Today, August 19, the Catholic Church celebrates the memory of St. John Eudes, founder of the Congregation of Jesus and Mary and of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.
Newsroom (August 19, 2021 09:28, Gaudium Press) Born on November 14, 1601 in the small village of Ri, in northern France, John Eudes studied with the Jesuit fathers, dedicating daily time to prayer in the school chapel.
He entered the Congregation of the Oratory in 1623, and was ordained two years later, dedicating himself entirely to preaching among the people. In 1627, when the plague epidemic broke out, he gave assistance to the sick and their families.
He founded the Congregation of Jesus and Mary, which had as its mission the spiritual and doctrinal formation of priests and seminarians and the preaching of the Gospel inserted into the spiritual and material needs of the people. He also founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.
Saint John Eudes is considered as the precursor of the cult to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, having dedicated himself to the preaching of this devotion during his missions. This Saint died on August 19, 1680.
Phrases by Saint John Eudes
01 – “Let us love Jesus with the Heart of Mary. And Mary with the Heart of Jesus. And let us have but one heart and one love with Jesus and Mary.”
02 – “Everyone who loves this Immaculate Virgin is chaste; whoever honors her is devout; whoever imitates her is holy. No one loves her without being loved by her”.
03 – “The greatest sign of God’s wrath is when He allows, as punishment for their crimes, the people to fall into the hands of shepherds who are so more in name than in fact.”
04 – “This is the miracle of miracles: Mary being as great as she is, considers herself as if she were nothing”.
05 – “Whoever sees Jesus sees Mary, whoever loves Jesus, loves Mary!”
06 – “The Priest is Jesus Christ walking on earth.”
07 – “Something deplorable to the point of tears of blood is to see that among such a great number of men who populate the earth, who have been baptized and consequently admitted to the condition of children of God, much more numerous are those who live like animals, like pagans and even like demons; there are hardly any who behave like true Christians.”
08 – “Certainly, a woman who wears immoral clothes can condemn herself. And she can condemn herself, either because of the sin she commits herself, or because she causes the condemnation of other people.”
09: “Give yourselves to Jesus to enter into the immensity of his great Heart, which contains the heart of his holy Mother and of all the saints, and to lose yourself in this abyss of love, charity, mercy, humility, purity, patience, submission and holiness.
10 – “Three things are required for there to be mercy. The first is to have compassion for the misery of the other, because it is the one who takes into his heart the miseries of the miserable who is merciful. The second is to have a determined will to help them in their misery. The third is to pass from the will to action.
Prayer to Saint John Eudes
O Father, by your mercy, Saint John Eudes announced the unfathomable riches of Christ. Grant that, through his intercession, we may grow in your knowledge and live in your presence according to the Gospel, bearing fruit in good works. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. (EPC)