Reginald of Orleans

Reginald of Orleans (c. 1180 – 30 June 1220) was an Italian Dominican friar and Catholic priest. He was one of the earliest members and a close collaborator of Saint Dominic.

Biography The Miraculous Healing of the Blessed Reginald of Orleans (painting by Francisco de Zurbarán, 1626). After being a professor of canon law at Quartier de la Sorbonne, Paris for many years, Reginald became dean of the collegiate church of Saint-Agnan in Orléans.

In Rome, he met Cardinal Ugolino di Conti, who later became Pope Gregory IX. The latter introduced him to Dominic de Guzmán, whose ideals on poverty fascinated him. During his stay in Rome, he fell seriously ill, Dominic visited him and prayed for him. Reginald promised him that if he recovered, he would enter the Dominican order. As the Dominicans did not yet have a cemetery in Paris, Reginald was buried in the Benedictine cemetery of Sainte-Marie-des-Champs, Seine-Maritime. Today, an altar exists in the crypt of Notre-Dame-des-Champs on rue Pierre-Nicole where it is written that "for centuries the Parisians came to honor him and pray to him in this sanctuary".

Veneration Reginald was beatified on 15 February 1877 by Pope Pius IX.