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Jean-François Régis was born on January 31, 1597, in Fontcouverte, Aude, in the Languedoc region of southern France. His father became a nobleman because of his services during the Wars of the League, and his mother was from a noble family.
John entered a Jesuite novitiate on December 8, 1616, and made his vows in 1618. In his first years as a Jesuit, he taught in various colleges while studying for the priesthood. He was ordained a priest in 1630.
Father John became known for his high energy, strong work ethic, and love of society’s marginalized people. He also nursed victims of bubonic plague in Toulouse in his early days of priesthood.
Among Father John’s many activities were visiting the sick in hospitals, helping the poor and needy, and assisting children in need. He also sought to bring the Huguenots (Protestants) back to the Catholic faith.
What he became most famous for, however, was his work with women who were at risk for becoming prostitutes, and orphans. To help the women, he founded the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament to solicit funds and food for women and children. He also helped women learn trades, such as lace making, so they did not have to earn a living in prostitution, and he established hostels for them so they could be safe at night.
In 1633, the bishop of the Diocese of Viviers asked Father John to give missions throughout his diocese. Father John was happy to do so, and he was highly successful. He preached simply and was popular with peasants who had little education. As a result of his preaching style, energy, strong work ethic, and love for the marginalized, he became a very popular priest.
Father John’s success as a priest, however, led to tension with some other priests. Some, who were guilty of the vices he preached against, even threatened violence toward him. This conflict was very stressful to Father John, so he asked to be sent to work with indigenous tribes in Canada. That never happened; he spent his whole priestly life in France. After the bishop investigated the complaints of the priests who were against Father John, the bishop decided there was nothing to their complaints. Rather, it was a case of clerical envy, a spiritual disorder common in the priesthood.
Father John died on New Year’s Eve 1640 in Lalouvesc (Arceche), France from pneumonia he contracted while on a mission trip at Christmastime.
Father John Francis Regis was canonized on April 5, 1737; his feast day is September 10. He is a patron saint of Regis University, various high schools; and lacemakers.
