PATRON OF THE SECULAR FRANCISCAN ORDER
Saint Louis IX King of France
Here was a King who went to Mass every day, and many times twice a day.
Saint Louis was born in 1214, he was crowned King of France at age 12 on the 8th of November 1226 less than a month after Saint Francis of Assisi died. Until he came of age his Spanish mother Blanche of Castile was regent of France, a position she would also very capably hold when he went on his first Crusade. She trained her son Louis to be a great leader and a good Christian and demanded of him the highest ideals. That he was not only capable of living up to her expectations, but surpassed them in so many ways shows the strength of his character. He was a great King and his children, to whom he left a letter which outlines what he felt were the important things he wanted to share with them gives us a look into his mind. Those children would rule France for the next 500 years even if they never equalled his holiness. Having the responsibility of ruling probably the most powerful country in Europe at that time, and being an example to every other monarch is no light thing.
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