John Francis Regis

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Jean François Regis S.J. (31 January 1597 – December 30, 1640) was a French preacher recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.^[1]

He was born in Font-Couverte, Narbonne, Languedoc, France, and educated as a Jesuit. He was ordained a priest at the age of thirty-one. He came from a recently ennobled family.^[2] He spent much of his life preaching to the poor in Huguenot-controlled areas of France. His preaching style was said to have been simple and direct, and appealed to the uneducated peasantry. He established several hostels for prostitutes, and set up girls as lacemakers to give them an income. He is the patron saint of lacemakers. He also worked with plague victims in Toulouse.

Regis established the Confraternities of the Blessed Sacrament, which organized charity collections of money and food from the wealthy. He died on December 30, 1640, during a mission to La Louvesc, Dauphine, France of pneumonia. He was canonized on June 16, 1737. Regis High School in New York City is named in his honor.

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