Rainerius

Who was Rainerius?

Saint Rainerius is the patron saint of Pisa and of travellers. His feast day is June 17. His name may also be spelled Raynerius, Rainerius, Rainier, Rainieri, Ranieri, Raniero, or Regnier.

Born Rainerius Scacceri to a prosperous merchant and shipowner of Pisa, he was a traveling minstrel as a youth. Later biographies stress his worldliness at this stage. He met, through his travels, a holy man, Alberto, a nobleman from Corsica "who wore a cloak of animal hair, like a goat", and had entered the monastery of Saint Vitus in Pisa and become renowned for his work for the poor. Rainerius was so impressed that he became a devout Christian. He set himself up as a merchant in order to pay for his fare to the Holy Land in 1146. He soon resolved, however, to give up all of his wealth and live in complete poverty. In the Holy Land he lived as a hermit and beggar, and visited all of the holy shrines. He did penance for seven years. He also reportedly experienced many visions and revelations. His austerity was so excessive, his later biographer noted, that God had to tell him to eat.