Raymond the Palmer
Raymond of Piacenza (1139/40 – 26 July 1200), called the Palmer or Zanfogni, was a Catholic pilgrim and religious who practiced charity to the poor and ill. Raymond's nickname, "the Palmer", derives from his pilgrimage to Jerusalem, from which he brought back the customary palm frond. Such a pilgrim was called a Palmarius or Palmerius (Italian: Palmario or Palmerio). His feast day is 26 July.
Raymond's life is known from a Latin vita written in 1212, only twelve years after his death, by a certain Rufinus, at the instigation of Raymond's son Gerard. This was kept in the library of San Raimondo di Piacenza, a Cistercian convent, until 1525, when it was lent out to a Dominican friar to be translated into Italian. It was never seen again. The Bollandist Peter van der Bosch translated the Italian back into Latin for the Acta Sanctorum (July, vol. VI, col. 645–57). This version has been translated into English by Kenneth Baxter Wolf.
In the Martyrology
- July 27 Blessed Raimondo Zanfogni, father of family