Felix of Valois
French hermit
Feast: 20 November (1962 Missal, III class) · not on the current Roman calendar
Who they were
Felix was born in 1127, called 'of Valois' either from the royal house or from his native province. Young, he gave up his possessions and withdrew to a forest in the diocese of Meaux to pray. St John of Matha joined him and proposed founding an order to ransom captives.
The two went to Rome at the start of Innocent III's pontificate; the Pope received them warmly and confirmed their Order of the Most Holy Trinity, the Trinitarians. Felix died at Cerfroid on 4 November 1212.
The miracles
The miracles examined for his canonisation are not described in the sources we have used.
Why that counted as sanctity
Felix left everything for prayer, and then, with John of Matha, gave his life to freeing Christians held captive.
Connected on this site
- John of Matha Saint“Felix of Valois, OSsT (French: Félix de Valois; (April 16, 1127 – November 4, 1212) was a French Catholic former Cistercian hermit and a co-founder (with John of Matha) of the Trinitarian Order.” — Wikipedia
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Felix of Valois
- Wikidata Q651999 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Felix of Valois (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.