Saint
Saint Raymond Nonnatus
- Country / origin
- Spain (Catalonia)
- Life
- c. 1204–1240
- Feast
- 31 August (traditional date)
Awaiting theological review
Who was this?
His name, Nonnatus, means not born: tradition says he was delivered by caesarean section after his mother died. He joined the Mercedarians, an order founded to ransom Christians held captive in North Africa, and tradition holds that he gave himself as a hostage in Algiers. He died in Catalonia, soon after being named a cardinal.
Patron of
- pregnant women
- childbirth
- midwives
- newborn babies
When to ask for intercession
- pregnancy and childbirth
- a difficult delivery
- for newborn babies
A short prayer
Saint Raymond Nonnatus, intercede for this mother and child, that the birth may go well and that both may be kept safe in God's hands.
Written for cento53 as a simple personal prayer of intercession — not a liturgical text.
What we know — and how
Historians debate
Removed from the General Roman Calendar in 1969 because so little is known with historical certainty; the devotion continues and the Church still honours the saint.
Tradition holds
The stories of his captivity, including that his lips were pierced and closed with a padlock so that he could not preach, come from later accounts and cannot be confirmed.
A saint for what you are living
- Pregnancy and motherhood
The next question