Raymond of Penafort was born around 1175 in the Catalonian region of present-day Spain, close to Barcelona. He came from an aristocratic family with connections to the royal line of Aragon.

He made rapid academic progress and demonstrated such a talent for philosophy that, by the time he was twenty, he was hired to teach the subject in Barcelona. The young man sought to balance reason with the profession and practice of Catholic morality and faith while working as a teacher. This includes a noticeable care for the underprivileged and their plight.

The Spanish scholar travelled to Bologna, Italy, at the age of thirty to study both secular and church law. Before receiving an official position in the diocese from the Bishop of Barcelona in 1219, he obtained his doctorate and continued to teach there. The 47-year-old Raymond became a member of the Dominican order in 1222, where he would live for the following 53 years of his extraordinarily long life.

The former professor was asked to prepare a textbook of moral theology for confessors to use as retribution for his previous display of intellectual pride. The first of his groundbreaking contributions to the Church was the "Summa Casuum," which resulted in In the meantime, the Dominican priest worked to restore lost and lapsed members of the Church and promote the religion following his order's commitment to preaching.

Raymond assisted King James of Aragon and Saint Peter Nolasco in founding the Order of Our Lady of Mercy while he was living in Barcelona. The organization's members attempted to free individuals who had been captured in Muslim territory. Raymond encouraged the faithful to protect their civilization from foreign attacks during this time by preaching in favor of the Crusades.

In 1230, Pope Gregory IX summoned the Dominican friar to Rome with the task of gathering all of the Church's rulings and decrees into a single, coherent compilation. For centuries, the Church's internal legal system was based on the five produced volumes. During this period, Raymond was the Pope's close advisor and personal confessor. In 1235, he came very close to becoming the Archbishop of Tarragona. However, the Dominican reportedly declined the position because he did not want to be the archdiocese's leader.

Raymond was selected to lead the Dominicans later in the decade, but because of his advanced age, he only served for two years. Ironically, though, he would continue to live for over thirty years after leaving this position. He was able to concentrate on the core of his work during this time: giving thanks to God in prayer, publicizing him in sermons, and bringing his blessings to the world. One of Raymond's later accomplishments was the founding of language schools to help spread Christianity among non-Christians.

The lengthy religious journey of St. Raymond of Penafort came to an end on January 6, 1275, over a century after his birth. In 1601, Pope Clement VIII canonized him. He is revered as the patron of lawyers.

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