St. Blanche our Patron Saint

The History of St. Blanche's Station at Priest Lake, Idaho

The area the Station serves is located in picturesque Priest Lake.  The first and only church building was built in the late 1950's.  Before this date, little is known of the area church history.  A year or two before the church was built, mass was held in the old Lamb Creek Inn on the west side of the lake.  Sometimes mass was held at the Jesuit Retreat House that was located at Kalispel Bay.

The land the church was built on was donated by Mr. & Mrs. Casper Kittelson.  The seating capacity is approximately 180.  In the summer months the church is often filled to capacity due to the influx of vacationers.  In the winter months the congregation consists of approximately 15 local families.  The vacationers to the area provide most of the financial support to the church and the local families are very grateful for their support.

St. Blanche our patron Saint:  Our Divine Lord says: "By their fruits you shall know them".  In these words He bestows great praise on Queen Blanche, for St. Louis IX of France was her son, and his holiness was in great measure the result of her maternal rearing.

Blessed Queen Blanche, the daughter of the king of Castile, Spain, lived in happy wedlock with Louis VIII, King of France, for twenty-six years. She enjoyed the confidence of her husband so perfectly that when he died he entrusted her with the guardianship of their twelve-year-old son Louis and, until his maturity, with the government of the country. There were among the great ones in the land such who were envious of the widow and foreigner, and would have liked to take over the government. But Blanche administered the high and burdensome office with such impartial justice and great wisdom that the envious were silenced and her executive ability was highly commended by all.

As a mother she evinced genuine Christian sentiments. It is in the love for her children that a Christian mother must generally stand the test. Will she allow them to do things that are displeasing to God? Will she love them more than God? "He who loves son or daughter more than Me, is not worthy of Me." Blanche proved that she was a true Christian mother, for she often said to her son: "Rather would I see you dead at my feet than stained with a mortal sin."

Blessed Queen Blanche was not satisfied, however, with helping her son to avoid mortal sin, she was anxious also to preserve him from venial sin. Mother and son therefore had themselves enrolled in the Third Order of St Francis. In living up to the rule she encouraged him to practice every virtue and to strive after Christian perfection.

The saintly son had such confidence in his mother that, having personally governed the country for several years, he again placed her in charge, while he went to the Holy Land with his army. He did not return until he received the news of her death in 1253. Blanche died surrounded by devout sisters of the Cistercian Order, whose convent at Maubisson she had built. Cloisters  in the habit of the Third Order, she was buried in their church. The title of Blessed which was conferred on her in popular devotion, may still be used, but is has not yet been officially confirmed by the Holy See.