Saint John Eudes, Confessor
S. Ioannis Eudes Confessoris
Saint John Eudes, a priest of France, was a tireless preacher of missions and a founder of religious congregations, and is honoured as a great promoter of devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
Saint John Eudes was born in 1601 at Ri, in Normandy, in France, of devout parents. Drawn from his youth to the service of God, he studied for the priesthood and was ordained in the year 1625. He entered the Oratory, a congregation of priests, and there was formed in piety and learning. In the early years of his ministry he gave himself with great charity to the care of the sick during outbreaks of plague, sparing not himself in the service of the afflicted.
Preacher and founder
Saint John Eudes became renowned throughout the provinces of France as a preacher of parish missions, travelling from place to place to call the people to conversion, to instruct them in the faith, and to lead them to the sacraments. Seeing the need for the better formation of the clergy, he founded a congregation of priests, known after him as the Eudists, devoted to the education of seminarians and to the work of missions. He also founded a congregation of religious women for the care and protection of women who sought to amend their lives.
Above all, Saint John Eudes is honoured as one of the great apostles of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to the Heart of Mary. He composed prayers and offices in their honour and laboured to spread this devotion among the faithful, so that he has been called a father, doctor, and apostle of the liturgical worship of the Sacred Hearts. The collect of his feast remembers how God wondrously enkindled him to advance the worship of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and through him willed to gather new religious families in the Church.
His holy death
After a long life given to preaching, to the formation of priests, and to the spreading of devotion to the Sacred Hearts, Saint John Eudes died at Caen, in Normandy, on the nineteenth of August, 1680. He was canonised in the twentieth century, and his feast is kept on the day of his death.
The collect prays that we who venerate his holy merits may also be instructed by the example of his virtues. In Saint John Eudes the Church honours a zealous priest who spent himself in the salvation of souls, who provided for the holy formation of the clergy, and who taught the faithful to draw near to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the wellsprings of divine love and mercy.
The Collect
O God, who didst wondrously enkindle blessed John, thy Confessor, to set forth the worship of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and through him didst will to gather new religious families in thy Church: grant, we beseech thee; that we who venerate his holy merits may also be instructed by the example of his virtues.
Deus, qui beátum Ioánnem, Confessórem tuum, ad cultum sacrórum Córdium Iesu et Maríæ rite promovéndum, mirabíliter inflammásti, et per eum novas in Ecclésia tua famílias congregáre voluísti: præsta, quæsumus; ut, cuius pia mérita venerámur, virtútum quoque instruámur exémplis.
Patronage
He is venerated as a founder of the Eudists and is honoured as one of the chief promoters of devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar his memorial is observed on the same day, 19 August, as an optional memorial.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint John Eudes?
His feast is kept on 19 August in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Third Class feast. The modern calendar likewise observes him on 19 August, as an optional memorial.
Who was Saint John Eudes?
He was a French priest of the seventeenth century, a noted preacher of parish missions, who founded the congregation of priests called the Eudists for the formation of clergy, as well as a congregation of religious women. He died at Caen in 1680 and was canonised in the twentieth century.
Why is he linked with the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary?
Saint John Eudes was one of the earliest and most ardent promoters of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Heart of Mary. He composed prayers and liturgical offices in their honour and worked to spread this devotion, so that he is honoured as a father and apostle of the worship of the Sacred Hearts.
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