Saint Louis

From Hull AWE
Jump to: navigation, search

The proper name and title Saint Louis denotes several things, including three people and many places.

  • The Roman Catholic church has canonized
    • Saint Louis, King Louis IX of France (1214-70; reigned 1226-70). He was distinguished for his piety, including acts of self-mortification; going twice on Crusade, unsuccessfully; the collection of relics (including the alleged Crown of Thorns); and ecclesiastical building, notably the private church la Sainte Chapelle in Paris, in which he housed the Crown of Thorns - and installed some of the most magnificent stained glass in the world.
    • Saint Louis of Toulouse (1274-1297), canonized 1317, was a nephew of Louis IX/Saint Louis (above). He was ordained in 1297, and created Bishop of Toulouse a few days afterwards. As a Franciscan, he observed great poverty in his religious life, although born the second son (and, on the death of his older brother, heir) of Charles of Anjou, King of Naples. He said Mass every day, and preached often. He observed great care and compassion towards the hungry and poor, and resigned his bishopric at the age of 23, worn out by his efforts and privations, but died before his resignation was accepted.
    • Saint Louis de Montfort (Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort) (1673-1716, canonized 1947) was a priest and missionary among the poor in France, particularly in the north-east (Poitiers and Brittany). Pope Clement XI gave him the title of Apostolic Missionary. He believed strongly in prayer, greatly using the rosary, and in intercession: he venerated angels, and became a key thinker in the development of devotion to the Virgin Mary.
      • Saint Aloysius Gonzaga (1568-1591) ('Aloysius' is the Latin version of his birth-name 'Luigi', the Italian form of Louis) was an Italian who caught plague from some victims he was nursing and died at the age of 23, some six years before he would have been ordained, He was a notably pure member of the Society of Jesus
  • There are also many places worldwide called Saint Louis, most after Louis IX. Some are spelled St. Louis. Most are pronounced 'sent-LOO-y', IPA: /sənt 'lʊ ɪ/, although American GA pronunciation may realize it with a more defined first syllable 'SAINT-LOO-iss', /,seɪnt 'lʊ ɪs (or ɪ)/ (see also Lewes - Lewis - Louis). The most famous and largest is
    • the port city in the state of Missouri, USA, on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.
    • There is another large port-city in Senegal near the mouth of the river Senegal called Saint-Louis ('sent-LOO-ee', /sənt 'lʊ ɪ/), also called Ndar in its own language of Wolof.
    • Most of the others are in territories that formerly belonged to the French crown: there are many in Canada and France itself, and one in each in the Seychelles, Senegal and Tunisia.
    • A city in California is named for Louis of Toulouse, in its Spanish form: San Luis Obispo; two in Canada are named for Saint Aloysius Gonzaga in its French form, Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague; Saint-Louis-de-Kent is an eponym located in Kent County, New Brunswick, Canada; and Saint-Louis-du-ha! ha! is so called because of the obstacle to early travellers posed by Lake Témiscouata.
The pronunciation of two place-names in the USA other than Saint Louis which are derived from the forename Louis may give trouble to speakers of British English: you may also want to see AWE's notes on Louisville and Louisiana. The name of Louisburg, or Louisbourg, which is borne by many smaller towns in Canada and the USA, is usually pronounced 'loo-iss-BERG', /lʊ ɪs 'bɜːg/. The derivation of the Louisburgs in Nova Scotia, Canada, and North Carolina (USA) is from Louis XVI; of that in Kansas, USA, which was formerly called New St. Louis or Little St. Louis, is thereby indirectly named after Louis IX. The king referred to by others, such as the Louisburgs in Miami, Minnesota, Missouri and Florida is unclear.