Thursday, August 19, 29th Week in Ordinary Time
Third from left, the saint's founder statue in st. Peter's Basilica; and next to it, a painting of the saint consecrating his communities to the Lord.
ST. JEAN (JOHN) EUDES (France, 1601-1680)
Priest, Apostle of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, Founder of the Eudist congregations for men and women and a lay order for women
A farmer's son, he was educated by the Jesuits, but joined the Oratorians of St. Philip Neri and was ordained at 24. He cared for plague victims of his diocese in 1627 and 1631. Then he became a parish missionary whose gifts for preaching and confession made him very popular. He preached over 100 parish missions lasting weeks to months in different parts of France. Parish experience made him aware of the plight of prostitutes, which led him to found the Sisters of Charity of the Refuge in 1641. Realizing that the Church needed more spiritual priests and the right seminaries to train them, he got the approval of Cardinal Richelieu to found the Congregation of Jesus and Mary (now known as the Eudists) devoted to the formation of the clergy in diocesan seminaries. He also established the Society of the Heart of the Mother Most Admirable - similar to the Franciscan and Dominican lay orders. Meanwhile, he wrote a number of books noteworthy for their doctrinal elevation and simple style, among them the first book ever written on the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He dedicated his seminaries to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, established confraternities to spread the devotion, and wrote the Propers for Mass and Divine Office for their celebratory liturgies. The Marian feast was first celebrated in 1648, and that for Jesus in 1672. In Paray-le-Monial, Sr. Marguerite Marie Alacoque would have her first vision of Jesus and his Sacred heart in 1973. Jean Eudes was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1925, at which time Pius XI called him the father of the liturgical devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
Readings from today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/081910.shtml
OR for 8/18-8/19:
At the General Audience, Benedict XVI recalls the work of St. Pope Pius X:
'A pastoral commitment to renew everything in Christ'
The Pope also appeals for international aid to the flood victims of Pakistan
Other Page 1 stories: The Pope's sorrow at the death of former Italian president Francesco Cossiga (and inside, the funeral of nuclear physicist Nicola Cabibbo, who had been president of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences since 1993); international aid slow to mobilize for Pakistan's flood emergency; and a story on America's continuing industrial problems.
No bulletins from the Vatican today.
FIVE YEARS & FOUR MONTHS TODAY, AND COUNTING....
AD MULTOS ANNOS, SANCTE PATER!
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU ARE
TO THE CHURCH, TO THE WORLD, TO ALL OF US.
We can never love you enough.
