Felix of Valois
| Saint Felix of Valois | |
|---|---|
 Statues of Saint Felix of Valois and Saint John of Matha, Charles Bridge, Prague. |
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| Confessor | |
| Born | April 16, 1127 possibly Valois, France |
| Died | November 4, 1212 (aged 85) Monastery of Cerfroid, Brumetz, Picardy (now the department of Aisne), France |
| Honored in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Canonized | May 1, 1262, Rome by Pope Urban IV |
| Major shrine | Monastery of Cerfroid, Brumetz, Department of Aisne, France |
| Feast | November 4 November 20 (General Roman Calendar 1679-1969) |
| Attributes | banner; old man in Trinitarian habit with a coronet at his feet; purse; Trinitarian with a stag nearby; Trinitarian with chains or captives nearby; depicted with the Holy Trinity |
Saint Felix of Valois (April 16, 1127 – November 4, 1212) was a hermit and a co-founder (with Saint John of Matha) of the Trinitarian Order.
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[edit] Life
He was surnamed Valois because he was a native of the province of Valois. At an early age he renounced his possessions and retired to a dense forest in the Diocese of Meaux, where he gave himself to prayer and contemplation. He was joined in his retreat by St. John of Matha, who proposed to him the project of founding an order for the redemption of captives.
After fervent prayer, Felix in company with John set out for Rome and arrived there in the beginning of the pontificate of Innocent III. They had letters of recommendation from the Bishop of Paris, and the new pope received them with the utmost kindness and lodged them in his palace. The project of founding the order was considered in several solemn conclaves of cardinals and prelates, and the pope after fervent prayer decided that these holy men were inspired by God, and raised up for the good of the Church. He solemnly confirmed their order, which he named the Order of the Holy Trinity for the Redemption of Captives. The pope commissioned the Bishop of Paris and the Abbot of St. Victor to draw up for the institute a rule, which was confirmed by the pope, December 17, 1198. Felix returned to France to establish the order. He was received with great enthusiasm, and King Philip Augustus authorized the institute in France and fostered it by signal benefactions.
Margaret of Blois granted the order 20 acres (81,000 m2) of the wood where Felix had built his first hermitage, and on almost the same spot he erected the famous Monastery of Cerfroid, the mother-house of the institute. Within forty years the order possessed six hundred monasteries in every part of Europe. St Felix and St John of Matha were forced to part, the latter went to Rome to found a house of the order, the church of which, Santa Maria in Navicella, still stands on the Caelian Hill. St Felix remained in France to look after the interests of the congregation. He founded a house in Paris attached to the church of St. Maturinus, which afterwards became famous under Robert Guguin, master general of the order.
St Felix died amongst his fellow Trinitarians at their motherhouse in Cerfroid on November 4, 1212.
[edit] Veneration
Though no bull of his canonization is extant, it is the constant tradition of his institute that he was canonized by Pope Urban IV on May 1, 1262. Du Plessis tells us that his feast was kept in the Diocese of Meaux as early as the year 1215. On October 21, 1666, Pope Alexander VII confirmed his status as a saint because of his immemorial cult.[1] In 1679 St Felix's feast was transferred to November 20 by Pope Innocent XI, when it was placed into the Roman Calendar because, since 1613, November 4 was the feast day of Saint Charles Borromeo[2] In 1969, his feast was restored to November 4, his dies natalis.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Patron Saints Index: "Saint Felix of Valois"
- ^ "Calendarium Romanum" (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1969), p. 146
- ^ "Martyrologium Romanum" (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2001 ISBN 88-209-7210-7)
[edit] External links
- Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Felix of Valois
- Patron Saints Index: Saint Felix of Valois
- Catholic Online - Saints & Angels: St. Felix of Valois
- Summary of the Trinitarian Fathers (French)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.
