Education Jean Eudes was born on 14 November 1601 on a farm close to the village of
Ri to Isaac Eudes (born circa 1566), a surgeon, and Martha Corbin; he had four sisters and two brothers, including the historian
François Eudes de Mézeray (1610–10 July 1683). He made his
First Communion on 26 May 1613 (
Pentecost) and at age 14 took a private vow to remain
chaste. Eudes studied under the
Jesuits at
Caen before he decided to join the
Oratorians on 25 March 1623. His masters and models in the spiritual life were
Pierre de Bérulle (who welcomed him into the order) and the contemplative and ascetic
Charles de Condren. As a student of de Bérulle, he became a member of the
French school that promoted a Christocentric approach to spiritual affairs. This was characterised by a strong sense of adoration, plus pursuit of a personal relationship with
Jesus Christ which extended to the
Holy Spirit. Bishop Jacques Camus de Pontcarré ordained Eudes to the subdiaconate on 21 December 1624.
Priesthood Eudes was
ordained to the
priesthood on 20 December 1625 and he celebrated his first
Mass at Christmas. Almost immediately after his ordination, he came down with an illness that kept him bedridden until 1626. He was sent to
Aubervilliers for his theological studies and returned to
Séez in 1627. During severe plagues in 1627 and 1631, he volunteered to care for the stricken in his own diocese, administering the sacraments and ensuring the dead received a proper burial. He did this with the permission of his Oratorian superiors. To avoid infecting his colleagues during this time, he lived in a huge cask in the middle of a field. In 1633 he began preaching parish missions, eventually preaching over a hundred missions throughout his own region as well as in
Ile-de-France and
Burgundy and also in
Brittany.
Jean-Jacques Olier referred to Eudes as "the prodigy of his age". Eudes became a noted preacher and confessor with a flair for evangelisation and his missions often lasted from several weeks to several months; he preached three in
Paris and one in
Versailles. Eudes even preached once for
Anne of Austria, though her son King
Louis XIV suspected that Eudes was hostile towards his
Gallican policies. He was also quite concerned about the spiritual improvement of priests and realised that the seminaries needed improvement. He founded several seminaries in the region including in
Rennes. In 1674 he received six
papal bulls of
indulgences from
Pope Clement X for
confraternities and seminaries dedicated to the Sacred Hearts.
Religious congregations In his work he became disturbed when he saw the inadequate shelters for those prostitutes who sought to escape that life. Madeleine Lamy – who had cared for some of those women – came up to him on one occasion and challenged Eudes to address the issue. In 1641 he founded the
Order of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge in Caen to provide a refuge for prostitutes who wished to do penance. Three
Visitation nuns came to his aid for a brief period and in 1644 a house was opened at Caen. Other ladies joined them and on 8 February 1651 the
Bishop of Bayeux gave the institute his diocesan approbation. The congregation received papal approval from
Pope Alexander VII on 2 January 1666. It later also included a convent from which
Mary Euphrasia Pelletier established the
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, in 1829. With the support of
Cardinal Richelieu and a number of individual bishops, he severed his connection with the Oratorians to establish the
Eudists for the education of priests and for parish missions. This congregation was founded at Caen on 25 March 1643. Eudes also founded the Society of the Most Admirable Mother which acted as a sort of
Third Order, and would later count among its members
Jeanne Jugan and Amelie Fristel. Eudes was influenced by the teachings of the French school,
Francis de Sales, and the revelations of
Gertrude the Great and
Mechtilde. Bérulle's devotion to the
Incarnate Word won him over and he combined with it the gentleness and devotional warmth of Francis de Sales. He changed the somewhat individual and private character of the devotion into a devotion for the whole church when he wrote for the benefit of his communities an Office and a Mass which later received approval from several bishops before spreading throughout the church. For this reason
Pope Leo XIII – in proclaiming Eudes' heroic virtues later in 1903 – gave him the title of "Author of the Liturgical Worship of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Holy Heart of Mary". Eudes dedicated the chapels of the Caen and Coutances seminaries to the Sacred Heart. The feast of the
Immaculate Heart of the Mother of God was celebrated for the first time on 8 February 1648 and that of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus on 20 October 1672 each as a double of the first class with an octave. He composed various
rosaries and prayers dedicated to the Sacred Hearts. His book
Le Cœur Admirable de la Très Sainte Mère de Dieu is the first book ever written on the devotion to the Sacred Hearts. In 1671 there was a rumor that Eudes would be named as the
Coadjutor Bishop of Evreux and that the king Louis XIV would support the nomination based on Eudes' reputation.
Death Eudes died at Caen on 19 August 1680. He had drafted up his
last will in April 1671 when his health started to decline. Eudes' remains were exhumed and transferred in 1810 and again for the last time on 6 March 1884. ==Spirituality==