Denis the Carthusian

Who they were

Denis van Leeuwen was born at Ryckel in Limburg in 1402 and as a child kept his father's sheep. Brilliant at school at Saint-Trond and Zwolle, he felt his hunger for learning dulled his piety, and became a Carthusian.

He read and wrote immensely, including commentaries on the whole Bible, and suffered paralysis and other infirmities with heroic patience. He died on 12 March 1471 after forty-eight years as a monk.

The miracles

The Catholic Encyclopedia records that his cause of beatification had never been introduced, though St Francis de Sales, St Alphonsus Liguori and other writers call him 'Blessed'.

Why that counted as sanctity

A Carthusian scholar whose learning served his prayer.

Connected on this site

• Francis de Sales Saint
  “The Catholic Encyclopedia records that his cause of beatification had never been introduced, though St Francis de Sales, St Alphonsus Liguori and other writers call him 'Blessed'.” — this site's research