SAINT JOHN EUDES

A Heart for the World

 

Childhood and youth

João Eudes was born in Ri, in Normandy, France, on November 14, 1601. His parents, who had asked God for the grace to have a child, as they had been hoping to be parents for a long time, attributed João's birth to a response from heaven, hastening to consecrate his first son to the Virgin Mary.

 

The Vocation – The Priest

João Eudes, studied with the Jesuits, later joining the Congregation of the Oratory, founded by Cardinal Bérulle, in 1623. This congregation's objective was to live the priesthood in all its richness, nurturing a special devotion to Jesus Christ , Eternal Priest and source of the priesthood of the Church.

He was ordained a priest on Christmas Eve 1625. He showed great zeal for the expansion of the Kingdom of God. Allied to this zeal, he had great oratorical qualities, becoming famous in his popular missions in France from 1632 to 1677.

 

The Founder

João Eudes' great passion was to lead all people to God. Passion expressed in a phrase that has become challenging over time: “Zeal for the salvation of souls”. Seeing so many women who wanted to change their lives but could not, due to the circumstances in which they lived, this passion for the salvation of people combined with the light of the Holy Spirit and the reading of very concrete events, led him to found two Congregations in the Church Religious: in 1641 the “Order of Nossa Senhora da Caridade do Refúgio” was created, designed to welcome young people and women who wanted to change their lives, from which, in 1835, the Congregation of Nossa Senhora da Caridade do Bom Pastor emerged, which, although having the same mission and charism, had another organization. In 1643, he founded the “Society of Jesus and Mary”, aimed at training priests, as he realized that training was a major need for the clergy of his time. This Society is best known for Eudist Fathers. These priests are called to live the priesthood in community, without religious vows, and dedicate themselves to the formation of the clergy, in Seminars and Formation Actions.

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The master

St. John Eudes was a man of prayer and for that reason of great apostolic action.

He wrote a lot for the two Religious Families he had founded and for the people of God that he pastored. In this way, he sought to feed in the heart of each call to these Congregations the flame of zeal that devoured him. With these writings, he guided, legislated, showed the way and taught to pray. He left a written work of twelve volumes. His main book “Life and Kingdom of Jesus Christ in the Souls of Christians” contains the theological synthesis of his thought. There you will find the most beautiful pages on Love – God who is Love, the love we must give Him, the Love that must be made known. His spirituality, as lived by the Congregations he founded, is still very timely.

 

Apostle of the Sacred Hearts

St. John Eudes is presented in his images with a heart in his hands and is called “Prophet of the Heart”. In his desire to cultivate Love, symbolized in the heart, on February 8, 1642, he wrote a liturgical text for a Mass to the Heart of Mary. This feast, celebrated annually in the Congregations he founded, satisfied his love for Jesus, which he placed in the Heart of Mary. In 1672, 30 years later, João Eudes also wrote a liturgical text for a mass to the Heart of Jesus. All of this led Pope Leo XIII to proclaim him “Author of the Liturgical Worship of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary”. (decree of the heroicity of the virtues of SJE 8.01.1903). And Pope Pius X, when beatifying him, on 25.4.1909, called him "Father, Doctor and Apostle of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary".

 

some notes

• S. João Eudes is a saint from the 17th century, little known. He is not a popular saint, of miracles and promises. No. He is a Saint of the , he made the way and continues to show the way, infecting us with his fervor.

• In bookstores, we can find a book, "" which presents the Christian's spiritual journey as a disciple and as an apostle. In his writings he shows us a God who is Love, love that we must give him, Love that must be made known.

• St. John Eudes died on August 19, 1680 and was canonized on May 31, 1925 by Pope Pius XI.

• It has its liturgical feast on the 19th of August.