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

Born in 1601 in Ri, Normandy, from a peasant family, he studied at the Jesuit college in Caen, where he became part of a fervent Marian congregation. In 1623, he joined the Oratory and benefited from contact with Pierre de Bérulle, which led him to make the vow of holy slavery, and with Charles de Condren, to whom he would always be grateful. After his ordination, he dedicated himself to popular missions (preaching in over 100 missions in northwest France between 1632 and 1674). In 1643, he left the Oratory to found the Congregation of Jesus and Mary with the goal of first forming clergy in seminaries and then preaching 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 in Caen in 1680. He was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1925.

John Eudes’ Mariological Works: *The Admirable Heart of Mary* (1681) and Pastoral Writings in the Bérullian Style

The many writings of the Saint have an eminently pastoral and spiritual character, inspired by Bérulle but in a style more suitable for lay faithful. His most known and frequently reprinted work is *The Life and Kingdom of Jesus in the Souls of Christians* (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 of alliance* in which God communicates His life, and we, in turn, commit ourselves to living as God’s children and conform our lives to Christ’s.> “…”All are therefore called to holiness: “All Christians, regardless of their state or condition, are bound, as Christians and members of Jesus Christ, to live the life of their Head, that is, a completely holy life” (On the Life and Kingdom of Jesus in the Christian Soul 6.1). A perfect example of this life in Christ is Mary, who in herself “is nothing, has nothing, can do nothing.” Jesus “is all in her: he is her being, her life, her holiness, her glory, power, and greatness” (On the Life and Kingdom of Jesus in the Christian Soul 3.11).

After many years of work and completing it just a few weeks before his death, he composed the Marian book The Admirable Heart of the Most Holy Virgin Mother of God (1681). Eudes intended to fill a gap in the lack of a book that «stir the hearts of readers to veneration and particular devotion to her adorable Heart».

Inspired by the 12 stars of the Woman in Revelation, Eudes divides The Admirable Heart into 12 books, and, as a universal number, also applies it to some subdivisions. Known as a prophet of the heart, Eudes unifies all spiritual life in the heart that he understands as a symbol of interiority and love, but also as the presence and life of God within us: God is the heart of our heart. This reality is particularly realized in Mary, in whom lives and reigns perfectly the heart of Jesus, to the point of forming with her one heart. The saint therefore speaks of the heart of Jesus and Mary, specifying that they are united by the same Spirit not in unity of essence, but in feelings, affection, and will.

The Devotion to the Most Holy Virgin according to John Eudes: Christological Foundation and Theology of Mary’s Heart

Honoring Jesus in Mary: Eudes’ Theology and Devotion between Christ’s Heart and Mary’s Heart

The 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 wish to live a Christian life, as is the case with those to whom this book is dedicated.

I will only say that we must not separate what God has united so perfectly. Jesus and Mary are 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 principal foundations of the Christian religion, the two living sources 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. It is not true Christianity that does not have devotion to the Mother of Jesus Christ and all Christians. Therefore, Saint Anselm and Saint Bonaventure affirm that it is not possible for those who are not loved by her holy Mother to be received by Jesus Christ, just as those to whom she directs her benevolent gaze cannot perish.

I add that, since we must continue to practice the virtues and nurture in ourselves the feelings of Jesus Christ, we must also continue to nurture in ourselves the feelings of love, filial piety, and devotion that Jesus himself had for his blessed Mother. He loved her perfectly and honored her in a sublime way: he chose her as Mother, submitted to her as Son, took from her a being and a new life, desired to relate to her, submitted to her, learned from her how to behave in childhood and in the hidden life in Nazareth, made her Sovereign of heaven and earth, glorified her, and wanted her to be glorified by all.

So, to continue on earth the same filial piety and devotion that Jesus had for his most holy Mother, we must nurture in her a particular devotion and honor her in a singular way. Now, to honor her as God expects of us and as she herself desires, we must do three things:

Worshipping Jesus in Mary: Contemplate and Glorify Only the Son, Principle of Eudes’ Spirituality

1. In Mary, we must look and adore her Son: look and adore him alone. Thus, in fact, she wishes to be honored, well aware that alone she is nothing, but her Son Jesus is all in her: he is her being, her life, her sanctity, 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 Mary and arrange everything so that our life and actions are dedicated to honoring her life and her actions. We must ask him to share the love he had for her and her other virtues. We must ask him to use us to honor her, or better, to honor himself in her, as he wishes.2. We must recognize and honor Mary as the 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, as our being and life. Depend on her and ask her to guide us in all matters concerning our life. Give ourselves to her and submit to her as slaves, imploring her to take full power over us, arrange us according to her good will for the glory of her Son, and unite us to all the love and praise she rendered him and continues to offer him forever.It is good to offer her such honors daily and more particularly once a week or at least once a year.Various Ways to Honor Mary According to St. John of Dudley: Thought, Words, Deeds, and Devotional Practices3. In many ways, we can and must honor the Virgin worthy of all honor:With thought and reflection, considering the sanctity of her life and the perfection of her virtues.With words, happy to speak of her and to know of her greatness.With actions, performing them in honor and in union with hers.With imitation, committing ourselves to imitate her virtues, particularly humility, charity, pure love, detachment from all things, and purity, which is entirely divine. The thought of this virtue must instill in us the strongest desire to flee, fear, and detest with horror, more than death, anything, even the smallest thing, contrary to purity, in thoughts, words, and actions.

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

One more word. Thus, each year we must honor a particular mystery of Jesus, as mentioned above. Therefore, it is good to choose each year, on the feast of the Assumption of the Most Holy Virgin, one of her mysteries to honor it more particularly during the year. For this reason, I indicate here the main mysteries of Mary’s life. [We remember 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)