August
18
St. Louis of Toulouse
(1274-1297)
When he died at the age of 23, Louis was already a Franciscan, a bishop and
a saint!
Louis’s parents were Charles II of Naples and Sicily and Mary, daughter of
the King of Hungary. Louis was related to St. Louis IX on his father’s side
and to Elizabeth of Hungary on his mother’s side.
Louis showed early signs of attachment to prayer and to the corporal works
of mercy. As a child he used to take food from the castle to feed the poor.
When he was 14, Louis and two of his brothers were taken as hostages to the
king of Aragon’s court as part of a political deal involving Louis’s father.
At the court Louis was tutored by Franciscan friars under whom he made great
progress both in his studies and in the spiritual life. Like St. Francis he
developed a special love for those afflicted with leprosy.
While he was still a hostage, Louis decided to renounce his royal title and
become a priest. When he was 20, he was allowed to leave the king of
Aragon’s court. He renounced his title in favor of his brother Robert and
was ordained the next year. Very shortly after, he was appointed bishop of
Toulouse, but the pope agreed to Louis’s request to become a Franciscan
first.
The Franciscan spirit pervaded Louis. "Jesus Christ is all my riches; he
alone is sufficient for me," Louis kept repeating. Even as a bishop he wore
the Franciscan habit and sometimes begged. He assigned a friar to offer him
correction — in public if necessary — and the friar did his job.
Louis’s service to the Diocese of Toulouse was richly blessed. In no time he
was considered a saint. Louis set aside 75 percent of his income as bishop
to feed the poor and maintain churches. Each day he fed 25 poor people at
his table.
Louis was canonized in 1317 by Pope John XXII, one of his former teachers.
Comment:
When Cardinal Hugolino, the future Pope Gregory IX, suggested to Francis
that some of the friars would make fine bishops, Francis protested that they
might lose some of their humility and simplicity if appointed to those
positions. Those two virtues are needed everywhere in the Church, and Louis
shows us how they can be lived out by bishops.
Quote:
"All the faithful were edified by the fervor of his devout celebration of
Mass, the efficacy of his deep humility, his tender compassion, his upright
life, the harmonious congruity in all his actions, words and bearing. Who
without wonderment could look upon a most charming young man, the son of so
mighty a king, outstanding for his generosity, raised to such dignity,
renowned for his influence, preeminent for humility, living a life of such
mortification, endowed with such wisdom, clothed in so poor a habit yet
renowned for the charm of his discourse and a shining example of upright
life?" (contemporary biography).