Felix of Valois, Saint

▪ Roman Catholic hermit

born c. 1127, , France

died 1212, Cerfroid; feast day November 20

      legendary religious hermit who, with St. John of Matha, has traditionally been considered a cofounder of the Trinitarians (Trinitarian), a Roman Catholic religious order. Felix' existence is known only from a spurious history of the order compiled in the 15th century.

      According to legend, Felix lived a solitary ascetic life in the forest near Cerfroid in the diocese of Soissons. The founding of the Trinitarians, an order originally devoted to freeing Christian slaves from Muslim captivity, was supposedly suggested by John of Matha, a disciple of Felix. Although he was 70 years old at the time, Felix is said to have agreed to help, establishing the new order in France and Italy, while John traveled to Spain and Barbary. Felix then returned to administer the motherhouse of the order at Cerfroid.

      Although the tradition of the Trinitarians holds that the two were canonized in 1262 by Pope Urban IV, there is no evidence of any decree to that effect. Their cult was officially recognized, however, by Alexander VII in 1666.

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