Happy Feast of St. Louis, King of France!

Wherever you go in France, you see statues of St. Louis, e.g., the equestrian one at the Basilique de Sacre Coeur in Paris. The representation of this saint often holds Our Lord's Crown of Thorns in his hand, because he brought this relic back from the Holy Land. He built the breathtaking Sainte-Chapelle in Paris to house it. It is no longer kept there; now it is in the vault in Notre Dame Cathedral, and is taken out for veneration on Fridays during Lent. (Yes, I've been blessed to have seen and kissed it!)

The picture above was taken in Aigues-Mortes, a town that St. Louis built from which to launch his crusades to free the Holy Land from the Muslims and make it safe for Catholics to visit it on pilgrimage without being enslaved, tortured and/or beheaded. He went on one crusade with his brothers, and years later, he went with his sons. He died of illness on this second crusade at age 56.

He was greatly in love with his wife Marguerite of Provence, and they had eleven children. He wore a signet ring inscribed with the three great loves of his life: God, France, and Marguerite. As he lay dying on August 25, 1270, he wrote out instructions for his son, who was to become King Philip III. They begin thus:

"Fair son, the first thing I teach thee is to mold thy heart to love God; for without that no one can be saved. Take care not to do anything which may displease God, to wit, a deadly sin; on the contrary, thou shouldst endure all sorts of outrage and torture rather than commit a deadly sin. If God send thee adversity, accept it patiently, and render thanks to Our Lord, and think that thou hast deserved it, and that it will turn wholly to thy advantage. If He bestows on thee prosperity, thank Him humbly, so that thou art not worse through pride or other cause when thou oughtest to be better... Confess thyself frequently [receive the Sacrament of Penance] and choose as confessor a man of discretion, who shall teach thee what thou oughtest to do and what thou oughtest to avoid."

(Also taken in Aigues-Mortes, in the public square)

After writing out full instructions to his son, which were directed to his personal life as well as his life as the future king, Saint Louis asked to receive the Last Sacraments. Then, according to his friend the Sire de Joinville, "he called upon the saints to aid and succor him, especially St. James...St. Denis of France...St. Genevieve. After that, the sainted king caused himself to be laid on a bed covered with ashes, and placed his hands upon his breast, and looking up to Heaven, yielded up his spirit to our Creator, at the very same hour that the Son of God died upon the cross...

"On the day after the festival of St. Bartholomew, the Apostle, passed from this world the good King Louis, in the year of our Lord's incarnation, and in the year of grace 1270; and his bones were preserved in a coffer, and buried at St. Denis in France, which he had selected for his place of burial; and at the spot where he was interred God has wrought many a fine miracle for the sake of his deserts."

Pope Boniface VIII declared him a saint of the Catholic Church in 1297 A.D. De Joinville wrote his account of the king's life in 1309, and reprints of it are still available on Amazon!