Saint Rainerius

Rainerius (c. 1115/1117 – 1160) is the patron saint of Pisa and patron saint of travellers. His feast day is June 17, his name may also be spelled Raynerius, Rainerius, Rainier, Raineri, Rainieri, Ranieri, Raniero, or Regnier. Rainerius was the son of Gandulfo Scacceri, a prosperous merchant and shipowner of Pisa, and Mingarda Buzzaccherini. In his youth, he was a traveling musician. 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 (San Vito) in Pisa and become renowned for his work for the poor. Rainerius was so impressed that he became a devout Christian. In 1146, Rainerius set himself up as a merchant in order to pay for his fare to the Holy Land. The business took him to many ports, and he became wealthy through trade with the sailors. His travels took him to the Holy Land, where, it is said, he had a vision by which he understood that his wealth was hindering him from devoting himself to God. He resolved to give up his wealth and live in complete poverty. He remained in the Holy Land for seven years, living as a beggar and visited the holy shrines (the Holy Sepulchre, Mount Tabor, Hebron, Bethlehem). His austerity was so excessive, his later biographer noted, that God had to tell him to eat. In 1153 Rainerius returned to Pisa and entered the monastery of Saint Andrew (Sant'Andrea) and subsequently that of Saint Vitus. There he achieved fame and became a preacher, being treated like a saint even in his lifetime, reputedly expelling demons and performing miracles. His body was carried in a triumph through the city to its resting place in the Duomo of Pisa upon his death. His life was the subject of a cycle of frescos by Antonio Veneziano in the Campo Santo. According to later stories, he was canonised by Pope Alexander III.