• August 19th - Saint Louis, Bishop of Toulouse

    From rich@1:396/4 to All on Sun Aug 18 09:51:03 2019
    From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

    August 19th - Saint Louis, Bishop of Toulouse
    =C2 (1274-1297)

    This Saint was the great-nephew of Saint Louis, King of France, and
    through his mother, of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. He was born at
    Brignoles in Provence, in 1274. From his childhood he made it his
    earnest study to do nothing which was not directed to the service of
    God, showing no interest in games and diversions. His walks usually
    led him to some church or monastery, where he delighted to hear the
    servants of God discourse on mortification or the most perfect
    practices of piety. His modesty and recollection in church inspired
    with devotion all who saw him. When he was only seven years old his
    mother often found him lying in the night on a mat he spread on the
    floor near his bed, because he found his bed too soft.

    In 1284 the father of Saint Louis, Charles II, was taken prisoner in a
    sea battle by the King of Aragon. He was released on condition he send
    into Aragon as hostages, fifty gentlemen and three of his sons. One of
    these hostages was our Saint. Confined as a prisoner for seven years,
    he was subjected to ill treatment which never lessened his patience.
    Louis was finally set at liberty by a treaty concluded between the
    King of Naples, his father, and James II, King of Aragon. Both courts
    desired that Louis, then about 18 years old, marry the princess of
    Majorca, King James' sister. The Saint's resolution to dedicate
    himself to God was inflexible, however, and he resigned his right to
    the crown of Naples, begging his father to confer it on his younger
    brother, Robert.

    He had made a vow during a grave illness to join the Friar Minors if
    cured; this vow was the cause of his recovery. The opposition of his
    family obliged the superiors of the Friar Minors to refuse for some
    time to admit him into their body, however, and he therefore went to
    Naples to prepare for Holy Orders, with his father's permission.
    Boniface VIII gave him a dispensation to receive priestly orders in
    the 23rd year of his age, and afterward sent him a dispensation for
    the episcopal character also, together with his nomination to the
    archbishopric of Toulouse, and a severe injunction, in virtue of holy obedience, to accept the same.

    Nonetheless, Saint Louis made his religious profession first amid the
    Friar Minors on Christmas eve of 1296, to fulfill his vow, then
    received the episcopal consecration the following February. He
    traveled to his bishopric as a poor religious, but was received at
    Toulouse with the veneration due to a Saint and the magnificence
    befitting a prince. His modesty, mildness, and devotion inspired a
    love of piety in all who beheld him. It was his first concern to
    provide for the relief of the indigent, and his first visits were made
    to the hospitals and the poor. In his apostolic labors, he abated none
    of his austerities and preached frequently. Being obliged to go into
    Provence for certain very urgent ecclesiastical affairs, he fell ill
    not far from Marseilles. Recognizing that his end was at hand, with
    tears he received the Viaticum on his knees, and in his last moments
    ceased not to repeat the Hail Mary. He died August 19, 1297, at the
    age of 23

    Source: Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on
    Butler's Lives of the Saints and other sources


    Saint Quote:
    Earthly riches are like the reed. Its roots are sunk in the swamp, and
    its exterior is fair to behold; but inside it is hollow. If a man
    leans on such a reed, it will snap off and pierce his soul.
    --St. Anthony of Padua

    Bible Quote:
    I sanctify Myself for them, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
    (John 17:19)


    <><><><>
    The Consecration of All Suffering

    Eternal Father, I offer You all the past, present and future
    suffering of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ,
    hanging in constant agony on the Cross. Of the sins and
    indifferences of the world, In union with all the past, present
    and future suffering of all Your holy innocents, born and
    unborn.=C2 All Your martyrs, all Your saints, and all Your victim
    souls, In total, inseparable, co-sacrificial union With every
    single Holy Sacrifice of the Mass ever offered up to Thee
    throughout the past, throughout the present, and throughout
    the future, in reparation and atonement for poor sinners
    everywhere: The unbelievers, the fallen away, and the lost
    souls who are about to die, because they are our brothers
    and sisters, made in Your Image, and we love them more
    than we love ourselves, Amen.

    --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
    * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)