+ John Eudes was a farmer's son, born in 1601, who attended the Jesuit college at Caen, France at age 14. He joined the Congregation of the Oratory of France, studied at Paris and was ordained a priest in 1625. He ministered to plague victims. He was also a missionary and preacher working well over 100 missions. In 1637 he published The Life and kingdom of Jesus in Christian Souls which went into sixteen editions in his lifetime. For him Jesus is the source of all sanctity and Mary is the model of the Christian life. He also promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart and urged the establishment of a feast day – which was not approved in 1765. It was a time of weak religious practice among Catholics and of poorly educated, weakly motivated and unvirtuous diocesan clergy. He tried to establish a seminary in Caen, but was met with opposition within his own order. So he left the Oratorians and founded a society of diocesan priests, without vows, calling it the Congregation of Jesus and Mary (Eudists). These priests were dedicated to the formation of new diocesan priests in seminaries. Six seminaries were established in France for this project by 1670. He also founded a religious society of women, the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge, under the Rule of St. Augustine and dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Mary. It was intended to provide a refuge for former "women of the streets" who wished to rehabilitate and to do penance. John Eudes died at Caen on August 19, 1680, was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1925.
With St. Paul of the first reading today, John Eudes, in humble adoration comprehended the riches of the glory and the strength that comes from the Holy Spirit alone to do God's work and will. And Jesus himself in the gospel passage tells how he reveals to simple, humble priests like John Eudes, what is truly important in life, and he provides strength for the accomplishement of the Father's will, with his own grace, for God's greater glory!
St. John Eudes pray for us!
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