St. Louis Bertrand (in Spanish, San Luis Beltrán) was the son of John Louis Bertrand, a royal notary, and was born at Valencia in Spain on January 1, 1526. He was the eldest of nine children, who being all remarkable for their piety were a proof of how deep a root virtue takes in the hearts of youth when it is imprinted on them by the good example and early instructions of pious parents. St. Louis from his infancy loved solitude, prayed much and with fervor, and practiced mortification of which his tender age seemed almost incapable. He ate very little, shunned all frivolous amusements and recreations, and whatever served to flatter the senses in diet or other things; and, when he could deceive the vigilance of his mother, he slept on the bare ground. He was often found on his knees in some secret part of the house, and seemed by his teachable disposition and sincere humility of soul to have inherited the spirit of St. Vincent Ferrer, to whom he was related.
When he went abroad to school, he redoubled his watchfulness over himself, lest necessary commerce with the world should weaken the sentiments of piety in his breast. He never lost sight of the Divine Presence, and seeking the Lord in the simplicity of his heart, he desired to hear His voice in pious books and devout prayer, which he made his most familiar entertainment. He sought no company but that of the virtuous. At fifteen years of age he desired to take the religious habit among the Dominicans. His father opposed his inclination on account of the tenderness of his age and constitution; and the prior of that Order at Valencia could not but pay a regard to his remonstrance. These delays only increased the ardor of the postulant's desires.
The next prior was the celebrated Fr. John Mico, who had been brought up as a poor shepherd in the mountains of Albaida, in which employment he had learned to contemplate God in the works of creation. By repeating to his fellow shepherds the instructions he learned from pious books and sermons, he induced many to embrace the practice of perfect virtue. He afterwards became an eminent doctor among the Dominican Friars, introduced a reform of that Order in Spain, was a great preacher, and an apostle to some of the Moors in Spain. He wrote several works of piety and holy meditations, full of unction and science in the interior life. This great servant of God gave the habit to young Bertrand, and conducted the fervent novice in the path of true virtue by the love of the Cross and humiliations, the contempt of earthly things, and the exercises of obedience, humility, and charity; teaching him that a soul gains more advantages by patience in spiritual dryness and privations, than by consolations and supernatural favors.
When the Saint was ordained priest, he usually said Mass every day; he prepared himself to offer that adorable Sacrifice by always spending some hours in prayer and in exercises of holy compunction and often the Sacrament of Penance. He endeavored diligently to purify his soul from the least stains, to correct the least irregularities and disorders which easily steal into our affections, and to cleanse them from all the poison of self-love which is so apt secretly to infect them. For being filled with a holy dread of the divine judgments, and the deepest sense and awe of the infinite justice, sanctity, and purity of God, with the most innocent life he joined the practice of the most severe constant penance. And he seemed desirous to set no bounds to the fervor of his compunction before he approached the holy Mysteries. His angelical modesty, the ardor of his love – the impression of which seemed to appear in his countenance – and the torrents of tears which he usually shed at the altar, inspired with tender devotion all persons that heard his Mass.
Being made Master of Novices in 1551, both by his example and words he taught them sincerely and perfectly to renounce the world and their own will, to conceive an entire distrust in themselves, and by a spirit of prayer closely to unite their souls to God. He was grave in demeanor and apparently without any sense of humor, yet had a gentle and sweet disposition that greatly endeared him to those with whom he came in contact. The Saint's talents did not at first appear promising for the pulpit; nevertheless, being employed in that sacred function, he overcame all difficulties, and his discourses produced incredible fruit, because they were animated with zeal and charity, and breathed a spirit of piety and humility. In 1557, a pestilence raging in the Kingdom of Valencia, the Saint knew no danger, and spared no pains in exhorting and assisting the sick, and in burying the dead. He who cheerfully exposed his life for his brethren during this calamity, when it was over, obtained from his superiors, by earnest importunities, permission to preach the Gospel to the natives in America, which was a most painful and dangerous mission.
St. Louis embarked at Seville in 1562, with another Friar of his Order, and during the voyage, by his daily exhortations and instructions, he brought all the sailors to a reformation of their lives. The vessel in which he sailed landed in Cartagena (in modern day Colombia), and the Saint repaired to the convent of his Order in that Province. Without the least thought of allowing himself any rest, or taking any refreshment after the fatigues of his journey, he prepared himself by severe fasts and vigils to open his mission.
During the course of his mission in those parts, he slept often in the open air, and usually on the ground or on pieces
of wood, which formed rather a rack than a bed; by refusing the ordinary succors which missionaries in those parts furnish themselves with,
he often suffered the utmost severities of hunger and other inconveniences. The gifts of tongues, prophecies, and of miracles were favors
conferred by Heaven on this new apostle, as the authentic history of his life and the bull of his canonization assure us. In the Province
of Cartagena, the isthmus of Panama, and the island of Tobago, in the space of three years, he converted to Christ above ten thousand souls,
and baptized all the inhabitants of the city of Tubará (Colombia) and the places adjoining. He then preached with like fruit at
Cipacoa. The savages at Paluato, still more enslaved to their passion than to their idols, resisted the light of Heaven. The prayers,
tears, and mortifications which the Saint offered up for them seemed at that time to be lost; but afterwards produced the most plentiful
harvest. In that manner it pleases God frequently to try the patience of His most faithful ministers.
The next mission the Saint undertook was among the Caribs, who were looked upon as the most brutal, barbarous, and unteachable people of the human race. The holy preacher, making no account of the danger to his life, penetrated alone through the forests and the places of their habitation. The divine seed was not altogether barren among these barbarians, and several even of their priests were baptized by our Saint. One of these, on the contrary, tried to poison the holy missionary, but due to divine protection, without effect (legend has it that the Saint saw serpents in the cup after blessing it). The inhabitants of the mountains of Santa Marta, however, received him as an angel from Heaven, and he baptized there about fifteen thousand persons. Fifteen hundred natives of Paluato, who had been deemed not yet ready for Baptism, followed him to Santa Marta and having been instructed in the Faith, were baptized by him and his companions. In the country of Mompox, and in the isle of St. Thomas, the Saint gained a new people to Christ, and new triumphs to the Church. Heaven protected him more than once from all the attempts made upon his life. He foretold many things to come, and once raised a girl to life by the application of a Rosary.
Pierced to the quick to see the avarice and cruelty of several of the Spanish adventurers in the New World, and not being able to find any means to put a stop to those evils, he was desirous to seek redress in Spain; and about that time was called thither by his superiors. He sailed from Cartagena in South America, and arrived at Seville in 1569, whence he proceeded to Valencia. His attempts to plead the cause of the Indians against their oppressors met with limited success, but he was never allowed by his superiors to return to the missions.
He was appointed successively prior of two convents of his Order, and wonderfully revived in them both the primitive spirit
of their Holy Founder. Among many other predictions he foretold the conversion of a Genoese nobleman, Ven. John Adorno, and that he would
help institute a new Religious Congregation; which was verified when afterward he, along with St. Francis Caracciolo, founded the Minor
Clerics Regular (also known as the Adorno Fathers). St. Teresa of Avila consulted with St. Louis Bertrand and received great
comfort from his advice under her greatest difficulties. When she wrote to him about her design of establishing a reform of the
Carmelite Order, he sent her the following answer: Because the honor of God is highly concerned in your intended undertaking, I took
some time to recommend it to Him by my poor prayers. For this reason I deferred my answer for so long a time. I now bid you take courage
in the Name of the Lord, Who will favor you. It is in His Name that I assure you your reform will be, within the space of fifty years,
one of the most illustrious Orders in the Church.
St. Louis preached the Divine Word during twelve years, without intermission, in several dioceses in Spain. Once a local
politician became furious with his sermon and approached him after the Mass. Pulling out a pistol, the man attempted to assassinate
the Saint, but he made the sign of the cross and the pistol became a crucifix. He trained many excellent preachers, who succeeded him
in the ministry of the Word in that and the following centuries. The first lesson he gave them was that humble and fervent prayer must
always be the principal preparation of the preacher; for words without works will never have the power to touch or change hearts.
Words must be animated by the spirit of prayer, and must derive their force and efficacy from this source, or they will be little more
than an empty sound. A want of feeling in the preacher never fails to leave the hearers cold, how much so ever his eloquence may tickle
their ears; and as for those who court applause, and preach themselves rather than the Word of God, their studied affectation or vanity
alienates and disgusts those that hear them – but the language of the heart is irresistible. Our Saint inculcated in preachers that
they must not judge of the fruit of their sermons by the applause of men, but by their tears and amendment of life. If,
said he,
they lay aside enmities, forgive injuries, avoid the occasions of sin and scandal, and reform their conduct by your discourses,
then say that the good seed has fallen on good soil; but give glory to God alone, and acknowledge yourselves unprofitable servants.
He first practiced these rules himself, especially by cultivating in his soul the most profound humility, and an eminent spirit of prayer. His humility never appeared more remarkable than when it was put to the most dangerous trial amidst the greatest honors. When all persons with loud acclaim called him a saint and apostle, and treated him with the highest esteem, then the fear of the divine judgments made the deepest impression on his soul. With his apostolic labors he joined assiduous prayer and abundant tears for the conversion of sinners; and in this he earnestly exhorted all devout Christians to join him, and to call in all the mourners of the earth, and all creatures, that by their united loud cries and perseverance they might move the Divine Mercy to compassion for so many souls that are blind amidst the greatest spiritual miseries, and deceive themselves, without thinking of their danger on the brink of eternal perdition. His thirst for their salvation made him cheerfully meet all dangers, and regard labors and fatigue as the greatest pleasures. Crosses were always his joy, and his continual austerities and penance made his whole life a long martyrdom.
The last two years of his life, he was afflicted with painful colic and frequent fevers, under which it was his constant
prayer to say with St. Augustine: O Lord, here cut, here burn, here spare not; that I may find mercy for eternity.
Under his
infirmities it was wonderful with what zeal and alacrity he continued his penitential austerities and his apostolic labors.
In 1580 he preached the Lenten sermons at Xàtiva, and went thence to preach at the Cathedral at Valencia, where he was carried sick
from the pulpit to the bed from which he never arose. Amidst the tears of all about him, he appeared cheerful at the approach of death,
having foretold the very day to several friends in secret, almost a year before – in particular to the Archbishop of Valencia and the
Prior of the Carthusians. The Archbishop attended the Saint during his last illness, and administered his remedies and broth with his
own hands. The holy man gave up his soul to God during his prayers, in company with all the brethren of his convent, on October 9, 1581,
being fifty-five years old. Many miraculous cures attested his favor with God. He was beatified by Pope Paul V in 1608, and canonized by
Pope Clement X in 1671.
Alphabetical Index; Calendar List of Saints
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