THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Her Doctrine and Morals

Saint Louis the King

25 August 2024

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The Sunday

Sermon

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Dear Friends in Christ,

Saint Louis IX of France is one of the most brilliant ornaments of the Franciscan Third Order. He is the perfect model for statesmen and a mirror of virtue for everyone. With the death of his father, King Louis VIII, his mother conducted his regency in a model way and educated her son with words and examples to lead a life of Christian faith. Above all, she sought to rouse a deep loathing of sin in the boy, often saying to him: "My son, I would rather see you lying dead before me in your innocence than ever see you committing a mortal sin."

Saint Louis took his mother's admonition very seriously, even when he rose to the throne of the kingdom of France. His biographers tell us that he attended Holy Mass every day and devoted several hours daily to prayer. In his public life, the king did all he could to eliminate scandals and pave the way for justice and fairness everywhere. His principle was: "I want as aides and officials only persons who, in turn, serve God loyally and tread in His ways." He thought more of his title as Christian than as king; during his imprisonment in Egypt, he used the signature of "Louis, prisoner of Christ."

Saint Louis' laws of reform evidenced his deep loathing for everything sinful. He enacted several laws against cursing and blasphemy, forbade dueling as a transgression of the laws of God and the Church, and severely punished all unworthy traffic in spiritual preferments and church property. He menaced unworthy priests and religious with grievous penalties.

We have much that we should imitate and implore from Saint Louis. Our world is truly in dire need of true Catholic statesmen and even more so of saintly Catholics. While we can lament our current lack of Christian political candidates to vote for, we should seek, through sincere prayer and penance, the intercession of Saint Louis and the blessing of God for good moral leaders. But our duty doesn't start or end in seeking good leaders for ourselves and our nations; we must strive for catholic sanctity in our lives. We need to be Catholics worthy of having Catholic leaders.

Our society has been fed a constant stream of lies that secular government and politics must be devoid of Christian morality. This lack of decency and morality has plunged us into our current morass without any natural way out. We must strive to be Catholics 24/7, not just for one hour on Sunday morning. We would do well to frequently remind ourselves and our children of the powerful words of King Louis' mother: "It would be better to be dead than ever to have committed mortal sin." It is better to lose everything and die to this world than to lose our immortal souls to the eternal flames of Hell.

We must never fear to stand up for God, the Church, our families, and our country. Sometimes, this will cost us dearly in material things and material comforts, but it is always better to lose these material things so that we may preserve the true treasures of our souls. "Death but not sin!"

We have busy schedules and make the excuse that we do not have time for prayer. However, if we honestly examine our lives, we can easily see that these are just empty excuses. Are we truly more busy than the King of France was? Can we not set aside a part of every day for God, prayer, and the Sacraments? If we genuinely want Heaven, then we must work for It. Thinking we can somehow grow in grace and virtue without prayer and Sacramental Grace is foolish pride and vanity. It is the height of idiocy to believe that we can reach a destination without traveling toward it, that we can get to Heaven by laboring for the hedonistic pleasures of Hell.

Saint Louis' zeal for the honor of God and the Holy Places was manifested in the Crusades. In 1270, on his second crusade against Tunis, he fell victim to pestilence and died resigned to God's Holy Will in the fifty-fifth year of his life. His last words were: "I will enter your house, I will worship at your holy temple in fear of you, O Lord" (Ps. 5, 8).

We should strive to live ever more perfect Christian lives as King Louis did. As we draw nearer to our time to leave this world, may we look forward with genuine hope and confidence to the heavenly reward that awaits us. As we live, generally speaking, so we shall die. If we live in God's grace, we will most likely die in His grace. We are most likely to die in sin if we live in sin. Our world is in great need of saintly men and leaders like Saint Louis. May we step forward and take up this task of living in God's grace now before us.

May the Immaculate Heart of Mary inspire, guide, and protect us!