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Saint Francis Regis
Image: Michel Ange Houasse · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Saint Francis Regis

A Jesuit priest who preached through the mountain parishes of Vivarais and Velay

Rank
Saint
Kind
Priest, Religious, Missionary
Life
1597 – 1640
Era
17th century
Feast
16 June
Countries
France
France

Life story

Francis Regis was born on 31 January 1597 at Fontcouverte in Languedoc, France, into a comfortably-off family. He studied at the Jesuit school at Béziers. In December 1616 he entered the Jesuit novitiate at Toulouse and took vows two years later. He then taught at several schools, studied theology and was ordained priest around 1630.

He asked to be sent as a missionary to Canada, but his superiors kept him in France. In 1631, when plague broke out at Toulouse, he cared for the sick. From 1633 to 1640 he preached in more than fifty mountain parishes of the diocese of Viviers, often in winter, speaking to peasants, hearing confessions and reconciling quarrels.

He also took an interest in women in difficult circumstances and in orphans: he set up places of refuge, found them work and taught them lace-making. At the end of 1640 he caught pneumonia after a preaching journey and died at Lalouvesc in the Ardèche on 31 December 1640, aged forty-three. He was beatified in 1716 under Clement XI and canonised on 5 April 1737 under Clement XII. His tomb at Lalouvesc is a place of pilgrimage. Lalouvesc became a pilgrimage site soon after his death, and the town grew up around the sanctuary. He is also remembered as a patron of lacemakers because of his work with women in the lace trade. His feast is kept on 16 June.

Works and witness

  • Entered the Jesuit novitiate at Toulouse in December 1616
  • Nursed plague victims at Toulouse
  • Preached in more than fifty parishes of the Viviers area from 1633 to 1640
  • Set up refuges and taught lace-making to women in need
  • Died at Lalouvesc on 31 December 1640

Patron of

Lacemakers, Medical social workers

Saints from the same country

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Louis IX of France, Saint Joan of Arc, Saint Francis de Sales

References

  • Martyrologium Romanum
  • Catholic Encyclopedia (1907–1912), entry on John Francis Regis
  • Dicastery for the Causes of Saints – biographical profile

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.