Saint Who?
Saints Who Had Family Challenges
Saint Clotilda of France
Married laywoman († 545)Feast: June 3
Being a Catholic was not easy in the 6th century, even for a princess. When Clotilda, Catholic princess of Lyon, France, was married to Clovis I, pagan king of the Franks, most of her people were either pagans or Arians, who denied the full divinity of Christ. Her first-born son died a day after being baptized, and Clovis, heartbroken and angry, rejected Christianity. It wasn’t until a few years later when Clovis was losing a battle that he called upon “Clotilda’s God” for help. When he won the battle, he accepted baptism and became the first Catholic king in his pagan territory.
Clotilda may have won her husband’s heart for Christ, but she spent the rest of her life trying to bring Christ’s peace to her warring relatives. At Clovis’ death, she divided the kingdom among her three sons, hoping that would keep them from fighting one another. But after her eldest son died, her two younger sons killed their brother’s heirs—some say in front of her—and took control.
Clotilda left Paris and spent the rest of her life in Tours, praying, caring for the poor, and living simply. Near the end of her life, she learned that her sons were about to fight one another in battle. She spent the entire night in prayer, and a hailstorm forced both armies to withdraw, her final success as a peacemaker.
God of peace, teach us how to wisely intercede
and intervene in family disagreements.
