Saint-John Eudes feast day

Saint-John Eudes feast day

On November 14^th1601, the Normandy countryside in France became the birth place of Saint John Eudes.  At the age of fourteen, he entered the Jesuit college of Caen and afterwards joined the congregation of the Oratory of France in 1623. Ordained in 1625, the two following years were consecrated to the deepening of his knowledge on holy scripture. Afterwards, epidemic of the plague ravaging the region of Argentan and he rushed to the aid of the sick. While in the region, he joined the Oratory of Caen where he started preaching amidst the habitants of the area. In his numerous outings, John Eudes would meet many priests seeming to lack a certain amount of knowledge in theology. The preacher felt a calling to correct the situation. And so, he proposed certain reforms to his superiors but was received with disapproval in response to his enthusiasm. John Eudes then had recourse to prayer. He finally took action, leaving the oratory in 1643, with a couple of priests, and instituted the Congregation of Jesus and Mary known today as the Eudists. Offering their services to the Bishop, the congregation established many seminaries in Normandy and Brittany.  Without abandoning his life of preaching, John Eudes’s seminaries grew under his fervent spirit. This saint has understood that in order to love our Lord, one must know His life and His Word through the understanding of the Holy Scriptures. Saint-John Eudes proposed a source of renewal for the baptised inviting them to contemplate their own union with Christ and to take of the sacred hearts of Jesus and Mary as a model. In 1648, this Saint celebrated the first liturgy dedicated to the sacred Heart of Mary. A few years later, the first liturgy to the sacred Heart of Jesus was celebrated in 1672. Canonized by pope Pius XI in 1925, Saint John Eudes received the title of Father, Doctor and Apostle of the liturgical cult for the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

For her part, Catherine of Saint-Agustin met, Saint John Eudes or in the least, heard one of his sermons, towards the age of ten. This is when she started to have a devotion to the Mother of God and wrote a consecration to her.

Saint John Eudes feast day, August 19^th, is the same day as the arrival of Catherine of Saint-Agustin in Canada. What a coincidence!

 

 

 

source : http://www.eudistes.fr/qui-sommes-nous/saint-jean-eudes

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