Saint Louis of Toulouse, Saint of the day for 18 August

(9 February 1274-19 August 1297)

History of St. Louis of Toulouse
When he died at the age of 23, Luigi was already a Franciscan, a bishop and a saint!

Luigi's parents were Charles II of Naples and Sicily and Maria, daughter of the King of Hungary. Luigi was related to St. Louis IX on his father's side and Elizabeth of Hungary on his mother's side.

Louis showed the first signs of attachment to prayer and corporal works of mercy. As a child he took food from the castle to feed the poor. When he was 14, Louis and two of his brothers were taken as hostages by the king of Aragon's court as part of a political settlement involving Louis's father. At the court, Ludovico was educated by Franciscan friars under whom he made great progress both in studies and in the spiritual life. Like St. Francis he developed a special love for leprosy sufferers.

While still a hostage, Louis decided to give up his royal title and become a priest. When he was 20, he was allowed to leave the court of the king of Aragon. He renounced the title in favor of his brother Robert and was ordained a priest the following year. Shortly thereafter he was appointed bishop of Toulouse, but the pope agreed to Louis's request to become a Franciscan first.

The Franciscan spirit pervaded Louis. “Jesus Christ is all my riches; he alone is enough for me, ”Louis kept repeating. Even as a bishop he wore the Franciscan habit and sometimes begged. He commissioned a friar to offer correction - in public if necessary - and the friar did his job.

Louis' service to the diocese of Toulouse was richly blessed. At no time was he considered a saint. Louis set aside 75% of his income as a bishop to feed the poor and maintain churches. Every day he fed 25 poor people at his table.

Louis was canonized in 1317 by Pope John XXII, one of his former teachers. Its liturgical feast is on August 19th.

Reflection
When Cardinal Hugolino, the future Pope Gregory IX, suggested to Francis that some of the friars would be excellent bishops, Francis protested that they might lose some of their humility and simplicity if appointed to those positions. These two virtues are needed everywhere in the Church and Louis shows us how they can be lived by bishops.