domingo, 19 de agosto de 2012

WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN EUDES



Never Separate What God Has So Perfectly United
St. John Eudes

Devotion to the most Blessed Virgin, Mother of God is so pleasing to her Son, and is so dear and commendable to all true Christians, that it is not necessary to recommend it to those who desire to lead a Christian life.

I shall only tell you that you must never separate what God has so perfectly united. So closely are Jesus and Mary bound up with each other that whoever beholds Jesus sees Mary; whoever loves Jesus, loves Mary; whoever has devotion to Jesus, has devotion to Mary. Jesus and Mary are the two first foundations of the Christian religion, the two living springs of all our blessings, the two centers of all our devotion, and the two objectives you should keep in view in all your acts and works. A man is no true Christian if he has no devotion to the Mother of Jesus Christ and of all Christians. St. Anselm and St. Bonaventure assure us that it is impossible for persons who are not loved by the Mother of Christ to have any part with Him. Conversely, it is impossible for anyone to perish upon whom she looks with favor.

As you must continue the virtues of Jesus and keep with you His sentiments, so you must also continue and maintain in your hearts the love, tenderness and devotion that Jesus cherished for His Blessed Mother. He loved her most perfectly and accorded her the very highest honor in choosing her to be His Mother, giving Himself to her as Her Most Beloved Son, taking from her a new being and life, becoming subject to her, following her guidance in outward things during His Childhood and hidden life, afterwards crowning her Queen of heaven and earth, glorifying her and causing her to be glorified by the whole world.

1. You must see and adore her Son in her, and see and adore Him alone. It is thus that she wishes to be honored, because of herself and by herself she is nothing, but her Son Jesus is everything in her, her being, her life, her sanctity, her glory, her power and her greatness. You should thank Our Lord for the glory He has given to Himself through His admirable Mother. You must offer yourself to Him and ask Him to give you to her, causing all your life and all your acts to be consecrated to the honor of her life and her actions. You must pray that He will make you participate in her admirable love for Him and in her other virtues. You must ask Him to employ your life in her honor, or rather to honor Himself in her, in whatever way He pleases.

2. You must recognize and honor her first as the Mother of God, then as your own Mother and Queen. You must thank her for all the love, glory and perfect service she rendered to Her Son Jesus Christ our Lord. You must refer to her, after God, your being and your life, subjecting yourself entirely to her as her slave, imploring her to direct you in all your affairs and to assume full power over you, as over something belonging entirely to her, and to dispose of you as she pleases, for the greater glory of her Divine Son. You must beg her to employ all your actions to honor the infinite works of her Son, and to associate you with all the love and praises which she ever gave Him and ever shall give Him throughout eternity.

It is a good thing to make these acts of devotion every day, every week or at least every month....

3. You can and should honor the most holy Virgin Mary by thoughts, meditating on the holiness of her life and the perfection of her virtues; by words, taking pleasure in speaking of her perfections, and in hearing them discussed; by actions, offering them to her in honor of and in union with her own; by imitation, striving to imitate our admirable Mother, especially in her charity, her pure love, her detachment from all things and her most divine purity, the thought of which ought to arouse in you a powerful desire to shun and fear more than death the least fault against purity, whether in thought, word or act.

Finally, you may honor the Blessed Virgin by special prayers or works of devotion, such as the Rosary, which ought to be in common use among all Christians, and the Office of Our Lady, which you should recite in union with the love and devotion of her Son Jesus for her, in honor of both their perfect lives and of their sublime virtues.


The preceding excerpt was taken from St. John Eudes, Kingdom of Jesus, Part Six, Chapter XI, and was Edited by the Order of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts of Jesus and Mary, 48765 Annapolis Rd., Hopedale, Ohio 43976, U.S.A.
Never Separate What God Has So Perfectly United
St. John Eudes

Devotion to the most Blessed Virgin, Mother of God is so pleasing to her Son, and is so dear and commendable to all true Christians, that it is not necessary to recommend it to those who desire to lead a Christian life.

I shall only tell you that you must never separate what God has so perfectly united. So closely are Jesus and Mary bound up with each other that whoever beholds Jesus sees Mary; whoever loves Jesus, loves Mary; whoever has devotion to Jesus, has devotion to Mary. Jesus and Mary are the two first foundations of the Christian religion, the two living springs of all our blessings, the two centers of all our devotion, and the two objectives you should keep in view in all your acts and works. A man is no true Christian if he has no devotion to the Mother of Jesus Christ and of all Christians. St. Anselm and St. Bonaventure assure us that it is impossible for persons who are not loved by the Mother of Christ to have any part with Him. Conversely, it is impossible for anyone to perish upon whom she looks with favor.

As you must continue the virtues of Jesus and keep with you His sentiments, so you must also continue and maintain in your hearts the love, tenderness and devotion that Jesus cherished for His Blessed Mother. He loved her most perfectly and accorded her the very highest honor in choosing her to be His Mother, giving Himself to her as Her Most Beloved Son, taking from her a new being and life, becoming subject to her, following her guidance in outward things during His Childhood and hidden life, afterwards crowning her Queen of heaven and earth, glorifying her and causing her to be glorified by the whole world.
1. You must see and adore her Son in her, and see and adore Him alone. It is thus that she wishes to be honored, because of herself and by herself she is nothing, but her Son Jesus is everything in her, her being, her life, her sanctity, her glory, her power and her greatness. You should thank Our Lord for the glory He has given to Himself through His admirable Mother. You must offer yourself to Him and ask Him to give you to her, causing all your life and all your acts to be consecrated to the honor of her life and her actions. You must pray that He will make you participate in her admirable love for Him and in her other virtues. You must ask Him to employ your life in her honor, or rather to honor Himself in her, in whatever way He pleases.

2. You must recognize and honor her first as the Mother of God, then as your own Mother and Queen. You must thank her for all the love, glory and perfect service she rendered to Her Son Jesus Christ our Lord. You must refer to her, after God, your being and your life, subjecting yourself entirely to her as her slave, imploring her to direct you in all your affairs and to assume full power over you, as over something belonging entirely to her, and to dispose of you as she pleases, for the greater glory of her Divine Son. You must beg her to employ all your actions to honor the infinite works of her Son, and to associate you with all the love and praises which she ever gave Him and ever shall give Him throughout eternity.

It is a good thing to make these acts of devotion every day, every week or at least every month....

3. You can and should honor the most holy Virgin Mary by thoughts, meditating on the holiness of her life and the perfection of her virtues; by words, taking pleasure in speaking of her perfections, and in hearing them discussed; by actions, offering them to her in honor of and in union with her own; by imitation, striving to imitate our admirable Mother, especially in her charity, her pure love, her detachment from all things and her most divine purity, the thought of which ought to arouse in you a powerful desire to shun and fear more than death the least fault against purity, whether in thought, word or act.

Finally, you may honor the Blessed Virgin by special prayers or works of devotion, such as the Rosary, which ought to be in common use among all Christians, and the Office of Our Lady, which you should recite in union with the love and devotion of her Son Jesus for her, in honor of both their perfect lives and of their sublime virtues.


The preceding excerpt was taken from St. John Eudes, Kingdom of Jesus, Part Six, Chapter XI, and was Edited by the Order of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts of Jesus and Mary, 48765 Annapolis Rd., Hopedale, Ohio 43976, U.S.A.

ALL THE GLORY OF THE KING'S DAUGHTER IS WITHINSt. John Eudes

Infinite goodness compels God the Holy Spirit to disclose to us the inestimable treasures hidden in the marvelous Heart of Mary and to proclaim them through Sacred Scripture, the inspired word of God. The first significant text that I shall point out is taken from the 44th Psalm: "All the glory of the king’s daughter is within" (Ps. 44:14), where the Holy Spirit reveals that the admirable Heart of Mary is a source of benefactions without number and of every kind.

To explain this truth, I shall stress three thoughts that are most glorious for the magnificent Heart of our great Queen and founded on these divine words: "All the glory of the king’s daughter is within," and from her Heart.

Who is this daughter of the King? We know full well that she is the Queen of Heaven and earth, the daughter of the King of kings. But why does all her glory proceed from her Heart? It is because her Heart is the source and principle of all the grandeur, excellence and prerogatives that adorn her, of all the eminent qualities that exalt her above every creature namely her position as eldest daughter of the Eternal Father, as Mother of the Son, as Spouse of the Holy Spirit, as the Temple of the most Holy Trinity, as Queen of angels and men, as the Mother of Christians, and as Empress of the universe. It also means that this most holy Heart is the source of all the graces that accompany the privileges bestowed on her, of the holy use she made of those graces, and of all the sanctity of her thoughts, words, works, sufferings and of the other mysteries of her life. It means, finally, that her Heart is the source of the eminent virtues she practiced on earth, of her perfect exercise of the faculties and powers of her soul and of her body, and of the glory and felicity she now enjoys in heaven.

How is her Heart the source of all these things? In the following ways. We know that the humility, purity, love and charity of her Heart have rendered her worthy to be made Mother of God, and consequently have enriched her with all the advantages and privileges that belong to so high a dignity. We know further that the Heart is the seat of love and charity, and that love and charity are the principle, rule and measure of all the sanctity on earth, and therefore of all glory in Heaven. Hence, God, Eternal Truth, tells us in the Gospel that, as the heart of man is the origin of all evil, so it is also the source of every good. The Son of God teaches us that from the heart proceed evil thoughts, homicides, and blasphemies (Mt 15:19). Our Savior further tells us that the heart of the good man is a treasure from which He draws all sorts of good things, and the heart of the wicked man a treasure from which He draws all evil things (Lk 6:46). We may conclude therefore that the supremely good Heart of God’s most loving Mother is the source of all that is great, holy, glorious and admirable in her.

I say further, and this is the second of the three thoughts I promised you, that Mary’s Heart is the source, after God, of all the excellence, sanctity, glory, felicity and other great and precious marvels to be found in the Church Militant, Suffering and Triumphant.

The reason of this is clear. We all agree that every grace and blessing possessed by the Church, all the treasures of light, holiness and glory that abide in her, on earth as well as in Heaven, are due to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. "All graces," says the learned and devout Abbot Rupert, "every gift that the world has received from Heaven, are as streams which issue from that sacred fountain, as fruits belonging to that holy tree" (1). "It was decreed by God in His eternal counsel," writes St. Bernard, "to give nothing to anyone except through Mary’s hands. Through her He was pleased to give us every good. Yes, indeed, because through her He gave the first principle of every good, Jesus Christ, Our Lord" (2).

But how did Mary make herself so holy and so pleasing to the divine Majesty, that He should choose her to be the intermediary of this infinite gift, from which are derived all the other gifts ever made to His Church? It was by the sanctity of her most humble, pure and charitable "Heart.

Let us acknowledge, then, that her Heart is the origin of everything noble, rich and precious in all the holy souls which form the universal Church in Heaven and on earth. We can therefore say of her marvelous Heart, and with greater reason, what St. John Chrysostom says of the heart of St. Paul, when he calls it the fount and principle of numberless graces: Fons et principium innumerorum bonorum (3)? Shall we stop here? No, we must go further and explain the third that I promised you, which is that the Heart of the Mother of the Savior is, in a certain sense, the fountain and source of all that is holy and admirable in the life and the successive mysteries of our Divine Redeemer Himself.

Was not this represented by the river described in the second chapter of Genesis, which came out of the fountain created by God at the beginning of the world (4). This fountain is a figure of the Holy Heart of Mary, and Jesus, the Son of Mary, is designated by the river springing from the fountain. Do we not hear Eternal Wisdom, that is, the Son of God, saying: "I came out of paradise," out of the Virginal Heart of Mary, which is the true paradise of the new Adam, "like a channel of a river," (Sir 24:41) that is, like the river that flowed out of the earthly paradise.

Let us acknowledge, then, that her admirable Heart, being the fountain from which that great river originated, is the miraculous source of all the treasures of the great and priceless wonders contained in that divine stream. We must conclude that Our Lady’s Heart is the fountain principle of numberless goods: Fons et principium omnium bonorum. St. Irenaeus asking why the mystery of the Incarnation did not take without Mary’s consent, answers that it was because God sought her to be the principle of every good (5). What does he mean by that, if not that the Son of God wished the Heart of His Blessed Mother to be the source and origin of all the blessings and graces derived from the Incarnation, and that He wished to become man only by her consent? "She is the perennial fount of every good," declares St. Andrew of Crete (6).

O most loving Heart of Mary, O abyss of miracles, who can tell the unfathomable marvels that God has worked in and through thee! O boundless Sea, God alone can know the inestimable riches hidden in thee! O Heart most Holy, thou art Heaven’s own heaven, for, after the Heart of the Eternal Father, thou are the most magnificent and glorious abode of Jesus, who is Himself the highest Heaven: "The Heaven of heaven is the Lord’s" (Ps 113:16). Next to the Heart of Jesus, thou art the highest throne of glory and majesty of the Blessed Trinity. What honor and praise should be rendered unto thee! Oh, may every human and angelic heart recognize and honor thee as its Sovereign after the adorable Heart of our Savior!

Dearest Jesus, what thanks we owe thine infinite goodness for having given thy Blessed Mother to us, and for having endowed her with a maternal Heart so full of love and tenderness towards her most unworthy children! Grant, dear Savior, that we may have truly filial affection for so good a Mother, and may the hearts of her children bear the image and likeness of the love, charity, humility and all the other virtues that reign in the Heart of their most loving Mother!
"A Bundle of Myrrh is My Beloved to Me"
"A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me; he shall abide between my breasts." (Song 1:12) These words are taken from the first chapter of the Song of Songs, which is referred entirely to the Blessed Virgin Mary by many serious and learned authors. We can therefore say that it is the book of the Virginal Heart of Mary and of her ardent love. It is a book filled with inspired words, revealing that her incomparable Heart is ablaze with love of God and filled with charity for men.

"My beloved is like a bundle of myrrh to me: he shall abide between my breasts," and in my Heart. Who utters these words? The Most Blessed Virgin Mary. Who is the Beloved of whom she speaks? It is her only Son, her well-beloved. Why does she call Him a bundle of myrrh? Because she beholds Him crucified and plunged in an ocean of contempt, insults, ignominies, anguish, bitterness and most atrocious torments. This fills her maternal Heart with so much bitterness, pain and suffering that can truly call her desolate Heart a sea of anguish and tribulation, according to the words which can be applied to both Jesus and Mary: "Great as the sea is thy desolation" (Lam 2:13). Thy sufferings, O Jesus, are immense, boundless and bottomless like the sea. And thy dolors, O Mother of Christ, are so exceedingly great that all the afflictions and desolations of world are as nothing compared to thine, as the waters of all fountains and rivers seem but a drop beside the boundless ocean.

To understand this truth perfectly, one would have to comprehend the immense and ardent love of her Son that constantly inflamed the able Heart of our Savior’s Mother. For a mother’s sorrow over the sufferings of her son exists in proportion to her love for Him, and the love of our Redeemer’s Mother was, in a sense, measureless. The Eternal had made her share in His divine Paternity and chosen her to be Mother of His own Son; He therefore communicated to her something of His own inconceivable love, a love befitting the sublime dignity of her divine maternity.

How great is the love of the incomparable Mother for the most perfect of sons. This Mother holds the place of father as well as mother towards her Son, and her Heart is miraculously filled with paternal as well as with maternal love towards Him. His love is so great, that if the love of all the human fathers and mothers that ever have been or shall be were concentrated in a single heart, it would be but a small spark compared to the furnace of Mary’s love for her beloved Son. He is an only son, the sole object of His Mother’s affection. He is an infinitely lovable and loving son and she loves Him without measure. He possesses all that is beautiful, rich, desirable, admirable and lovable in time and e
ternity. This son is everything to His mother; He is her Son, her brother, her father, her spouse, her treasure, her glory, her love, her delight, her joy, her heart, her life, her God, her Creator, her Redeemer and her all.

From this we may fathom the love of such a mother for such a son, and consequently the most torturing and painful martyrdom of her maternal Heart when she sees Him bathed in blood, covered with wounds from head to foot, and so filled with pain in body and soul, that the Holy Spirit, speaking through Isaiah, calls Him the "Man of Sorrows," (Is 53:3) the man entirely transformed into sorrow.

We shall therefore not be surprised to hear St. Anselm thus addressing the Mother of Sorrows: "All the torments which the martyrs underwent are as nothing, O Virgin, when compared to the immensity of the dolors, which transpierced thy soul and thy most loving heart" (7). "O sweetest Heart of Mary," exclaims St. Bonaventure, "Heart transformed by love, how art thou now changed into a Heart of sorrow, satiated with gall, myrrh, and absynth?" (8) "O admirable prodigy," he adds, "thy heart and mind are plunged in thy Son’s gaping wounds, while thy crucified Jesus dwells and lives in thy inmost Heart" (9).

We should not be surprised, therefore, at the revelation to St. Brigid, that the Blessed Virgin would have died of sorrow during the Passion of her Son, if He had not miraculously preserved her. And Mary herself, speaking to the same St. Brigid, says: "I can presume to say that my sorrow was my sorrow, because His Heart was my Heart" (10). "O Queen," says St. Bonaventure, "thou art not only standing by the cross of thy Son, juxta crucem, but thou art on the cross suffering with Him: In cruce cum Filio cruciaris. He suffered in His body and thou didst suffer in thy Heart, and the wounds scattered over His body were gathered together in thy Heart" (11).

Finally, just as the love of Mary’s maternal Heart for her Son Jesus Christ is past all that can be imagined, so the most painful martyrdom of her amiable Heart is beyond what thought can conceive or words express.
Nullus dolor crudelior,
Nam nulla proles charior.
Non est amor suavior,
Non moeror est amarior
(12).

This article was excerpted from St. John Eudes, The Admirable Heart of Mary, Part Six, chapters I and II. Notes

(1) Emmisiones tuae paradises. In illa verba Cant.

(2) Totum nos habere voluit per Mariam. Serm. de Aquaeductu.

(3) In Act. 22, homil. 55; et in Rom. 14, homil. 32, in fine.

(4) See Part II, chapter 5.

(5) Quia vult illud Deus omnium bonorum esse principium. S. Irenaeus citus apud Salazar, in cap. 31, Proverb. vers. 29. num. 179.

(6) In Serm. de Dorm. B. Virg.

(7) Quidquid crudelitatis inflictum est corporibus Martyrum, leve fuit, aut potius nihil comparatione tuae passionis, O Virgo, quae nimirum sua immensitate transfixit cuncta penetralia tua, tuique benignissimi Cordis intima. De excell. Virg. cap. 5.

(8) O suavissimum Cor Amoris, quomodo conversum es in Cor doloris, in quo nihil nisi fel, acetum, myrrha et absynthium. Stimul. Amor. cap. 3.

(9) O mira res, tota es in vulneribus Christi, totus Christus crucifixus est in intimis visceribus Cordis tui. Ibid.

(10) Reve1. lib. I, cap. 35.

(11) Stimul. Amor. cap. 3.

(12) "No sorrow is more cruel than hers, for no Son could be more dear than hers. If her love is most sweet, so is her pain the bitterest of all."
Heart of Mary, Mirror of God's Strength and Purity St. John Eudes

In this chapter I shall show how Mary's Heart bears a striking resemblance to divine purity and sanctity. The most pure and holy Heart of Our Lady is a living image of those two adorable perfections, which are one and the same, for St. Dionysius tells us that sanctity is perfect purity, (1) purity meaning freedom from the slightest imperfection.
The most holy Heart of Mary is indeed an excellent image of divine purity and holiness. Not only was her most pure and holy Heart always far removed from every kind of sin, but it was entirely free from attachment to created things, and intimately united to God by its pure and holy love for Him together with the eminent practice of all the other virtues which Mary's Heart possessed in so high a degree. The Queen of Virtues is called by St. John Damascene "the abode and the sanctuary of all virtues." (2) Even though Our Lady dwelt for years in this world full of filth and abomination, poisoned by the venom of sin, her most holy Heart never contracted the least stain or blemish, was never attached by an inordinate affection to any creature nor even to God's gifts and graces. The Blessed Virgin remained always intimately united to God, as though nothing else existed save God and herself. Thus were the divine words most perfectly fulfilled in her divine Heart: "Let my heart be undefiled in thy justifications," (Ps. 118:80) that is, let my heart be immaculate by its union and adherence to Thy divine Will, which justifies, sanctifies and even deifies the hearts that love it and perfectly follow it.
The most holy Heart of the Queen of all Saints remained forever immaculate, preserved in eminent purity and holiness, and entirely filled with the purity and sanctity of God Himself. Her being was transformed and submerged in divine purity and holiness, to the surpassing extent that her Heart merited to obtain the world's salvation. As St. Anselm expresses it: "The pure sanctity and holy purity of Mary's devout Heart, surpassing by far the purity and sanctity of all other creatures, merited for her the sublime dignity of becoming the Restorer of the world wrapped in perdition." (3)
If you would find a place in the sanctuary of Mary's admirable Heart, which so perfectly mirrors the purity and sanctity of the Most High, you must purify your heart and realize the meaning of the words: "This is the will of God, your sanctification." (1 Thess. 4:3) These words are not meant just for souls specially consecrated and set apart. You must apply them to yourself, you who bear the name and imprint of Christ and membership in His mystical Body. The sanctification of your spirit, heart and body is more than a commandment; it is a privilege, a participation, granted to you through the purity and sanctity of the heart of Mary, Mother of the Redeemer and your own Mother.
Strength and Power of God Mirrored in the Admirable Heart of Mary
The principal and most common appellations given to God in Sacred Scripture are the words strong and mighty. He says of Himself: "I am the most mighty God" (Gen. 46:3) and "I am God Almighty" (Gen. 35:11).
If you should ask how these two attributes differ from each other, I would answer that in God power and strength are one and the same perfection; yet there is some difference between their effects. It belongs to all-powerfulness to work great and admirable wonders and the characteristic of strength is to accomplish all things easily, without pain or fatigue.
Let us now see the strength and power operate in the Heart of our august Queen. I visualize their image engraved on her pure Heart most perfectly. Consider the power which the Heart of the Mother of the Almighty exerts over Him Who has chosen to obey her as His Mother: "And he was subject to them." (Luke 2:51) The maternal authority and power God has given Mary over Himself will never be separated from her divine maternity, for the Son of Mary will never relinquish the nature He assumed in His Beloved Mother's womb and never will He withdraw the privileges He once conferred upon her.
If the heart of the faithful Christian, who believes in Jesus Christ, finds everything possible according to His holy word: "All things are possible to him that believeth," (Mark 9:22) what can be impossible for the maternal Heart of Mary who conceived the Son of God in her sacred womb, gave Him birth, nourished Him, took care of Him in childhood, accompanied Him in all labors and sufferings, and loved Him more than all the hearts of Heaven and earth put together?
"If all things are possible to him who believes, how much more must this be true of her who loves Him?" says Gerson. "And of her who bore Him," adds St. Bernardine of Siena.
If the Apostle St. Paul says that he can do all things "in him who strengthened me," (Phil. 4:13) what must be the power of the maternal Heart of the Queen of Apostles bearing eternally within itself Him who is called in Sacred Scripture, "Christ, the power of God" (1 Cor. 1:24)? Her Heart is filled and animated by the power and strength of the Most High. Cannot we then say that her virginal Heart is all-powerful in Him who is her strength and power, as He is her soul and her spirit?
Hers is the Heart of the valiant woman spoken of by Solomon, always inspired with vigorous and manly virtue, through which she accomplished all things with sovereign perfection and without the least defect. This valiant woman's Heart bore the sharpest pain and the most violent anguish with marvellous constancy and unshakeable fortitude. Her intrepid Heart crushed the infernal dragon's head, that is, sin, prefigured by Holofernes, and the powers of hell fear the Immaculate Heart even as an army in battle array (Can. 6:3) because Our Lady fought courageously against all God's enemies and obtained a glorious victory.
But what is more, she vanquished, so to speak, the Almighty Himself. For I hear an angel saying to Jacob: "Thou shalt no longer be called Jacob, but thy name shall be Israel," which means according to St. Jerome and the Septuagint "strong against God." (Gen. 32:28) This interpretation agrees with the Angel's own explanation, for after having said: "Thy name shall be Israel," he adds; "for if thou hast been strong against God, how much more shalt thou prevail against men?" Jacob had overcome only an angel, but that angel represented God; hence he was told he had overcome God Himself.
Jacob's holy daughter, the worthy Mother of Christ, has, in a way really overcome God Himself. How often has she not, through the efficacy of her prayers and merits, and by the power of her love, disarmed the anger of God and arrested the torrent of His indignation, which would otherwise have flooded and destroyed the world because of its innumerable crimes? How many times has Our Lady besought divine vengeance to lay aside the thunderbolts ready to be hurled against criminal mankind? How often has her Heart's incomparable charity clasped the hands of God's terrible justice and stopped Him from punishing men as they deserve? "How powerful is her love," says Richard of St. Victor, "since it overcomes the Almighty." (12) Yes, the love and charity of Mary's Heart are powerful, and have as it were vanquished God Himself!
History is filled with instances where Our Lady has shown her incomparable power on behalf of those who invoke her protection, manifesting publicly to armies and nations the strength that she also extends to each Christian in his own inner struggle against sin. But her strength is for those who invoke, love, honor and venerate her heart.
O Glorious Queen of the World, make us sharers in the divine power which fills thy holy Heart and give us strength against the enemies of thy Divine Son, who is all and does all in thee!

This article was excerpted from St. John Eudes, The Admirable Heart of Mary, Part Four, Chapters III-IV, and edited by the Order of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts of Jesus and Mary, at www.heartsofjesusandmary.org.
Notes
(1) De divinis Nominibus, cap. 12, sect. 2.
(2) Virtutum omnium domicilium. De fide orthodoxa, lib. 4 Cap. 15.
(3) Pura enim sanctitas et sanctissima puritas piissimi Pectoris ejus, omnem omnis creaturae puritatem sive sanctitatem transcendens, incomparabili sublimitate hoc promeruit, ut Reparatrix perditi orbis benignissimi fieret. De excell. B. Virg. Cap. 9.
(4) De gradibus Caritatis. O quam potens est amor ejus, qui vincit Omnipotentem. (St. John Eudes does not give the complete reference)

SOURCE
 

St. John Eudes, August 19


St. John Eudes, August 19

Prof. Plinio Correa de Oliveira

Biographical selection:

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The font where St. John Eudes was baptized
St. John Eudes was born in 1601 in the village of Ri, Normandy, France, to pious parents who consecrated him to the Holy Virgin. In 1615 he made a vow of chastity while he was studying with the Jesuits of Caen. On that occasion he consecrated himself to Mary, and from then was notable for his fervent devotion to her.

He left the Jesuits to enter the Congregation of the Oratory, founded by the famous Fr. Pierre de Berulle, who worked to re-establish orthodoxy of doctrine and sanctity of life among the clergy. St. John Eudes thought that the training of priests should also be a priority, so in 1643, he left the Oratory and founded the Society of Jesus and Mary (the Eudists Fathers) to specialize in seminary education. Its first seminary opened in Caen, shortly followed by many others.

In order to convert women of ill-fame and assist those who had converted from a wayward life, he founded another institution, the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity. He also instituted the parish mission to evangelize the neglected souls. For long years, he preached to large crowds in churches or the open fields, or in the courts of nobles and the King. His sermons were known for his strong condemnation of the vices of his audience and their great eloquence supported by his eminent sanctity.

He spread the devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and was responsible for getting the church to accept liturgical offices in its honor. Always faithful to the Chair of Peter, he was persecuted by the Jansenists, whom he counter-attacked with energy.

He died August 19, 1680, pronouncing the names of Jesus and Mary.


Comments of Prof. Plinio:

There is a parallel between the spiritual and the juridical work developed by St. John Eudes during his lifetime.

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St. John Eudes
He lived, as you just heard, in a Catholic country, France. His mission was not to combat the declared, external enemies of the Church, but rather to try to restore the fervor of tepid Catholics.

The country at that time was suffering a profound religious crisis from which the French Revolution was born. This religious crisis had its substance in the fact that love of God and true fervor had almost disappeared in the souls of the people, and the Catholic sense of the faithful had dimmed.

Divine Providence, wanting to avoid the coming tragedy of the French Revolution and, above all, the apostasy that it represented, called great souls in different ways to reignite Catholic fervor in France. Many saints of the 17th and 18th centuries were zealous and fiery souls. They were not characteristically great theologians, but saints whose role was to spread the love of God and stoke the coals that still smoked and fan them into burning flames.

Among such souls, you have St. Vincent de Paul who was a man with an incandescent love of God and St. Francis of Sales who spread a profound love of God in the highest levels of society. But, in particular, there were two fundamental burning fires at that time:
• The work of St. Louis Grignion de Monfort in the 18th century in the Vendée and Bretagne, which gave birth to the Chouannerie;

• and the work of St. John Eudes, which we are commenting on now.
Anyone who reads the revelations of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque sees that the goal of those apparitions was to inaugurate devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. One of its main characteristics was to move tepid Catholics out of their their tepidity, to light the love of God in souls that had cooled. St. Margaret Mary received that devotion as a great treasure, but she was a Visitation religious who could not leave her convent. Her mission was to record the devotion, practice it, and become a saint. Her canonization was a confirmation and approval of the Church for that devotion.

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The Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
St. Margaret Mary wrote to King Louis XIV of France telling him to consecrate France to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and place the Sacred Heart on the flag of France. The King refused to do both things. The result: the royal power deteriorated in France. When Louis XVI was a prisoner in the Temple in 1792, he finally made that consecration, but he did it without the adhesion of the French people. He still had the de jure power to make the consecration, but no longer a de facto power. It was already too late.

St. Margaret Mary also wrote to missionary priests to make them aware of the devotion, and it began to spread in pious circles. One of those who heard about it was St. John Eudes, who soon after embarked on his great work as the apostle of the devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

A great orator, he founded a new congregation hoping that, with the prestige of his sanctity and the work of that institution, the devotion would take off in France. But this did not happen. There was another refusal of grace. This time it was not the refusal of the King, but the hardness of heart of the French people. The devotion made little impression and did not raise great enthusiasm. The writings of John Eudes, who became a saint, formed the basis for a generalized devotion to the Sacred Hearts in the 19th century, but the 18th century did not accept that devotion. He was a kind of rejected prophet who fought with all his strength unsuccessfully against the tepidity of the French Catholics.

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St. John Eudes in St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican
To fight against such tepidity, he used juridical methods in parallel with spiritual ones. Seminaries were nonexistent in France, so he founded seminaries. In this way, the men studying to be priests could be removed from their families and formed in a fervent ambience so that when they were ordained priests, they would be enthusiasts of that devotion, with no links to world. The seminaries – until they became the sad reality we see today – were a truly admirable thing for the formation of the clergy. They acted as a lever to restore the Catholic spirit in Europe in the 19th century.

You see, then, a saint who fought against tepidity in two ways: spiritually, by founding a congregation destined to spread this devotion; and juridically, by founding a new way of teaching and forming the clergy that existed in thesis, but was not yet a fact in France.

What does the life of St. John Eudes teach us? I think that one of the most dangerous things for a counter-revolutionary is to become mediocre and tepid. To become a person who no longer cares about the great panoramas and the grand needs of our cause, but one who just wants to live his petty life with its small pleasures. In many ways, this is more dangerous than depraved movies, immoral magazines, and bad company, because it corrodes the very core of the love of God in a soul. Such a spirit of mediocrity and tepidity makes a person insensible to the Passion of the Church in our days and the grandeur of the fight to save the Church from her enemies. No Lepanto, no Covadonga, just the small pleasures of the little life of self.

The devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary is an adequate means to correct such a spirit. If we have this problem, or even this temptation, we should pray to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary to restore us to fervor. It is the specific remedy for such a serious illness. We should also ask the patronage of St. John Eudes to achieve this objective.



Tradition in Action



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Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
The Saint of the Day features highlights from the lives of saints based on comments made by the late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira. Following the example of St. John Bosco who used to make similar talks for the boys of his College, each evening it was Prof. Plinio’s custom to make a short commentary on the lives of the next day’s saint in a meeting for youth in order to encourage them in the practice of virtue and love for the Catholic Church. TIA thought that its readers could profit from these valuable commentaries.

The texts of both the biographical data and the comments come from personal notes taken by Atila S. Guimarães from 1964 to 1995. Given the fact that the source is a personal notebook, it is possible that at times the biographic notes transcribed here will not rigorously follow the original text read by Prof. Plinio. The commentaries have also been adapted and translated for TIA’s site.

Œuvres complètes de saint Jean Eudes

JesusMarie.com
Saint Jean Eudes

(1601 - 1680)
Œuvres complètes de saint Jean Eudes numérisées par l'Abbé Jean-Rémi Côté, c.j.m. (cotejr8@videotron.ca)
Tome 1 :
La vie et le royaume de Jésus dans les âmes chrétiennes
(pdf Mo, 19, Lethielleux, éditeur) Tome 2 :
De l'honneur dû aux lieux saints. - Méditations sur l'humilité. - Entretiens de l'âme chrétienne avec son Dieu. - Contrat de l'homme avec Dieu par le saint baptême. - Exercice de piété. - La vie du chrétien ou le catéchisme de la mission.
(pdf 3 Mo, 1906, Beauchesnes et Cie, éditeurs) Tome 3 :
Le mémorial de la vie ecclésiastique.
Manuel contenant plusieurs exercices de piété pour l'usage d'une Communauté ecclésiastique.
(pdf 3 Mo, 1906, Beauchesnes et Cie, éditeurs) Tome 4 :
Le prédicateur apostolique.
Le bon confesseur.
Avertissement aux confesseurs missionnaires.
la manière de bien servir la messe.
(pdf 3 Mo, 1907, Beauchesnes et Cie, éditeurs) Tome 5 :
L'enfance admirable de la très sainte Mère de Dieu.
(pdf 3 Mo, 1907, Beauchesnes et Cie, éditeurs) Tome 6 :
Le Cœur admirable de la très sacrée Mère de Dieu ou la dévotion au très saint Cœur de la bienheureuse Vierge Marie. Livres I à IV.
(pdf 5 Mo, 1908, Beauchesnes et Cie, éditeurs) Tome 7 :
Le Cœur admirable de la très sacrée Mère de Dieu ou la dévotion au très saint Cœur de la bienheureuse Vierge Marie. Livres V à IX.
(pdf 4 Mo, 1908, Beauchesnes et Cie, éditeurs) Tome 8 :
Le Cœur admirable de la très sacrée Mère de Dieu ou la dévotion au très saint Cœur de la bienheureuse Vierge Marie. Livres X à XII.
(pdf 4 Mo, 1908, Beauchesnes et Cie, éditeurs) Tome 9 :
La dévotion au très saint Cœur et au très sacré Nom de la bienheureuse Vierge Marie.
La dévotion au très saint Cœur de la très précieuse Vierge Marie Mère de Dieu.
L'institution de la sainte Confrérie et Société du Sacré Cœur de Jésus et de Marie.
Règlement de la Société du très saint Cœur de la Mère Admirable.
Règles et constitutions de la Congrégation de Jésus et Marie.
(pdf 4 Mo, 1909, Beauchesnes et Cie, éditeurs) Tome 10 :
Règles de saint Augustin et Constitutions pour les sœurs religieuses de Notre-Dame de Charité. Lettres du bienheureux Jean Eudes :
Livre I - Lettres aux prêtres de la Congrégation de Jésus et Marie.
Livre II - Lettres aux religieuses de Notre-Dame de Charité.
(pdf 8 Mo, 1909, Beauchesnes et Cie, éditeurs) Tome 11 :
Lettres du bienheureux Jean Eudes :
Livre III - Lettres à diverses personnes.
Offices dressés en l'honneur de Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ, de sa Très Sainte Mère, de Saint Joseph, de Saint Gabriel, des Saints Prêtres et Lévites, et de plusieurs autres Saints.
(pdf 12 Mo, 1910, Beauchesnes et Cie, éditeurs) Tome 12 :
Les petits offices.
Opuscules et fragments.
Table des Pères et Écrivains ecclésiastiques cités dans les Œuvres complètes du B. J. Eudes.
Table des références bibliques.
Table analytique de toutes les matières.
(pdf 5 Mo, 1911, Beauchesnes et Cie, éditeurs)
JesusMarie.com

ORAR COM S.JOÃO EUDES

ORAR COM JOÃO EUDES
Na Escola Francesa de espiritualidade, que enfatiza o mistério da Encarnação do Senhor, são João Eudes, no século XVll, convidava todos os cristãos, que tinham esquecido os compromissos adquiridos por seu batismo, a reencontrar a riqueza deste compromisso batismal.
Nas missões que pregava, nos seminários e nas casas de Nossa Senhora da Caridade, ele oferece meios bem concretos para viver a cada dia como um verdadeiro batizado e assim "fazer viver e reinar Jesus" em cada cristão que para ele é "outro Jesus Cristo na terra".
Um caminho de oração
São João Eudes legou-nos sua maneira de orar em quatro movimentos:
  • ADORAR: contemplar, maravilhar-se, admirar.
  • DAR GRAÇAS: reconhecer os dons do Senhor, dizer obrigado...
  • VIVER O PERDÃO: tomar consciência da distância que existe entre minha própria vida e as maravilhas do Amor de Deus.
  • DAR-SE A JESUS: dar-se para ser testemunha, dar-se para a Missão...



Estes quatro movimentos são quatro atitudes interiores que temos de desenvolver e que supõem tomar tempo para acolher-se, acolher o Outro, Deus, e receber-se da parte de Deus.
Adoremos a Deus no imenso Amor que ele tem para com todas as suas criaturas e para com cada um de nós em particular. Bendigamo-lo, amemo-lo.
Agradeçamos-lhe pelos benefícios inúmeros do seu Amor.
Peçamos-lhe perdão por todas as nossas ingratidões para com ele e por nossas faltas de caridade para com o próximo.
Demo-nos ao Amor de Deus, para que ele quebre todas as nossas resistências e reine perfeitamente em nós.
Jesus vive em mim
Jesus, Deus de minha vida, de meu coração
Que tens um desejo infinito de viver em mim
Para que eu viva em Ti, com vida santa e celestial,
Perdoa-me os tropeços que coloquei a teus desígnios,
Com meus pecados e infidelidades
Extingue em mim a vida do velho Adão
E estabelece em seu lugar tua vida santa e perfeita.
Que vivas plenamente em meu espírito,
Em meu coração e em minha alma,
Para realizar neles
O que redunde em tua glória.
Peço-te Mãe de Jesus,
Que me concedas de teu Filho
O cumprimento destes desejos. (O.C. I, 434).
Jesus em tudo
Por tuas grandezas e perfeições, ó Jesus,
Mereces infinita adoração, honra e louvor.
Porque me colocaste no mundo só para glorificar-te,
Abençoar-te e engrandecer-te.
Por isso suplico a teu Pai Eterno, a teu Espírito Santo,
A teus anjos e santos
E a todas as criaturas do céu da terra
Que te abençoem comigo, por tudo que Tu és
Contigo mesmo, com teu Espírito Santo,
Com tua santa Mãe, com teus anjos e santos
Com todos os homens, com todos os cristãos
Comigo em particular e com todas as criaturas.
Peço-te perdão, ó Jesus,
Porque em lugar de louvar-te e glorificar-te,
Amiúde te desonro e ofendo.
Ofereço-te, em satisfação, os louvores
Que recebes no céu e na terra.
Entrego-me inteiramente a Ti,
Para que destruas em mim
Tudo quanto se oponha a tua glória
E transformes tudo que é meu
Em louvores e bênçãos para Ti. (O.C. I, 374).
Ao despontar o dia
Ó Jesus, único amor de meu coração,
Quando te amarei perfeitamente?
Dissipa, ó sol divino, as trevas de meu espírito
E incêndia as frialdades de meu coração.
Como tu, ó Jesus, te deste totalmente a mim,
Que eu seja inteiramente teu para sempre.
Mãe de Jesus, manifesta que és sua Mãe
Formando-o e fazendo-o viver em mim. (O.C. I, 119).
Um só coração
Jesus, Filho único de Deus, tu quiseste,
Ser o único filho de Maria,
Comunica-nos tuas qualidades de filho,
Recebe-nos como irmãos teus,
Faze-nos participar do amor que dás a teu Pai
E do amor que recebes dEle,
Para que amemos a Jesus com o Coração de Maria
E a Maria com o Coração de Jesus,
E não tenhamos senão um só coração
E um só amor com Jesus e Maria. (O.C. VIII,105)
Ó Coração amantíssimo de minha Mãe
Peço-te que sejas o coração de meu coração
A alma de minha alma e a vida de minha vida. (O.C. VIII,37)
Dou-te graças sem fim, Espírito adorável,
Por enriquecer o Coração de tua divina Esposa
Com todos os tesouros de tua infinita bondade. (O.C. VIII,158)
Operários para a vinha do Senhor
Ó Salvador, infinitamente misericordioso,
Prostrado a teus pés, suplico-te, de todo coração,
E rogo a teus anjos e santos que reforcem minha súplica,
Que tenhas piedade dos pobres seres humanos
Criados a Tua imagem e semelhança
E resgatados com teu sangue precioso,
Que perecem porque ninguém lhes estende a mão.
Envia, Senhor, operários de tua vinha,
Faz reviver nos pastores e sacerdotes de tua Igreja
Aquele espírito apostólico
Em que ardiam teus amados apóstolos e discípulos.
Acende seus corações no fogo do teu amor,
E dá-lhes uma sede ardente por tua glória
E pela salvação das almas. (O.C. VIII,537)
Vale de lágrimas
Virgem cheia de ternura e de misericórdia,
Olha com teus olhos maternais tantas misérias e tantas
Desditas que enchem a terra.
Tantos pobres, viúvas, órfãos, enfermos, prisioneiros.
Tanto golpeados pela malícia humana.
Tantos indefesos, tantas almas em estado de pecado e de perdição.
Olha, Virgem bondosa,
O número quase infinito de desventurados que clamam a ti.
Mãe de misericórdia, consolo dos aflitos,
Refúgio dos pecadores, contempla nossa desolação,
Abre os ouvidos de tua bondade e escuta nossas súplicas.
Faz que sintamos os sinais de tua clemência
E que possamos saborear a doçura inefável de teu Coração. ( O.C. VII, 32 )
Saudação de são João Eudes ao Coração de Jesus e de Maria

Salve, Coração santíssimo,

Coração manso,
Coração humilde,
Salve, Coração puro,
Coração entregue
Coração sábio
Salve, Coração paciente,
Coração obediente
Coração vigilante ;
Salve, Coração fiel,
Coração feliz,
Coração misericordioso ;
Salve, Coração muito amoroso de Jesus e de
Maria.
Nós te adoramos,
Nós te louvamos,
Nós te glorificamos,
Nós te damos graças,
Nós te amamos
de todo o nosso coração,
de toda a nossa alma,
com todas as nossas forças ;
Nós te oferecemos o nosso coração,
Nós o entregamos,
Nós o consagramos,
Nós o sacrificamos.
Aceita-o e possui-o totalmente ;
Purifica-o,
Ilumina-o,
Santifica-o,
Para que nele vivas e reines,agora, sempre e por toda a eternidade.
AMÉM.
Saudação a Maria

Ave Maria, filha de Deus Pai.

Ave Maria, mãe de Deus Filho.
Ave Maria, esposa do Espírito Santo..
Ave Maria, templo da Divindade.
Ave Maria, lírio cândido
da resplandecente e imutável Trindade.

Ave Maria, rosa brilhante

da amenidade celeste.
Ave Maria, virgem excelsa e fiel,
que deste à luz e amamentaste o Rei do universo.
Ave Maria, rainha dos mártires,
cuja alma foi traspassada por uma espada de dor.

Ave Maria, senhora do mundo

que recebeste poder sobre o Céu e a terra.

Ave Maria, rainha do meu coração,

mãe, vida, doçura, esperança nossa muito amada.
Ave Maria, Mãe amável.
Ave Maria, mãe admirável
Ave Maria, Mãe de misericórdia.
Ave Maria, cheia de graça, o Senhor é contigo.
Bendita és tu entre as mulheres.
Bendito o fruto de teu ventre, Jesus.
Bendito o teu esposo, José.
Bendito o teu pai, Joaquim.
Bendita a tua mãe, Ana.
Bendito o teu filho, João.
Bendito o teu anjo, Gabriel.
Bendito o Pai eterno, que te escolheu.
Bendito o Filho, que te amou.
Bendito o Espírito Santo, que te desposou.
Benditos para sempre todos que te bendizem e te amam.
Amém.