St. Raymond Nonnatus was born in 1204 to a noble Spanish family. As a child, he was drawn to religious life, but his father ordered him to manage a family farm in an effort to dissuade him. Raymond spent his time with the farm workers, studying and praying, and eventually his father allowed him to enter the Mercederians.
Fr. Raymond spent his entire fortune ransoming slaves. He offered himself as a hostage to free another man, and was sentenced to death, but spared because his ransom brought a large sum of money. While in prison, Fr. Raymond converted several of his guards, but was eventually punished for his preaching — his captors bored a hole through his lips with a hot iron and padlocked them together.
He was ransomed and came back to Barcelona in 1239, and Pope Gregory IX made him a cardinal. In 1240, he was called to Rome, but died before he could make it there at the age of 36.
St. Raymond is the patron saint of pregnant women, childbirth and newborns.
