St. Felix Of Valois (April 16, 1127–November 4, 1212)

St. Felix of Valois was a hermit and a co-founder with St. John of Matha of the Trinitarian Order. He was born in 1127 and was surnamed Valois because he was a member of the royal branch of Valois in France. At an early age, Felix renounced his possessions and retired to a dense forest where he devoted himself to prayer and contemplation.

John of Matha, a young nobleman, priest, and native of Provence, sought Felix out and put himself under his spiritual direction. He proposed that they found an order for the ransom of Christians held captive by non-Christians, a consequence of crusading and of pirating along the Mediterranean coast of Europe. Felix, though seventy years of age at the time, readily agreed.

They set out for Rome in the depth of winter. They had letters of recommendation from their bishop, and Pope Innocent III received them with kindness. After lengthy study and prayer, he granted his approval of the new order under the name “Order of the Holy Trinity for the Redemption of Captives.”

Felix returned to France to establish the Order and was received with great enthusiasm. He was granted 20 acres of the wood where he had built his first hermitage. Within forty years, the Order possessed six hundred monasteries in every part of Europe. St. Felix remained in France to look after the interests of the congregation.

From the very outset, a special dedication to the mystery of the Holy Trinity has been an important element of the Order’s life.

St. Felix died in 1212 among his fellow Trinitarians at their motherhouse. Tradition holds that he was canonized in 1262 by Pope Urban IV. His feast day is November 4.