Saint John Eudes

Saint John Eudes lived during the golden age of Catholicism in France and, endowed with exceptional gifts as an orator, achieved notable success as a home missionary to both clergy and people. He founded the Congregation of Jesus and Mary, or Eudist Fathers, for training candidates for the diocesan priesthood and preaching parish missions to the faithful. He also instituted the Order of Our Lady of Charity of Refuge and of the Good Shepherd for the rehabilitation of girls led astray by a wicked world, and established the Society of the Admirable Heart of Mary for persons aspiring to perfection in the world. Greatest among his achievements was the preaching and spread of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary; he introduced into the church liturgy the first public feasts for which he composed both mass and office, obtained the approbation of the Holy See for the first confraternities of the Sacred Hearts, and his prominent role in spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart was recognized by the church in official documents of Pope Leo XIII, St. Pius X, and Pope Pius XI.

Hillside, Illinois · United States