St. Louis, King of France, is a co-patron of the Secular Franciscan Order and TOR, Third Order Regular, along with St. Elizabeth of Hungary, 1214-1270. At the age of 12 yrs. he became king.
His mother, Blanche of Castile, ruled until Louis was 19. He and Margaret of Provence had 11 children to whom Louis gave excellent training. He was particularly noted for his spirit of penance, prayer, and love for the poor. In ruling France, he showed concern for the peace of his people and their spiritual welfare. He had a passion to free the Holy Land from the Moslems by leading a crusade but he died near Carthage.
Earlier in his life, Franciscans friars were among his instructors; eventually he became a Secular Franciscan. He fasted during Advent and on Fridays. He was generous in founding hospitals, building churches and promoting learning.
His greatest achievement was to rule his kingdom in the light of the Gospel. He always considered God's law superior to his own laws.
He died on his second crusade and was canonized in 1297.
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Hello,
My understanding from modern Scholarly sources is that St. Louis IX was not a Franciscan Tertiary...but that this was a mistaken understanding from the 1500's. Of course he is still the co-patron of the Franciscan Third Order. Note the liturgical calendar of the Third Order states he is "Patron" but does not say he was a "member" as it does with those that were tertiaries.
I should note too that he is also a patron of ours and was made a member of the Order --and thus a Trinitarian tertiary --by the General Chapter of the Order of the Holy Trinity and Captives in in Cerfroid on June 11, 1256.
But he certainly is your patron and and had a deep love for your Order! St. Louis IX pray for us!
Of course I should note that it may be the case the St. Louis IX was also a Franciscan Tertiary...I only note that I found the recent information
in some scholarly sources that he was not (it was supposedly a mistaken understanding from the 1500's). I would be interested in the "official" understanding of the Order (not just websites that repeat info from older sources). But it seems to me that since they note on the liturgical calendar that he is a "patron" of the third order ...but do not call him a "member" ..it may be the case???
But I am only reasoning from the research...it may very well be the case that he was and the Order considers him so ...no matter what some scholars say...different scholarscome up with different things....But in any case he is on your calendar as a "Patron of the Third Order" so he is your patron! And he loved your Order dearly..and continues to do so!
St. Louis Ora Pro Nobis!
My source for the information on St. Louis came from "The Franciscan Book of Saints, Marion Habig, ofm. 1959, Franciscan Herald Press
my question to kevin,o.ss.t, is how can you 'make' him a member of your Order without consent from the person, and when was he made a member before or after he died??that's kinda of interesting.....how that is done in making persons members of orders.
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