Patron of the Secular Franciscan
Order
King St.
Louis was born in the castle at Poissy near Paris on April 25, 1215. His
devout mother, Blanche, was determined that he should be educated not only for
the earthly kingdom he was to govern, but still more for the kingdom of
heaven. She accustomed him to look upon all things in the light of faith, and
thus laid the foundation for that humility in good fortune and endurance in
misfortune which characterized the holy king.
Louis was crowned king when he was only 12 years
old. His mother, however, was entrusted with the actual government of the
kingdom during his minority. Meanwhile, Louis was being educated in all the
duties of a Christian prince. Among his instructors there were several
Franciscan friars, and later on the young king himself joined the Third Order
of St. Francis.
Louis had governed his kingdom for several years in
his own name, when he vowed, in the course of a serious illness, that if he
would recover, he would make a crusade to the Holy Land, to wrest the holy
places from the hands of the infidels. Upon regaining his health he at once
carried out his vow. He took the fortress of Damietta from the Saracens, but
was taken captive after his army had been weakened by an epidemic.
After he had borne the sufferings of a prisoner of
the infidels for several months with holy serenity, the terms for his release
were submitted to him; but there was attached to these terms an oath, that if
he did not fulfill them, he would deny Christ and the Christian religion. The
holy king replied: "Such blasphemous words shall never cross my lips." They
threatened him with death. "Very well," he said, "you may kill my body, but
you will never kill my soul." Filled with admiration at his steadfast courage,
the finally released him without objectionable condition. After securing many
other terms favorable to the Christians, he was obliged to return to France,
since his mother had died in the meantime.
In the government of his kingdom, Louis proved how
profitable piety is in every respect. He promoted the welfare of the country
and his people in a remarkable manner. His life as a Christian and as a
Christian father was so exemplary that he has been found worthy to be chosen
as the patron and model of Tertiaries. The most important principal of his
life was the observance of the laws of God under all circumstances. His
biographer assures us that he never lost his baptismal innocence by mortal
sin. He himself set such store by the grace of baptism that, in confidential
letters, he took pleasure in signing himself "Louis of Poissy," because it was
in the parish church there that he had been baptized.
Louis never tolerated cursing or sinful
conversation either among the servants or among the courtiers; and never was
he heard to utter an unkind or impatient word. he wished to avoid all
unnecessary pomp and luxury at court, so that more help could be rendered to
the poor, of whom he personally fed and served several hundred. His wardrobe
was as simple as it could fittingly be, and at all times he wore the insignia
of the Third Order under his outer garments. On special occasions he publicly
wore the habit of the Tertiaries.
In order to curb sensuality he not only observed
all the fasts of the Church with unusual severity, but denied himself certain
food for which he had a special craving. He was a most solicitous father to
the 11 children with which God blessed his marriage. He himself prayed with
them daily, examined them in the lessons they had learned, guided them in the
performance of the works of Christian charity, and in his will bequeathed to
them the most beautiful instructions.
He fostered special devotion to the sufferings of
Christ; and it was a great consolation for him when he gained possession of
the Crown of Thorns, for the preservation of which he had the magnificent Holy
Chapel built in Paris. When serious complaints concerning the oppression of
the Christians in the Holy Land reached his ears, he undertook a second
crusade in 1270, but on the way he died of the plague, contracted while
visiting his sick soldiers.
Amid exclamations of holy joy because he was going
into the house of the Lord, he surrendered his soul to God on August 25. St.
Louis was canonized by Pope Boniface VIII in 1297.
MORTAL SIN IS THE GREATEST EVIL
1. "Death rather
than a mortal sin!" St. Louis frequently said these words when he recalled
what his mother had told him. He was right, because mortal sin is worse than
death. It is the greatest evil in the world because it means the loss of the
greatest good, which is God Himself. He who commits a mortal sin, that is,
violates one of God's commandments in an important matter with full knowledge
and free consent, even if it be only in thought, hears God's threaten him with
His displeasure, and still he says: "I will not obey." He separates himself
from God, falls from grace, and is changed from an object of the love of God,
into an object of hatred: "The Highest hates sinners" (Eccli 12:7). -- Can we
think of a greater evil than this?
2. Consider how King St. Louis actually
carried out the greatest principle of his life in his conduct. He preferred to
remain a prisoner of the Saracens, which included loss of his kingdom and even
his own life, rather than take a blasphemous oath. No material loss can
compare with the loss of God, whereas every temporal suffering is quite
bearable if we remain in the grace of God; in fact, it becomes sweet if we
bear it because we do not want to offend God. But to offend God in order to
escape material suffering means to cast oneself into the greatest suffering.
"Your apostasy shall rebuke you, and you shall know and see that it is an evil
and bitter thing for you to have left the Lord, your God" (Jer 2:19). --
Therefore, say frequently: "Death rather than mortal sin!"
3. Consider that
St. Louis could not have been happy in the possession of his kingdom if he had
been obliged to reclaim it by a blasphemous oath. Can a Christian enjoy
temporal goods and honors if he must admit that his claim to them was bought
at the price of mortal sin? Can he really accept them while he is confronted
with the outlook that the next moment can cast him into eternal hell fire? No
more than Damocles could enjoy the grand banquet when he saw over his head a
drawn sword suspended by a hair. Surely it is better to die with St. Louis in
a strange country among the plague-stricken, and to make the sacrifice of
one's life in the practice of charity.
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
O God, who didst transport
St. Louis, Thy confessor, from an earthly kingdom into the bliss of the
Kingdom of heaven, we beseech Thee, grant us through his merits and
intercession to be made associates of the King of Kings, Thy Son, Jesus
Christ, Who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.
from:
The Franciscan Book
of Saints, ed. by
Marion Habig, ofm., © 1959 Franciscan Herald
Press
