Saint John Eudes (d. 1680) and the Immaculate Heart of Mary

John Eudes (1601-1680): Formation in the Oratory of Bérulle and the Marian Vocation from the College of Caen Onward

Born in 1601 at Ri, in Normandy, to a peasant family, he studied at the Jesuit college of Caen, where he belonged to a fervent Marian Congregation. In 1623 he entered the Oratory and benefited from contact with Pierre de Bérulle, who led him to make the vow of holy slavery, and with Charles de Condren, to whom he would always be grateful. Ordained a priest, he devoted himself to popular missions (he preached more than 100 missions in northwestern France between 1632 and 1674). In 1643 he left the Oratory to found the Congregation of Jesus and Mary, with the aim of first forming the clergy in the seminaries and then preaching the missions. 

In 1648 he celebrated, with the approval of the bishop of Autun, the liturgical feast of the Heart of Mary, and in 1672, in all his communities, that of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

He died at Caen in 1680. He was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1925.

The Mariological Work of John Eudes: “The Admirable Heart of Mary” (1681) and the Pastoral Writings of Bérullian Character

The many writings of the Saint have an eminently pastoral and spiritual character and are inspired by Bérulle, but in a style better suited to the lay faithful. His best-known and most reprinted book is The Life and Kingdom of Jesus in Christian Souls (1637), completed by The Contract of Man with God through Baptism (1654). Eudes grounds Christian existence in the fundamental sacrament of baptism, which he compared to a covenant contract in which God communicates His life to us and we commit ourselves to live as children of God and to conform our life to that of Christ. 

All are therefore called to holiness: “all Christians, whatever the state or condition to which they belong, are bound, as Christians and members of Jesus Christ, to live the life of their head, that is, a completely holy life” (The Life and Kingdom of Jesus in Christian Souls 6,1). A perfect example of this life in Christ is Mary, who of herself “is nothing, has nothing, can do nothing”. Jesus “is everything in her: He is her being, her life, her holiness, the glory, the power and the greatness” (The Life and Kingdom of Jesus in Christian Souls 3,11).

Working at it for many years and completing it a few weeks before his death, he composed the Marian book The Admirable Heart of the Most Holy Mother of God, or Devotion to the Most Holy Heart of Mary (1681). Eudes intends to supply for the lack of a book that would “stir the hearts of readers to veneration and to particular devotion to her lovable Heart”.

Inspired by the 12 stars of the Woman of the Apocalypse, he divides the Admirable Heart into 12 books and, since it is a universal number, he also applies it to some subdivisions. Rightly called the prophet of the heart, Eudes unifies the whole spiritual life in the heart, which he understands as a symbol of interiority and love, but also as the presence and life of God in us: God is the heart of our heart. This reality is realized in a special way in Mary, in whom the heart of Jesus lives and reigns perfectly, to the point of forming with her a single heart. The saint therefore speaks of the heart of Jesus and of Mary, specifying that they are united by the same Spirit not in unity of essence, but of sentiments, affection and will. Besides this division, there is a certain systematic order, or rather a strong internal cohesion, which consists in presenting the nature of the Heart of Mary, the foundations of the devotion with particular reference to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Canticle of the Heart of Mary, the reasons and the means for honoring it and, finally, a treatise on the Heart of Jesus.

Devotion to the Most Holy Virgin According to John Eudes: Christological Foundation and the Theology of the Heart of Mary

How to Honor Jesus in Mary: The Eudist Theology of the Relationship Between the Heart of Christ and the Heart of Mary

Devotion to the Most Holy Virgin Mother of God is so welcome to her Son and so commendable, dear and familiar to all true Christians, that there is no need to recommend it to those who desire to live in a Christian manner, as is the case with those to whom we dedicate this book.

I will only say that we must not separate what God has united so perfectly. Jesus and Mary are in fact so united that whoever sees Jesus sees Mary, whoever loves Jesus loves Mary, and whoever is devoted to Jesus is also devoted to Mary.

Jesus and Mary are the two first foundations of the Christian religion, the two living springs of all our blessings, the two terms of our devotion and the two points of reference to which we must look in all our actions and exercises. He is not a true Christian who has no devotion to the Mother of Jesus Christ and of all Christians. Therefore Saint Anselm and Saint Bonaventure affirm that it is not possible for those who are not loved by His holy Mother to be received by Jesus Christ, just as those upon whom she turns her benevolent gaze cannot perish.

I add further that, since we must continue to practice the virtues and to nourish in ourselves the sentiments of Jesus Christ, we must also continue and nourish in ourselves the sentiments of love, filial piety and devotion that Jesus Himself had toward His blessed Mother. Now, He loved her perfectly and honored her in a sublime manner: He chose her as Mother, gave Himself to her as Son, drew from her a being and a new life, willed to be in relationship with her, submitted Himself to her, learned from her how to conduct Himself in childhood and in the hidden life at Nazareth, made her Sovereign of heaven and earth, glorified her and willed that she be glorified by all. 

Well then, in order to continue on earth the same filial piety and the same devotion that Jesus had for His most holy Mother, we must nourish toward her a very particular devotion and honor her in a wholly singular manner. Now, in order to honor her as God expects of us and as she herself desires, we must do three things:

Adoring Jesus in Mary: Contemplating and Glorifying the Son Alone, the Principle of Eudist Spirituality

1. In Mary we must look upon and adore her Son: look upon and adore Him alone. For thus, in fact, she wishes to be honored, knowing very well that of herself she is nothing, but that her Son Jesus is everything in her: He is her being, her life, her holiness, her glory, her power and her greatness. We must thank Jesus for the glory He desired to receive in her and through her. We must offer ourselves to Him and ask Him to give us to Mary and to dispose all things so that our life and our actions may be consecrated to honoring her life and her actions. We must ask Him to share with us the love He had for her and His other virtues. We must ask Him to use us to honor her, or rather to honor Himself in her, in whatever manner He wills.

Honoring Mary as Mother of God and Sovereign: Gratitude, Dependence and Supplication in Eudist Devotion

2. We must acknowledge and honor Mary as Mother of our God and then as our Mother and Sovereign. Thank her for honoring, glorifying and serving Jesus Christ, her Son and our Lord. Refer to her, after God, our being and our life. Depend on her and ask her to guide us in all that concerns our life. Give ourselves to her and submit to her as slaves, imploring her to take full power over us, to dispose of us according to her good pleasure for the glory of her Son, and to unite us to all the love and praise that she has rendered to Him and offers Him anew for all eternity.

It is good to offer her such homage every day, and more particularly once a week or at least once a year. 

Various Ways of Honoring Mary According to John Eudes: Thought, Words, Works and Devotional Practices

3. In many ways we can and must honor the Virgin worthy of all honor:

With thought and reflection, considering the holiness of her life and the perfection of her virtues.

With words, glad to speak of her and to know of her greatness. 

With actions, performing them in her honor and in union with hers. 

With imitation, committing ourselves to imitate her virtues, particularly humility, charity, pure love, detachment from all things and the purity that is wholly divine. The thought of this virtue must instill in us the most intense desire to flee, to fear and to detest with horror, more than death, everything, even the least thing, that is contrary to purity, in thoughts, words and actions.

Finally, we can honor the Most Holy Virgin with prayers and exercises of piety, such as the rosary, which should be dear to all Christians, and the Office of Our Lady, to be recited in communion with the love and devotion that Jesus had for her, in honor of the life of her Son and of her own, of her virtues and actions.

One more word. In this way, every year we must honor a particular mystery of Jesus, as mentioned above. It is therefore good to choose each year, on the day of the Assumption of the Most Holy Virgin, one of her mysteries in order to honor it more particularly during the year. I therefore indicate here the principal mysteries of the life of Mary. [We recall that until the last liturgical reform, the Immaculate Heart of Mary was celebrated in the octave of the Assumption, precisely on August 22!]

(translated and adapted from: J. Eudes, Le royaume de Jésus, in Oeuvres complètes I, 337-340)