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Saint Louis IX
Also known as: Louis Capet
Profile
King for 44 years, being crowned at age 12; his mother ruled as regent
until he reached 22. Founded monasteries, built leper hospitals, and
collected relics. Married at age 19, and father of eleven. Franciscan
tertiary. Led two crusades and died on one.
Born: 25 April 1214 at Poissy, France
Died: 25 August 1270 at Tunis, Algeria
Canonized: 1297
Name Meaning: famous warrior
Patronage
Archdiocese of Saint Louis Missouri USA, barbers, builders, button makers,
construction workers, Crusaders, death of children, difficult marriages,
distillers, embroiderers, French monarchs, grooms, haberdashers,
hairdressers, hair stylists, kings, masons, needle workers, parenthood,
parents of large families, prisoners, sculptors, sick people, soldiers,
stone masons, stonecutters, tertiaries
Representation
crown of thorns; king holding a cross or crown of thorns; nails
Readings
In order to avoid discord, never contradict anyone except in case of sin
or some danger to a neighbor; and when necessary to contradict others, do
it with tact and not with temper.
Saint Louis IX
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In prosperity, give thanks to God with humility and fear lest by pride you
abuse God's benefits and so offend him.
Saint Louis IX
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My dearest son, my first instruction is that you should love the Lord your
God with all your heart and all your strength. Without this there is no
salvation. Keep yourself, my son, from everything that you know displeases
God, that is to say, from every mortal sin. You should permit yourself to
be tormented by every kind of martyrdom before you would allow yourself to
commit a mortal sin.
If the Lord has permitted you to have some trial, bear it willingly and
with gratitude, considering that it has happened for your good and that
perhaps you well deserved it. If the Lord bestows upon you any kind of
prosperity, thank him humbly and see that you become no worse for it,
either though vain pride or anything else, because you ought not to oppose
God or offend him in the matter of his gifts.
Be kindhearted to the poor, the unfortunate and the afflicted. Give them
as much help and consolation as you can. Thank God for all the benefits he
has bestowed upon you, that you may be worthy to receive greater. Always
side with the poor rather than with the rich, until you are certain of the
truth.
Be devout and obedient to our mother the Church of Rome and the Supreme
Pontiff as your spiritual father.
In conclusion, dearest son, I give you every blessing that a loving father
can give a son. May the three Persons of the Holy Trinity and all the
saints protect you from every evil. And may the Lord give you the grace to
do his will so that he may be served and honored through you, that in the
next life we may together come to see him, love him and praise him
unceasingly. Amen.
from a spiritual testament by King Saint Louis IX to his son
source:
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintl07.htm
Saint Joseph Calasanz
Also known as
Joseph Calasanctius; Joseph of Our Lady; Joseph Calsanza
Profile
Youngest of five children born to Don Pedro Calasanz and Donna Maria
Gastonia. His mother and a brother died while he was still in school.
Studied at Estadilla, at the University of Lereda, at Valencia, and at
Alcala de Henares. Obtained degrees in canon law and theology. His father
wanted the boy to become a soldier, to marry, and to continue the family.
However, a near fatal illness in 1582 caused him to seriously examine his
life, and he realized a call to the religious life.
Ordained on 17 December 1583. Parish priest at Albarracin. Secretary and
confessor to his bishop, synodal examiner, and procurator. Revived
religious zeal among the laity, discipline among the clergy in a section
of the Pyrenees. Both his bishop and his father died in 1587.
Vicar-general of Trempe. Following a vision, he gave away much of his
inheritance, renounced most of the rest, and traveled to Rome in 1592.
Worked in the household of Cardinal Ascanio Colonna as theological advisor
for the cardinal, tutor to the cardinal's nephew. Worked with plague
victims in 1595.
Member of the Confraternity for Christian Doctrine. Tried to get poor
children, many of them orphans and/or homeless, into school. The teachers,
already poorly paid, refused to work with the new students without a
raise; in November 1597, Joseph and two fellow priests opened a small,
free school for poor children. Pope Clement VIII, and later Pope Paul V,
contributed toward their work. He was soon supervising several teachers
and hundreds of students.
In 1602 they moved to larger quarters, and reorganized the teaching
priests into a community. In 1612 they moved to the Torres palace to have
even more room. In 1621 the community was recognized as a religious order
called Le Sciole Pie (Religious Schools), also known as the Piarists, or
Scholopi or Ordo Clericorum Regularium Pauperum Matris Dei Scholarum
Piarum or Order of Poor Clerks Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious
Schools; Joseph acted as superior of the Order.
The community encountered many obstacles - Joseph's friendship with the
astronomer Galileo Galilei caused a stir with some Church officials. Some
of the ruling class objected that to educate the poor would cause social
unrest. Other Orders that worked with the poor were afraid they would be
absorbed by the Piarists. But the group continued to have papal support,
and continued to do good work.
In his old age, Joseph suffered through seeing his Order torn apart. He
was accused of incompetence by Father Mario Sozzi, who was chosen as new
superior of the Order. Sozzi died in 1643, and was replaced by Father
Cherubini; he pursued the same course as Sozzi, and nearly destroyed the
Order. A papal commission charged with examining the Order acquitted
Joseph of all accusations, and in 1645, returned him to superior of the
Order, but internal dissent continued, and in 1646 Pope Innocent X
dissolved the Order, placing the priests under control of their local
bishops.
The Piarists were reorganized in 1656, eight years after Joseph's death.
They were restored as a religious order in 1669, and continue their good
work today.
Born
11 September 1556 at Peralta, Barbastro, Aragon, Spain in his father's
castle
Died
25 August 1648 at Rome, Italy of natural causes; buried at Saint
Panteleone, Rome
Beatified: 1 August 1748
Canonized: 16 July 1767 by Pope Clement XIII
Patronage
colleges, schoolchildren, schools, schools for the poor, students,
universities (areas 'assigned' by Pope Pius XII)
Readings
Piety and Letters
- motto of Saint Joseph Calasanz
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Everyone knows the great merit and dignity attached to that holy ministry
in which young boys, especially the poor, receive instruction for the
purpose of attaining eternal life. This ministry is directed to the
well-being of body and soul; at the same time, that it shapes behavior it
also fosters devotion and Christian doctrine.
Moreover the strongest support is provided not only to protect the young
from evil, but also to rouse them and attract them more easily and gently
to the performance of good works. Like the twigs of plants, the young are
easily influenced, as long as someone works to change their souls. But if
they are allowed to grow hard, we know well that the possibility of one
day bending them diminishes a great deal and is sometimes utterly lost.
All who undertake to teach must be endowed with deep love, the greatest of
patience, and, most of all, profound humility. They must perform their
work with earnest zeal. Then, through their humble prayers, the Lord will
find them worthy to become fellow workers with him in the cause of truth.
He will console them in the fulfillment of this most noble duty, and
finally, will enrich them with the gift of heaven.
As Scripture says, "Those who instruct many in justice will shine as stars
for all eternity." They will attain this more easily if they make a
covenant of perpetual obedience and strive to cling to Christ and please
him alone, because, in his words, "What you did to one of the least of my
brethren, you did to me."
- from the writings of Saint Joseph Calasanz
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Lord, You blessed Saint Joseph Calasanz with such charity and patience
that he dedicated himself to the formation of Christian youth. As we honor
this teacher of wisdom may we follow his example in working for truth.
- opening prayer for the Mass for Saint Joseph Calasanz
source:
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintj28.htm
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