St. John Eudes (1601–1680) was a French priest and missionary, the founder of the Congregation of Jesus and Mary (the Eudists) to train good priests, and of the Order of Our Lady of Charity to help women escaping prostitution, and the first to celebrate liturgical feasts in honor of the Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Pope St. Pius X called him “the father, doctor and apostle” of the liturgical devotion to the Sacred Hearts. During two plague epidemics he cared for the sick at the risk of his life. His feast day is August 19. Below are his story, Scripture and a prayer to St. John Eudes.
A short prayer to St. John Eudes, written for this page:
St. John Eudes, you loved the Hearts of Jesus and Mary and spent yourself for the poor and the sick.
Pray that my heart may become like the Heart of Jesus, meek and humble,
and that I may love Mary as a child loves his mother. Amen.
Who was St. John Eudes?
Jean Eudes was born on November 14, 1601, at Ri, in Normandy, the son of a farmer. He joined the French Oratory of Cardinal Pierre de Bérulle and was ordained in 1625. When plague struck Normandy, he volunteered to care for the sick and dying; to avoid infecting his community, he is said to have lived for a time in a large empty cask in a field outside Caen.
For more than fifty years he preached parish missions throughout Normandy and beyond, more than a hundred in all, and heard confessions for hours. Convinced that the renewal of the Church depended on holy priests, he left the Oratory in 1643 and founded the Congregation of Jesus and Mary to run seminaries. Moved by the plight of women trying to leave prostitution, he founded the Order of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge in 1641, from which the Good Shepherd Sisters later grew. He wrote books on the Christian life and on the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and he celebrated a liturgical feast of the Heart of Mary from 1648 and of the Sacred Heart from 1672, years before the revelations to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. He died at Caen on August 19, 1680, and was canonized in 1925.
The Hearts of Jesus and Mary
Jesus invites us to learn from His Heart (Matthew 11:29, Douay-Rheims):
Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart: and you shall find rest to your souls.
And Mary kept all things in her heart (Luke 2:19, Douay-Rheims):
But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart.
See the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Feast day
The optional memorial of St. John Eudes, priest, is August 19, the day of his death.
Frequently asked questions
What is St. John Eudes known for?
Founding the Eudists and the Order of Our Lady of Charity, preaching missions, and pioneering the liturgical devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
Who are the Eudists?
The Congregation of Jesus and Mary, priests founded by St. John Eudes in 1643 to form good priests and preach missions.
When is his feast day?
August 19.
More
- Feast of the Sacred Heart
- Immaculate Heart of Mary
- St. Margaret Mary Alacoque prayer
- Litany of the Sacred Heart
- Prayer for priests
- Saint of the day
Texts and sources
- Matthew 11:29 and Luke 2:19 (Douay-Rheims).