? Pope Francis talks a lot about implementing the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, and sometimes seems to criticize his predecessors for failing to do so. But it is interesting how often he actually seems to contradict those reforms.
For example, in Christus Dominus, the Council’s “Decree Concerning the Pastoral Office of Bishops,” the Council clarified that Bishops and priests govern the Church, and that laity can only assist them in governance. This was in part to clarify their role in relation to the Pope as successors of the Apostles, governing the Church in union with him. It was also clarified that a lay person can never govern a Bishop or priest.
But Pope Francis wants to give the laity (i.e., non-ordained Catholics), specifically lay women, more of a role in governing the Church. So last week, he appointed a religious sister to be the Prefect for the Dicastery for Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, which would put her in a place, in certain ways, of governing all the priests in all the religious orders in the Church. Which seems, to me, directly contradictory to Vatican II’s specific decree. I just don’t understand.
Meanwhile, Just Across the River… As reported in the National Catholic Register last week:
“Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Robert McElroy, bishop of San Diego, to lead the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., the Vatican announced Monday….
“…He is considered by many to also be the U.S. cardinal whose thinking most aligns with Pope Francis.
“Outspokenly progressive, Cardinal McElroy is now poised to take over the ecclesiastical territory of the nation’s capital just as Donald Trump is sworn in for a second term as president of the United States….
“Speaking at an interfaith prayer vigil in… 2021, Cardinal McElroy…[said]: ‘We can’t stand by anymore and watch our political processes …destroy the dreams and the hopes of the refugees and the immigrants who have not only come here and lived here but have helped build our nation and make it better’…
“He …has often criticized what he sees as, in the U.S., the prioritization of abortion over other social concerns, such as the death penalty and care for migrants and the environment.
“In recent years, Cardinal McElroy has also asserted that to deny Holy Communion to pro-abortion Catholic politicians is to weaponize the Eucharist for a political end….
“Cardinal McElroy also supports women deacons for the Church and is a vocal supporter of LGBT-identified Catholics.”
Oremus pro invicem. Fr. De Celles