Saint John Eudes, Founder Congregation of Jesus and Mary

OUR HISTORY

SAINT JOHN EUDES

John Eudes was born in 1601, in the village of Ri, in Normandy, France. After completing his studies at the Jesuit College in Caen, he entered the Congregation of the Oratory of France, founded in 1611 by Cardinal de Bérulle. Accepted by the founder himself on March 25, 1623, John Eudes was ordained to the priesthood on December 20, 1625. During that time, he assimilated the Christocentric spiritual thought of de Bérulle and shared his enthusiasm for "restoring the priestly order to its full splendor". Imbued with this spirit, as an apostolic missionary, he evangelized many towns and cities of Normandy, Ile-de-France, Burgundy and Brittany.

He recognized the pressing need for contributing to a reform of the clergy, and founding a seminary at Caen appeared to him as indispensable. To do so, he left the Oratory and, on March 25, 1643, with a few other priests, founded a congregation dedicated to the spiritual and doctrinal formation of priests and candidates to the priesthood, while pursuing the work of parish missions. Other seminaries were soon added to the one at Caen. Thus, the Congregation of Jesus and Mary was born.

A man of accomplishments, he also founded the Order of Our Lady of Charity to provide haven and assistance to women and young girls mistreated by life.

He brought people to love Christ and the Virgin Mary by speaking tirelessly about their Heart, the sign of the love God shows for us and the communion to which we are called.

To offer them liturgical worship, he composed Masses and Offices in their honor and had the first Feast of the Holy Heart of Mary celebrated on February 8, 1648, at Autun, and the Feast of the the Heart of Jesus celebrated on October 20, 1672.

Moreover, through his many writings, he helped spread the spiritual teaching of his masters who were members of Bérulle's Oratory, while giving it his own personal touch to the point where he came to be regarded as a spiritual master in his own right.

He died on August 19, 1680 and was canonized by Pope Pius XI on May 31, 1925.

THE EUDISTS

After the death of its founder, the Congregation continued to develop. On the eve of the French Revolution (1789), Eudists directed some fifteen seminaries as well as a few colleges and parishes.

The Revolution closed the houses and scattered the Fathers. Four of them, including François-Louis Hébert, coadjutor to the Superior General, were martyred in Paris and beatified in 1926.

Slowly and with great difficulty, the Congregation was restored in 1826 by one of its former members, Father Pierre Blanchard. The Eudists then concentrated their efforts on the urgent task of providing Christian education in colleges. From 1883 on, the opening of several seminaries in Colombia made it possible for them to resume the traditional work of their society. In 1890, they settled in Canada.

In 1984,the Congregation is present in eight countries with its members assigned to four provinces, namely: the French Province (France, Ivory Coast, Bénin), the Colombian Province (Colombia, Ecuador), the North American Province (Canada, United States) and the Venezuelan Province.

THE CONSTITUTlONS

When he established the Congregation of Jesus and Mary, Saint John Eudes did not at first give it precise Constitutions. In 1645, however, he presented to the Assembly of the Clergy of France a first draft of internal regulations entitled: "The Way to Live in a Seminary". Enlightened by grace and experience, around 1652, he began drawing up what he called "The Statutes and Constitutions of the Congregation of Jesus and Mary". This work he completed in 1658.

As a preamble to this legislative text stood a brief work, completed in 1648, to which Saint John Eudes attached great importance: the Regulae Domini Jesu et Sanctissimae Virginis Mariae (Rules of Our Lord Jesus and the Most Holy Virgin Mary). It methodically presented the fundamental principles of life as Christians, priests and members of a community, using quotations from Scripture. Published for the first time in 1841, these so-called "Latin" Rules were reprinted several times; the latest edition, accompanied by a French translation, appeared in 1964.

Although remaining in force in the Congregation until the 1792 dispersal by government decree, the Constitutions had never been printed. A summary, comprising twenty seven articles, was drawn up in 1722 and was titled: "Constitutions of the Congregation of Jesus and Mary" (Acts of the 1725 Assembly, p. 63-67).

When the Congregation was restored in the XIXth century, the original Constitutions were reinstated. It became necessary to submit them for approval to the Congregation for Bishops and Religious following the approval of the Institute in 1851 and 1857. To that end, the 1862 Assembly made minor revisions of the original text and this new version was approved by Rome in a decree dated June 10, 1864, for an experimental period of ten years (Prot No. 7499/6). The Constitutions then appeared in print for the first time in 1865.

A subsequent revision by the 1873 Assembly was definitively confirmed by Rome on August 13, 1874 (Prot. No. 24028/10). This text was published in 1875.

The 1921 Assembly appointed a commission to conform these Constitutions to the 1917 Code of Canon Law. The commission's text was voted on by the 1926 Assembly and approved by the Sacred Congregation for Religious in June 29, 1928 (Prot. No. 7204/26 R.6).

Because this text was concise and strictly juridical, the 1930 Assembly approved a set of "Complementary Rules", assembling what it was deemed advisable to retain from the original Constitutions but had been omitted in the 1928 edition. Of these Rules, the 1953 Assembly made two separate documents, namely: the "Practical Rules", published in 1955, and the "Spiritual Directory", published in 1964.

Then came Vatican II and its call for revision of the Constitutions of all the Institutes of perfection. The Eudists did theirs at the 1969 Assembly and published the "Experimental Constitutions and Practical Rules". The Motu Proprio Ecclesiae Sanctae - Holy Church - (II,6) foresaw that this period of experimentation could last until the next ordinary chapter which could extend it for a longer period but not beyond the following ordinary chapter.

The 1971 Assembly, called to elect a superior general, did not consider itself as "the next ordinary chapter" (Acts, 1971, No. 67). Moreover, the 1977 Assembly decided to continue the experimentation until the following ordinary general assembly (Acts, 1977, No. 28.3).

Thus it was that the 1983 Assembly, having revised the 1969 text and adapted it to the recently promulgated Code of Canon Law, voted on the articles one by one, then requested the Superior General and his Council to submit it to the Holy See for approval (Acts, 1983, No. 39.4).

The text of the current edition of the Constitutions in its French language version was presented to the Holy See along with the Practical Rules, on January 20, 1984. The General Council made corrections in April to conform to the recommendations of the Consultors, and the text was then approved by the Congregation for Religions and Secular Institute's Congresso, on June 1, 1984, provided a few more changes were made. These were attended to and sent to the Holy See on June 21. Finally, on the 25th, an "ad hoc" commission voted to accept them and the decree of approval was issued on June 28, 1984, the day on which the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was celebrated in Rome (Prot No. R.6 - 1/84).

Saint John Eudes

First Family – The sole survivor of a family wiped out by the plague, Isaac Eudes was not able to realize his desires to become a priest. Instead he became a surgeon in Normandy in the little village of Ri. There he and his equally pious wife Martha Corbin raised seven children. He cultivated the soil and recited his breviary every day. Two of the children became famous in different ways: Francis, surnamed Seigneur de Mezeray, wrote the monumental “History of France”; John was canonized.

Worldly Environment – Born November 14, 1601 John was the oldest child of five boys and two girls. He was a contemporary of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal and Saint Francis de Sales. His life spanned the greater part of the 17th century which Kings Henry IV and Louis XIV, as well as Richelieu and Marzarin with whom John Eudes was personally in touch. The century began with suffering. The Wars of Religion were not altogether a thing of the past, and the newly established law and order did not necessarily bring peace and justice. Profoundly shaken by the Protestant Reformation. the Council of Trent acted to purify and protect the Church –– but its efforts were not universally accepted or practiced. Against this background Saint John Eudes began his life’s work of reviving the spiritual life of the Catholic faithful.

Formation Years – John was an exemplary child and a brilliant student of the Jesuit College of Caen. However, he had need of “heroism” to resist his parents who pressed upon him an advantageous marriage. Instead, in 1615 he began studies in the Jesuit College in Caen. He took minor orders in 1620 and was ordained on December 20, 1625. He had entered the Oratory of Paris in 1624 having as his masters Fathers de Berulle and de Condren, whose spirituality impressed him deeply. John was a prominent humanitarian, spiritual writer, and organizational leader.

Early Priestly Works – After ordination John remained at the Oratorian for twenty years. He began his long career as a parish missionary in 1633. He gave and preached missions in the towns and villages of Normandy. He taught throughout Brittany, Berche, Beauce, the Ile-de-France, Picardy, Brie, Champange, and Burgundy. He taught the faiths great truths, denounced sin and made a multitude of converts. In the pulpit he was an incomparable orator and in the confessional a compassionate father. He spoke not of an abstract God but of a living Christ in who is the sealed covenant between God and man. He spoke of Christ’s heart as a given sign of the love God gives us and through which we can love one another and the Church which, through its members, furthers the life of God’s Son on earth. He proved this truth in himself when he shared the lives of Bubonic Plague victims and cared for mistreated and abandoned women and girls living a life of sin.

Priestly Formation and Parish Missions – In 1643 Saint John left the Oratory to found an institute combining the work of parochial mission with that of dedication to improving priestly formation for the training of candidates to the priesthood and the preaching of missions to the faithful. He strove to provide the Church with priests capable of passing on this “Life of the Son of God” to others.

The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity founded by Saint John, parent body of the Good Shepherd nuns, have done an immense good in many countries. The Congregation of Jesus and Mary has sent missionary priests to several countries, all over the world.

Founder of Religious Orders – To train priests he founded the Society of the Priests of Jesus and Mary, now called the “Eudists Fathers”. To secure conversion in souls he founded the congregation of the “Order of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Charity of the Refuge” to help abandoned women lead Christian lives. For persons aspiring to perfection in the world he established the “Society of the Admirable Heart of Mary”. Through these institutions, as well as the spoken and written word, he fostered devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and established special feasts in their honor. Drawing inspiration from spiritual text and medieval piety, John composed one Office: “The Liturgical Worship of the Sacred Hearts of Mary and Jesus”, and an office and Mass in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He wrote twelve books, the last being devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He has been called the “author, father, doctor, apostle, liturgical, cultist and propagator of the liturgical devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary”.

Papal Testimonials – On January 6, 1903, Pope Leo XIII declared his virtues heroic and on April 20, 1909, Pope Pius XI claimed him “the father, the Doctor, and the Apostle of the Devotion to the Sacred Hearts”, in his decree of Beatification. On May 31, 1936, Pope Pius XI confirmed these titles in the decree of the Canonization.

His Family Today – Indifference to spiritual things, greed for wealth and success at any price still threaten us today. The divide between the :haves” and the “have nots” widens, and injustice is intensified by terror and violence. Mankind needs to hear again that it is destined to receive God’s love and to share it with others – for his is man’s true greatness.

This is the spirit of Saint John Eudes Church – To succeed in finding the words and deeds needed to enrich and strengthen the Christians of our time, discovering that we are the apostles required in our day.

Saint John Eudes, who died in 1680, was beatified in 1909 by Pope Saint Pius X, and canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1925.

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