St. Louis IX, Patron of Our Parish (2026) – Homily
St. Louis IX, Our Patron Saint
Isaiah 58:6-11
Psalm 112:4-5, 6-7, 8a-9
Matthew 22:34-40
August 25, 2026
In the United States Catholic liturgical calendar, August 25th, is the Optional Memorial of St. Louis of France. As an optional memorial, most parishes will use the regular readings of the weekday Mass. A few parishes will use the opening prayer for the memorial of St. Louis but others may not even do that.
It is different for us. St. Louis is the patron saint of our parish. So, it is not just an optional memorial for us. It becomes more than that. We celebrate this Mass with special readings, the Gloria, and the Creed as a Solemnity, the highest type of Mass.
Everyone knows we name our Catholic churches after saints. However, this is more than just naming a church. To select a patron saint is to ask their intercession over our parish.
I wonder how many people in any parish know about their patron saint. When there is more than one saint with the same name, I sometimes wonder if people even know which one is the patron of their parish.
For instance, there are at least twenty saints with the name Louis. Our patron is St. Louis IX who was king of France in the 13th century. After arriving here, I read three different books about him.
Studying the saints can be a little bit of a challenge. Writings about the saints sometimes hagiography. This is a style of writing is specific to saints. It is biographical but tends to embellish the stories. For example, there are stories of St. Patrick driving out all the snakes from Ireland but he never literally did that.
Of the three books I found, the best one is The Prayerbook of St. Louis written by Matteo S. Bianchi (no publisher listed) published in 2024. It contains the biographical story of St. Louis. It also includes the novena to St. Louis and other prayers.
Louis IX became King of France when his father died when he was just 12 years old. He ruled as a faithful Catholic and supported the church. Bianchi writes, “Louis grew into a king who saw his crown not a prize for ambition but as a sacred trust for service” (19).
We can thank his mother for this. She saw that he was taught “both the sciences of government and the truths of the faith” (Bianchi, 17). Thanks to his mother, St. Louis “considered it a privilege to defend Christendom and to support the Church with his authority” (Bianchi, 23).
This is stark contrast to how we see many of our government leaders today. St. Louis serves as an example that it is possible to be both a diligent government ruler and a faithful Catholic. Sainthood is not something just for clergy and religious.
When we pray for our government leaders, we do well to ask for the intercession of St. Louis so that they may follow his example.
St. Louis prayed the Liturgy of the Hours daily and attended daily Mass (Bianchi, 17). He cared for the poor in his nation. At times he literally served them food and even washed their feet (Bianchi, 19).
Doing so, St. Louis responded to the Lord’s words through Isaiah to share his bread with the hungry and to clothe the naked. He never turned his back on those in need. Rather, St. Louis allowed the Light of Christ to shine throw him to the people he ruled. For the hungry and the naked, he brought light in the darkness of their suffering.
St. Louis heard what Jesus says is the greatest commandment, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all you mind.” In fact, St. Louis did not just hear this. He lived it. We have a letter he wrote to his son where he included this verse.
In loving God, St. Louis loved those God created, honoring the second greatest commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
As I said before, clearly St. Louis is an example to all rulers of how to rule and be a faithful disciple of Jesus at the same time.
However, he is not just a saint for rulers. Matteo Bianchi writes, “If you struggle with fairness in your dealings, Saint Louis will teach you justice. If you feel crushed by burdens, he will show you strength in suffering. If your family is in conflict, he will pray with you for peace. If you wrestle with pride, he will lead you toward humility. If you long for courage to live your faith openly, his example will stir your heart” (Bianchi, 6).
St. Louis…pray for us.
P.S. If you would like to read how I came to a deeper appreciation of our patron saints, see my article, “Knowing Our Parish Patron Saints.”