Narration: St. Louis of France (1214-1270)

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Source:  Secular Franciscans of LBI

Narration of "St. Louis of France" from "Stories of the Saints" by Grace Hall:

St. Louis of France was born in the 1200's.  He was a beautiful boy, very religious and pious.  This was helped by the fact that his mother was also a religious, pious woman.  Unfortunately, he wasn't the strong type, but that's okay because neither am I.  He had a tutor who didn't hesitate to chastise him when needed.

When Louis was 19, his mother arranged a marriage for him.  Luckily for Louis, his bride was beautiful, very religious, like he was, and loving.  Luckily for both of them, the marriage worked out, considering it was an arranged marriage.  They both adored each other and stuck with each other through thick and thin.  Margaret bore Louis no less than 11 children, which was very good.

Louis was a very just and kind king.  He also went to the Crusades twice.  The first time he went, everybody wasn't happy because Louis was very sick.  Everybody was praying for him.  God, in the end, decided to make him better.  Louis, despite the fact that he looked dead, raised his arms and said, "I feel fantastic!"  At least, that's what Miguel said.  =)

Since he recovered, he wanted to go to the Crusades.  He told the Bishop to place the cross of the Crusades on his breast.  Everybody was worried that he would succumb to sickness again, since he had just recovered.  Stay home, recover first!

Louis, however, ignored them, which was brave / foolish.  He still wanted to go, so the Bishop relented and put the cross on his breast.  He travelled to the Holy Land and brought his wife and children with him.  He told his men, "All right, lads, if we die here, we will go to Heaven.  If we are victorious, it is for God's glory!"

Unfortunately, he had one foe, which he could not defeat -- it was called disease.  It weakened his men.  Louis kept on fighting in the Holy Land until he was captured.  All his friends wanted to ransom him, but he refused because ransom would come from taxes.  So he remained captive for 4 years until he was able to pay his own ransom and went back to France.

On the way home, his ship was incredibly damaged near Cyprus.  Somebody suggested that he and 500 people on board go to Cyprus.  Louis could then go to the other ship and leave the 500 people behind.  Louis didn't want to leave these people behind, never to return to France again.  He brought them all safely home.

Louis continued to reign.  He was one of the best kings France had ever had.  He was kind, just and a loving family man.  Unfortunately, Louis decided to go to the Crusades again.  During a stopover in Tunis, he got sick and died.  He died in a Franciscan monk's habit, and his last words were from a Psalm.  His heart was taken to Sicily, where his brother reigned.

Louis also built the Sainte-Chapelle for God, where he placed the Holy Crown of Thorns, which he bought from Baldwin II.  It's a great building.

He was canonized in 1297, which was a pretty short time, considering he died only 20 years before.

Source:  St. Mary's Catholic Church

King St. Louis, pray for us!

New things I learned Today

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Portrait of Dante by Sandro Botticelli

Source:  Wikipedia

1.  Dante Alighieri

Mama read aloud "Dante and Beatrice" from the book, "Stories from Dante" by Mary MacGregor.  I learned that Dante was only 9 years old when he fell "in love" with this beautiful girl named Beatrice, whom he never spoke to at all except when she said "Hi" to him once.  She married someone else and then died.  He was heartbroken, then he made her his Guardian Angel in his "Divine Comedy."  

He was exiled from Florence by his enemies, who said he could return, but only as a pardoned criminal.  That hurt his pride too much, so he didn't.  He went from city to city instead, where he was invited to rich people's homes because he was a noble.  He never went back to Florence and died in Ravenna.

Source:  BSHS Travel Guide

2.  Science

Mama read aloud the first lecture in Arabella Buckley's book, "The Fairy-Land of Science."  I learned that Science can be compared to fairy tales.

Source:  Catholic Harbor of Faith and Morals

3.  St. John Gualbert (985 or 995 – 1073)

Mama read aloud St John Gualbert's Crucifix from the book, "Stories of the Saints" by Grace Hall.  He nearly killed somebody, then he didn't -- because his brother's murderer asked him for forgiveness, and at that moment, John saw a vision of Jesus on the cross, saying "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do."  So he forgave the man and ran to the church, where he asked God for forgiveness for nearly killing someone.  He saw that God forgave him when Jesus on the crucifix bowed his head to show that he was forgiven.

St. John Gualbert, pray for us!