Saint Raymond, born of Spanish nobility, became a brilliant scholar and teacher of philosophy and law. At 41 he became a Dominican. He was a founder of the Order of Our lady of Ransom, dedicated to the saving of Christians from the Moors. While he was the confessor to Pope Gregory IX, the pope asked him to compile the church decrees concerning canon law of the past 80 years into a uniform collection that didn’t change until 1917. He wrote a book of moral theology for confessors, was a Bishop of the capital of Aragon (at 60), the head of the Dominican order (at 63), and his last 35 years combated heresy and prayed and converted 10,000 Muslims.
