[Rank]
S. Felicis de Valois Confessoris;;Duplex;;3;;vide C5

[Rule]
vide C5;mtv
9 lectiones

[Oratio]
O God, Who by a sign from heaven didst call thy blessed Confessor Felix out of~
the desert to become a redeemer of bondsmen, grant, we beseech thee, unto his~
prayers, that thy grace may deliver us from the bondage of sin, and bring us~
home unto our very fatherland, which is in heaven.
$Per Dominum

[Lectio4]
Hugo de Valois, who afterwards took the name of Felix, was born (in the year~
1127) of the same family of the de Valois which in after times became Kingly.~
From his earliest childhood he gave tokens, especially by his pity toward the~
poor, of the holiness of his coming life. When he was still a little lad he~
distributed money to the poor with his own hand, with the seriousness of an old~
man. When he was a little bigger he used to send them dishes from the table, and~
took especial delight in treating poor children with the most toothsome of the~
sweetmeats. As a boy he took clothes off his own back more than once, to cover~
the naked. He begged and obtained from his uncle Theobald, Earl of Champagne and~
Blois, the life of a felon condemned to death, foretelling to him that this~
blackguard cut-throat would yet become a man of most holy life which did indeed~
come to pass as he had said.

[Lectio5]
After a praiseworthy boyhood, he began to think of withdrawing from the world in~
order to be alone with heavenly thoughts. But he first wished to take orders, to~
the end that he might clear himself of all expectation of succeeding to the~
crown, to which, in consequence of the Salic Law, he was somewhat near. He~
became a Priest, and said his first Mass with deep devotion. Then, in a little~
while, he withdrew himself into the wilderness, where he lived in extreme~
abstinence, fed by heavenly grace. Thither, by the inspiration of God, came the~
holy Doctor John de la Mata of Paris, and found him, and they led an holy life~
together for several years, until they were both warned of an Angel to go to~
Rome and seek a special Rule of life from the Pope. Pope Innocent III. while he~
was solemnly celebrating the Liturgy (on the 28th day of January, 1198,)~
received in a vision the revelation of the Order and Institute for the~
redemption of bondsmen, and he forthwith clad Felix and John in white garments~
marked with a cross of red and blue, made after the likeness of the raiment~
wherein the Angel had appeared. This Pope also willed that the new Order should~
bear, as well as the habit of three colours, the name of the Most Holy Trinity.

[Lectio6]
When they had received the confirmation of their rule from Pope Innocent, John~
and Felix enlarged the first house of their Order, which they had built a little~
while before at Cerfroi, in the diocese of Meaux, in France. There Felix~
wonderfully devoted himself to the promotion of Regular Observance and of the~
Institute for the redemption of bondsmen, and thence he busily spread the same~
by sending forth his disciples into other provinces. Here it was that he~
received an extraordinary favour from the blessed Maiden-Mother. On the night of~
the Nativity of the Mother of God, the brethren lay all asleep, and by the~
Providence of God woke not to say Mattins. But Felix was watching, as his custom~
was, and came betimes into the Choir. There he found the Blessed Virgin in the~
midst of the Choir, clad in raiment marked with the Cross of his Order, the~
Cross of red and blue; and with her a company of the heavenly host in like~
garments. And Felix was mingled among them. And the Mother of God began to sing,~
and they all sang with her and praised God; and Felix sang with them; and so~
they finished the Office. So now that he seemed to have been already called away~
from glorifying God on earth, to glorify Him in heaven, an Angel told Felix that~
the hour of his death was at hand. When therefore he had exhorted his children~
to be tender to the poor and to slaves, he gave up his soul to God (upon the 4th~
day of November) in the year of Christ 1212, in the time of the same Pope~
Innocent III., being four-score-and-five years old, and full of good works.

[Lectio94]
Felix, previously called Hugh, of the royal family of Valois in France, from his~
youth began to seek solitude from the desire for heavenly contemplation. When~
he was ordained priest, he withdrew to a hermitage, where he lived for some~
years with St. John of Matha. Then God told them both through an Angel's message~
to go to Rome to obtain from Pope Innocent III, who had also been advised from~
heaven, the approbation of a new order for the redemption of captives. Because~
of the white habit adorned with a cross in two colors which they had received~
from the Angel, the same pontiff gave this order the name of the Most Holy~
Trinity. They soon built the first house of the Order in the diocese of Meaux at a~
place called Cerfroi. There Felix received a great favor from the Blessed Virgin~
Mary: he saw her in the middle of the choir clothed in the habit of the Order~
with its cross. Full of merits, he died at an advanced age in the Lord in the~
year 1212.
&teDeum