France experienced a great spiritual revival in the 17th century. A major figure in that revival was the outstanding home missionary St. John Eudes. John was the first-born of Isaac Eudes, a farmer of Normandy. The family was very devout and John showed a precocious spirituality; yet his parents wanted him to marry and carry on the family farm. By 1620, however, he had made a private vow of celibacy, so he declined their proposal.
In 1621 he began to study theology, with a view to becoming a diocesan priest. Then he changed his mind and joined the Congregation of the Oratory of France. He had the good fortune to be trained there by Pierre de Berulle and Charles de Condren. From them he inherited the idea that the priest, of all people, should strive most for perfection.
France at that time needed to be shaken up spiritually. One of the means undertaken was the parish mission, which had just been “invented.” Father Eudes was to become the country’s ablest domestic missionary. The mission plan involved two emphases in particular: sermons preached to large crowds, in church or in the open, and sacramental confession. As Eudes himself described this procedure, “The preacher beats the bushes and the confessors catch the bird!” As he went around from city to city, hamlet to hamlet, John kept his eyes open for other needs of the spirit. One thing he observed was that there was no special provision for women who had converted from a wayward life. Therefore, in 1641 he himself opened a house of refuge for these penitent women, with some Visitation nuns of Caen in charge. In 1650 this group of Visitandines decided to separate from their community and found another order devoted entirely to this sort of work. They called it the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of Refuge. (These sisters established a convent home in Buffalo in 1855, from which, in 1930, another convent was set up in Rochester. The Rochester convent, Holy Angels Home, closed several years ago).
St. John also decided that, given the importance of the priesthood for renewing spirituality, the training of priests should be a priority. Since the Congregation of the Oratory did not want to take on seminary work, Eudes set up, in 1643, a new community of priests without vows to specialize in seminary education. He called them the Congregation of Jesus and Mary. By the time of his death, these “Eudist Fathers” had charge of six French seminaries. Another of John’s responses was to those stricken by the plague. He insisted on caring for them with his own hands. So as not to risk carrying their disease to others during the epidemic of 1631, he lived for a while in a huge barrel in the middle of a field, eating food brought to him from a nearby convent. (Thus he became a model for today’s nurses of the victims of AIDS).
St. John’s great devotion was to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. He did not originate these devotions; it was St. Margaret Mary, from 1675 on, who was the chief promoter of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. But it was he who got the church to accept liturgical offices in honor of the Sacred Heart of Mary (1642) and the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1672). So he was one of the leading advocates of both of these devotions. His congregation adopted as their badge the symbol of the two hearts joined together.
Meanwhile, St. John continued his tireless work for the home missions. It was these efforts that eventually brought about his failure in health. In 1675 he preached a nine-week mission in the open air at Saint Lo. As a result, he fell ill from overexertion and was unable to give any missions thereafter. Eudes had converted souls not only by his preaching but by his example of personal devotion. He was especially reverent in the celebration of Mass. One of his most famous remarks was that to offer Mass properly one needs three eternities: the first, to prepare for it; the second, to celebrate it; the third, to give thanks for it. --Father Robert F. McNamara
Scripture(Eph 3:14-19)
I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant you, in accord with the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Writings
(Year C). We are in this world to love God. For that end we were created, and that alone is our center, our happiness and our sovereign good. God is worthy of our love because of His infinite goodness, His incomparable beauty and His incomprehensible perfections. Our obligations of loving Him are, therefore, infinite in scope because He is all heart and all love for us. From Him we have received an infinity of gifts and graces, both general and particular, as Christians and as priests. Yet, how often we have shown Him ingratitude instead of love, injuries and outrages instead of devotion, in our actions, our words and the improper use of our body and soul.
The first thing you must do if you would love God is to hate whatever is opposed to Him, that is, every kind of sin. You must, therefore, purify your soul by perfect penance. Separate yourself forever from any occasion which may lead you astray. Work valiantly to destroy in your life any bad habits, thus eradicating the roots of sin, particularly inordinate self~love and pride.
Ask God's guidance to know the state of your own soul. Examine your conscience rigorously. After discovering your weaknesses, pray that God's divine mercy may give you true contrition and the grace to make amends. Ask also for the grace to remain aloof from dangerous occasions and temptations. Take the means necessary to attain these ends. Make the resolution to put them into practice daily. But, be on your guard against relying upon your own resources, seeking rather your strength in the grace and mercy of God, whom you must invoke unceasingly.
There are three principal reasons why as Christians we must honor, serve and love Christ. First, we must honor all that belongs to Him, His divinity and His humanity, His body and soul, His thoughts, words, actions and sufferings because they are infinitely holy, divine, admirable and adorable and merit infinite love and praise.
Secondly, we should honor and love all that honors and loves God. Yet everything in Christ renders to God the Father homage and love worthy of His supreme grandeur. In fact, God receives no honor and glory but through His Son Jesus, as the words of Mother Church so clearly state: "Through Him and with Him and in Him is given Thee, O Father Omnipotent, in union with the Holy Ghost, all honor and glory." It is certain that not a single good act is done except through Jesus Christ. "Without me you can do nothing" (John 1 5, 5). It is He who thinks, speaks and suffers in the members of His Mystical Body all things which are pleasing to the Creator. It is through Him and with Him and in Him that the angels and saints glorify God: 'through Whom the angels praise and the dominations adore Thy Majesty."
Thirdly, we are bound to love and serve Christ because of the privations, humiliations and sufferings He endured as well as the gifts He bestowed upon us. What has He not done for us? What has He not given up? What has He not suffered because of us? He gave all, suffered all, endured all.
O Jesus, what should I not endure and do for Thy sake? Even if Thou hadst done nought for me, I should do all for Thee because Thou didst render such great glory to the Eternal Father, and because Thou art so lovable and adorable! O Good Jesus, mayl be all Thine, my body and my soul, my life, all that I have and all that I am!
We must seek the means best suited for serving Christ. We may do so by thoughts, words, actions, mortifications, vocal and mental prayer, by acts of adoration and love. The best method is to work unceasingly to imprint upon our hearts a living image of His life and His virtues.
This desire shall be our aim. We must give ourselves to Christ that we may thus act, begging Him who set us in His place, to engrave within our being His image, so that loving Him with all our hearts we may become partakers of His saintly virtues and divine dispositions.(The Priest: His Dignity and Obligations)
Musical Selection(Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles)
O Heart of Mary, pure and fair, There is no stain in thee. In Adam's fall thou hadst no share, From every sin thou’rt free. O Heart of Mary, pure and fair, No beauty can compare!
From every stain of sin thou’rt free, O make us pure like thee. As some fair lily ‘midst the thorns, Thou ‘mongst Eve’s daughters art: Celestial purity adorns thy chaste and loving Heart.
O chaste abode of fairest love, In thee the King reposed. Thou art the spouse, the mystic dove, The font, the garden closed. Dear Heart, within thy holy realm, We'll dwell and ne'er depart, Till thou hast deeply placed our souls In Jesus' Sacred Heart.
Collect
O God,
who chose the holy priest John Eudes
to proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ,
grant through his example and teaching
that we may grow in knowledge of you
and live faithfully by the light of the gospel.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit
