Bl. Pierre de Luxembourg

Pierre de Luxembourg was born in 1369 at Ligny-en-Barrois in Lorraine, the son of Guy of Luxembourg. He lost both parents as a small child and was raised by an aunt. In 1377 he went to Paris to study at the College of Navarre.

This was the time of the Western Schism, when rival popes claimed the throne. The Avignon claimant, Clement VII, now counted as an antipope, heaped Church posts on the boy. He made him a canon as a child, Bishop of Metz in 1384 and a cardinal soon afterwards, while Pierre was still in his teens.

At Clement's court in Avignon Pierre lived an austere life of prayer and penance. He fell seriously ill and died at Villeneuve-lès-Avignon on July 2, 1387, aged eighteen. He was beatified in 1527.

The Church has declared Pierre de Luxembourg Blessed.

Beatification allows public veneration, usually in a particular region or religious family. Canonization extends it to the whole Church.