John Eudes
| St. John Eudes, C.J.M. | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Saint John Eudes, 1673
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| Priest and founder | |
| Born |
14 November 1601 Ri, Normandy, Kingdom of France |
| Died | 19 August 1680 (aged 78) Caen, Normandy, Kingdom of France |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 25 April 1909 by Pope Pius X |
| Canonized | 31 May 1925 by Pope Pius XI |
| Feast | 19 August |
St. John Eudes, C.J.M. (French: Jean Eudes) (14 November 1601 – 19 August 1680) was a French missionary and priest, who founded the Congregation of Jesus and Mary and the Order of Our Lady of Charity, and was the author of the propers for the Mass and Divine Office of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. He has been declared a saint by the Catholic Church.
Eudes was born in 1601 on a farm near the village of Ri, in Normandy, the son of Isaac and Martha Eudes. After studying with the Jesuits at Caen, Eudes joined the Oratorians on 25 March 1623. His masters and models in the spiritual life were Pierre de Bérulle and the mystic Charles de Condren. As a student of de Bérulle, Eudes is a member of the French School of Spirituality. The French School was not a system or philosophy, but a highly Christocentric approach to spirituality, characterized by a sense of adoration, a personal relationship with Jesus, and a rediscovery of the Holy Spirit.
Eudes was ordained a priest on 20 December 1625. Immediately after his ordination, he came down with an illness that kept him bedridden for a year. During severe plagues in 1627 and 1631, he volunteered to care for the stricken in his own diocese. He went about Normandy committing himself to the sick, administering the sacraments, and burying the dead. To avoid infecting his colleagues, he lived in a huge cask in the middle of a field during the plague.
At age 32, Eudes became a parish missionary, preached over 100 parish missions, throughout Normandy, Ile-de-France, Burgundy and Brittany. He was called by Jean-Jacques Olier "the prodigy of his age".
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