As Dawn comes upon us-- it seems earlier each day at this time of year; is 'pearl' actually the name of a color, I wonder. It was simply feria quarta, Wednesday, in the 12th week after Pentecost in the 1570 Kalendarium but has (from who knows precisely which year? 1910, perhaps) been the feast of Saint Raymund Nonnatus since, non natus referring to his birth via the doctor's intervention after his mother's death. He joined the Mercedarian Order which was devoted to the redemption of Christians from slavery in Muslim lands (I believe they do hospitals et cetera these days) and was renowned for the effectiveness of his preaching.
He went to Valencia, where he ransomed 140 Christians from slavery. He then traveled to North Africa, where he was able to ransom another 250 captives in Algiers, and then went to Tunis, where he is said to have surrendered himself as a hostage for 28 captive Christians when his money ran out, in keeping with a special fourth vow taken by the members of the order. He suffered in captivity as a legend states that the Moors bored a hole through his lips with a hot iron, and padlocked his mouth to prevent him from preaching. He was ransomed by his order and returned to Spain in 1239.
Padlocking the lips of acquaintances too loquacious for their own good is an excellent notion but had never occurred to me as a practical solution-- I just listen patiently and remember something else I absolutely have to do as soon as I can; a joke about piercing, saints then, fools now, exists in potentia but I cannot make it reality alas.
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