Today is the Feast Day of St. Louis, King of France

St. Louis - King of France by El Greco

He became King of France (as Louis IX) at the age of 12. He was married and had eleven children, to whom he gave an excellent upbringing. He was noted for his spirit of prayer and penitence and for his love for the poor.

He ran his kingdom not only to give peace to the people and economic stability but also for their spiritual good. He founded the Sorbonne and was a friend of St Thomas Aquinas. He was a member of the Order of Penitents of St Francis of Assisi, which later became the Franciscan Third Order and is now known as the Secular Franciscan Order (OFS).

Louis was trusted by his fellow-rulers in Europe and often asked to arbitrate in their disputes. He undertook two unsuccessful crusades to liberate Christ’s burial-place and on the second of these he died, near Carthage, in the year 1270.

Source: Universalis

Collect

O God, who brought Saint Louis from the cares of earthly rule to the glory of a heavenly realm, grant, we pray, through his intercession, that, by fulfilling our duties on earth, we may seek out your eternal Kingdom.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and eve

My Visit to St. Chapelle in Paris in 2019

I have a particular devotion to St. Louis (I was born in St. Louis, the city named after him) and had the opportunity to visit St. Louis’s St. Chapelle in Paris. It was breathtaking, emotional and one of the highlights of our 2019 pilgrimage in France.

St. Chapelle was the personal chapel of St. Louis. It’s reliquary housed the “passion relics” - particularly the Crown of Thorns. When we walked into St. Chapelle, I literally gasped as the stain glass was beautiful and no words could express the beauty.

On this feast day of St. Louis, may we strive for holiness and ask for the intercession of this great saint of the Church.

St. Louis, pray for us!