21
Aug
A SAINT OF HIS TIME
The future King Louis IX of France’s mother, Queen Blanche of Castile, was certainly a product of her times! Back then – and even when I was a child! – parents and others used ‘the fear of God’ to keep us in line – and we had no recourse to lawsuits to stop them! Queen Blanche would reportedly say to her son: “I’d rather see you dead at my feet (some translations say, ‘in a coffin’) than stained with a single mortal sin.” This admonition governed the way he ruled; for he wanted the King of Kings to judge and treat him in exactly the same way he treated those subject to him! After praying the Collect for his Feast Day: August 25, the day on which he died from the plague while on a Crusade in 1270 at the age of 56, I’ll reflect on the life of Saint Louis.
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Collect – Saint Louis O God, who brought Saint Louis |
A KINDLY KING. Born in 1214/1215, the future Saint ascended to the throne when he was only 11 or 12, upon the death of his father, King Louis VIII; his mother served as Regent until he was 21. He and his wife, Margaret, had 11 children; only 7 lived to be adults. At his coronation, he bound himself to live and rule as God’s anointed; but unlike other monarchs who gave lip-service to God and often lived double lives, Saint Louis remained true to his word.
Saint Louis attended holy Mass often, sometimes twice a day; he faithfully prayed the Divine Office: the series of daily prayers Ordained Clergy and Religious offer each day; he invited Saint Thomas Aquinas, who was ‘in town’ (Paris) for studies, to be his dining partner so they could discuss theology. Yet he was equally at home with commoners: he invited 13 poor people to have dinner with him, and personally cared for them.
A TRUE TRENDSETTER. Until his time, most trials were settled by combat or violence, so he crafted and enforced laws and policies we take for granted. Among them were that written court records were to be kept; evidence was required; and witnesses were cross-examined to check for their accuracy; he took great measures to ensure that the process of arbitration was carried out properly. He was so impartial in his quest for true justice that he was asked to ‘referee’ some of the greatest feuds of his day. He even went against Popes whose motives were less than honorable.
THE CONTROVERSIAL CRUSADE. Some play the proverbial ‘Monday Morning Quarterback’ and are quick to pass judgment on our ancestors’ intentions and actions; this ‘woke’ way to reassess the past is wrong, if not sinful. I hope that our descendants do not judge us by what they will more clearly understand as we humans mature. In the 1200’s, as Moslem forces overtook the Holy Land, and destroyed Christian shrines and relics, (I hope no Christian would deface or desecrate a Quran or Islamic symbol!) something had to be done, and the way to do it then was – by war.
Saint Louis led two Crusades: the Seventh, during which he was captured and imprisoned, and the Eighth, during which he died of dysentery. He purchased, via merchants in Venice, the ‘Crown of Thorns’ relic; it had been in Constantinople since the 400’s. In the procession to its enthronement in the unfinished Sainte-Chapelle, the chapel of the French kings, Saint Louis walked barefoot, without his own crown. During the 1789-1799 French Revolution, it was almost lost with many other relics; but Napoleon safeguarded it, and on August 10, 1806, it was entrusted to Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral. During the 2019 fire that nearly destroy that edifice, the ‘Crown of Thorns’ relic was one of the first items to be ‘saved’ by rescuers.
COMPLEX TIMES CREATE COMPLEX SAINTS. While much of what Saint Louis did, and how he understood his Catholic Faith, would not apply to us, nor is it something we even should strive for – we can, and MUST learn to imitate his total commitment to and willingness to live by – what he believed. How can we follow his example? Saint Louis, pray for us!
With God’s love and my prayers,
Very Rev. Michael J. Kreder, VF, KCHS
A SAINT OF HIS TIME
The future King Louis IX of France’s mother, Queen Blanche of Castile, was certainly a product of her times! Back then – and even when I was a child! – parents and others used ‘the fear of God’ to keep us in line – and we had no recourse to lawsuits to stop them! Queen Blanche would reportedly say to her son: “I’d rather see you dead at my feet (some translations say, ‘in a coffin’) than stained with a single mortal sin.” This admonition governed the way he ruled; for he wanted the King of Kings to judge and treat him in exactly the same way he treated those subject to him! After praying the Collect for his Feast Day: August 25, the day on which he died from the plague while on a Crusade in 1270 at the age of 56, I’ll reflect on the life of Saint Louis.
|
Collect – Saint Louis O God, who brought Saint Louis |
A KINDLY KING. Born in 1214/1215, the future Saint ascended to the throne when he was only 11 or 12, upon the death of his father, King Louis VIII; his mother served as Regent until he was 21. He and his wife, Margaret, had 11 children; only 7 lived to be adults. At his coronation, he bound himself to live and rule as God’s anointed; but unlike other monarchs who gave lip-service to God and often lived double lives, Saint Louis remained true to his word.
Saint Louis attended holy Mass often, sometimes twice a day; he faithfully prayed the Divine Office: the series of daily prayers Ordained Clergy and Religious offer each day; he invited Saint Thomas Aquinas, who was ‘in town’ (Paris) for studies, to be his dining partner so they could discuss theology. Yet he was equally at home with commoners: he invited 13 poor people to have dinner with him, and personally cared for them.
A TRUE TRENDSETTER. Until his time, most trials were settled by combat or violence, so he crafted and enforced laws and policies we take for granted. Among them were that written court records were to be kept; evidence was required; and witnesses were cross-examined to check for their accuracy; he took great measures to ensure that the process of arbitration was carried out properly. He was so impartial in his quest for true justice that he was asked to ‘referee’ some of the greatest feuds of his day. He even went against Popes whose motives were less than honorable.
THE CONTROVERSIAL CRUSADE. Some play the proverbial ‘Monday Morning Quarterback’ and are quick to pass judgment on our ancestors’ intentions and actions; this ‘woke’ way to reassess the past is wrong, if not sinful. I hope that our descendants do not judge us by what they will more clearly understand as we humans mature. In the 1200’s, as Moslem forces overtook the Holy Land, and destroyed Christian shrines and relics, (I hope no Christian would deface or desecrate a Quran or Islamic symbol!) something had to be done, and the way to do it then was – by war.
Saint Louis led two Crusades: the Seventh, during which he was captured and imprisoned, and the Eighth, during which he died of dysentery. He purchased, via merchants in Venice, the ‘Crown of Thorns’ relic; it had been in Constantinople since the 400’s. In the procession to its enthronement in the unfinished Sainte-Chapelle, the chapel of the French kings, Saint Louis walked barefoot, without his own crown. During the 1789-1799 French Revolution, it was almost lost with many other relics; but Napoleon safeguarded it, and on August 10, 1806, it was entrusted to Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral. During the 2019 fire that nearly destroy that edifice, the ‘Crown of Thorns’ relic was one of the first items to be ‘saved’ by rescuers.
COMPLEX TIMES CREATE COMPLEX SAINTS. While much of what Saint Louis did, and how he understood his Catholic Faith, would not apply to us, nor is it something we even should strive for – we can, and MUST learn to imitate his total commitment to and willingness to live by – what he believed. How can we follow his example? Saint Louis, pray for us!
With God’s love and my prayers,
Very Rev. Michael J. Kreder, VF, KCHS