Sunday, October 27, 2019

St. Francis Regis: From Le Puy to Lalouvesc

The popularity of St. Francis Régis, S.J. has interested people over four centuries so accommodating pilgrimages to venerate him has became one of the village of Lalouvesc's main attractions. At one point there were 12 hotels for visitors, although now there are only two. Nevertheless, enthusiasm for this saint has never waned, and today it has taken on new dimensions. Lately, people are coming to Lalouvesc to enjoy the beautiful countryside as a return to Nature or to seek a refuge from urban life. Some are undoubtedly inspired by Pope Francis’ 2015 environmental encyclical, Laudato Si!: On the Care of Our Common Home-- and, more recently, the Covid pandemic. Many young couples are even buying old homes and renovating them in order to develop new way of living in a small village of four square miles with 500 people, less than 50 miles from Le Puy-en-Velay (population 19,000). 

The Jesuits have also renovated St. Regis’ House, which has 50 rooms for visitors—students, Jesuits, pilgrims, and retreatants—and coupled it with a café and a small but interesting museum on the life of St. Francis Regis. The Pilgrim Shelter, built in 1920, is another venue, although a very rustic and cheap place appealing to hikers, cyclists, motorcyclists, and families. It is run by teams of volunteers.

 
 
The Life of St. Francis Régis

Jean-François Régis was born 31 January 1597, in Fontcouverte, Aude, in the Languedoc region of southern France. At age 19 in 1616, he entered the Jesuit novitiate of Toulouse. He became a grammar teacher and was sent to Le Puy where he served at the Église-du-Collège. He was ordained a priest in 1630 and aspired to be a missionary in Canada, however, his superiors wanted him to stay in France and act as a missionary at home. Besides, he had chronic bronchitis and frequent frost-bite of his hands. 

 

As a teacher he wasn’t content with just book learning, but he pushed his students into action on their knowledge. For example, they spoke Latin in class and practiced it during recreational periods. They recited Latin poetry in order to acquire a taste for eloquence. Students also participated in theatrical productions.

 

Regis also taught adults how to acquire a Christian life of prayer with daily Mass, regular confessions, the examination of conscience, partaking of the sacraments, cultivation of Christian virtues, and avoiding vices. He encouraged them to sing songs and hymns and to recite poetry. He also spoke to the people in their own language, including lenga d'òc in the Occident.


A man of multiple charisms, he was a passionate witness to the mercy of God through activism. For example, he intervened for poor people in order to preserve their dignity and defended the lace makers whose work was threatened by burdensome regulations and physical abuse. He started soup kitchens for those who didn’t have access to proper nutrition and engaged volunteers to run the kitchens, which were maintained until the French Revolution of 1789.

 

Francis Régis led the fight against people’s misery in order to save both body and soul. He cared for people abandoned or dying in hospitals. He visited others and made sure they had food to eat. He protected prostitutes, especially from violence, as well as orphans and prisoners.

 

He had chronic bronchitis and died in Lalouvesc in 1640 at age 43. He was beatified in 1716 and canonized on June 16, 1737.

 
 
Basilica of Saint Francis Régis 
The Jesuits built the basilica in Lalouvesc in 1860 for the purpose of welcoming pilgrims who wanted to venerate St. Régis and honor his legacy.  Jesuit priests missioned here are still inspired by St. Francis Régis’ 400-year-old legacy by offering pilgrimages, ecological projects, artistic endeavors, and a return to Nature.  
 
 



 
 
The remains of St. Francis Régis are interred at a side altar to the right of the main altar.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

The basilica features other religious art works and memorials.
 
 
On a column to the left of the main altar is a memorial to the Jesuit priests who were executed by the Salvadoran Army on November 16, 1989: Ignacio Ellacuría, Ignacio Martín-Baró, Segundo Montes Mozo, Armando López Quintana and Juan Ramón Moreno Pardo of Spain; Joaquín López y López, a Salvadoran priest; and Julia Elba Ramos, a housekeeper, and her teenage daughter Celina.


A modern Madonna and Child Jesus
 

 
 
 
A fierce and fiery dragon on the mosaic floor of the main altar.



 
St. Thérese Couderc
(1805-1885), co-founder of the Sisters of the Cenacle, is also honored in the Basilica of Saint Francis Régis. During her life as a nun, she underwent humiliations and was ridiculed and mocked due to false accusations made against her. In spite of it all, she was a spiritual writer on sacrifice and service to God, and after her death, she left a series of spiritual writings. Pope Pius XII beatified her in Saint Peter's Basilica on November 4, 1951 and in 1970 she was canonized as a saint by Pope Paul VI. The sisters' convent of 50+ rooms was recently sold to house visitors to Lalouvesc.

 


 
 
Régis Museum





Near the basilica is a small museum on the life of Francis Régis. Ceramic dioramas depict different aspects of his life and illustrate the miracles he performed. Below are several scenes presented.  




12 - Each night, Régis spent long hours in prayer and got little sleep. To those who met him during the day, he seemed as though he were in the presence of God. "He seemed constantly in touch with God, fully dependent on Him," people said. "His example illuminates the love of God in everyone's hearts."

10 -- In Le Puy, the misery of families led to prostitution. Régis created a refuge for women quo wanted to change their lives. He is assaulted many times as a result. One night, four young men decided to kill him. They layed a trap for him in front of the Église-du-Collège. However, his words touched their hearts and they not only didn't kill kill him, they were transformed.
 
 
11 -- The decrees of Louis XIII forbid wearing lace on clothes. The lacemakers of Le Puy fell into unemployment as a result. Régis saw this crisis as a means of creating solidarity among the workers. He  predicted that their industry would provide them with a decent living. Since then he is venerated as the patron of lacemakers.


Régis and Brother Bideau left Le Puy on December 25, 1640, to head toward Lalouvesc, a 45-mile journey on foot in deep snow and over mountains. The only shelter they could find was a barn. As a result, Régis became ill with fever, but continued walking to Lalouvesc.


 

Régis fights an intense fever after various remedies are ineffective. Around midnight he had a vision of God that opened him to paradise. "Between your hand, O God, I hand back my spirit," he said. He died at age 43.


Francis Régis death bed.

 

St. Francis Régis died in 1640. He was beatified in 1716 and canonized on June 16, 1737. He was known as a defender of the poor and a missionary and apostle of the countryside. He was also a man of multiple charisms and a passionate witness to the mercy of God. 

 

Living during the post-Reformation period, he promoted dialogue with Protestants, and he was known as a protector and promoter of women, especially the lace workers who populated this area of France and were frequently abused. Régis’ relationship with the lace-makers of south-central France was legendary to the point that he was heralded as the saint of the lace-makers.


With no social services available in this poor area, Régis invented the soup kitchen, mostly for the lace-makers who were constantly threatened with regulations that made their lives more difficult and reduced their access to good nutrition. (In Le Puy, he started the soup kitchen known as the L’œuvre du Bouillon, which is up the hill from the Église-du-Collège.) He recruited a group volunteers to work at the soup kitchen, which was maintained until the French Revolution in 1789.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Régis was also known as a fighter against people’s misery where he aimed to save body and soul alike, care for the abandoned or the dying, and visiting people to make sure they were eating. He also protected orphans, prisoners, and prostitutes, many of whom were victims of violence.


 


 
A souvenir shop full of religious medals, ceramics, pictures and other items are sold to visitors and pilgrims to this small village.










While the pandemic has put a halt to further development at this time, the village’s focus for the future remains the same: ecological projects, pilgrimages, return to the countryside, and art. This vision is all quite in line with the life of St. Francis Régis who was a walker who moved around a lot. He visited people and welcomed them into community although not just for religious reasons. He worked with the young as well as  couples. In these ways his 400-year-old message remains the same: Christians should be open to others, filled with hope, and inspiring to others in their way of life.

 

 

St. Francis Régis in Le Puy

Although he didn't stay a long time, Franics Régis lived in Le Puy, taught at the Église-du-Collège, and started a soup kitchen for the poor. Every year around June 16, the Église-du-Collège holds St. Régis Day where parish officials open up his old room and conduct tours there.

 

 

 

 

His small and modest room contained his worldly goods plus an altar where he could say Mass and sit in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

 

 People are invited to sit in St. Francis' room to be inspired by the man who ministered to the poor and helped realize the new apostolic movement in the Church.

 

 










 

 

Resource

Église en Haute-Loire, June 2021, pp. 10-21.

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