The life and kingdom of Jesus - liberius.net

1 The life and the kingdom Of JESUSA TREATISE ON christian PERFECTIONFOR USE BY CLERGY OR LAITYBYSAINT JOHN EUDEST ranslated from the French byA Trappist Father inThe Abbey of Our Lady of Geths maniWith an Introduction byTHE RIGHT REVERENDMONSIGNOR FULTON J. SHEEN1947 NEW YORKP. J. KENEDY & SONS Num ris par GENERAL PREFACEST. JOHN EUDES has been called "the wonder of his age." Missionary, founder, reformer of the clergy, hecrowded into a life of seventy-nine years so many and such varied accomplishments that one marvels how asingle man could achieve so much. In addition to the activities of an incessant and many-sided apostolate, hewrote a number of valuable books, which rank him among the most prolific ascetic writers of theseventeenth many years the devotional works of St.

2 John Eudes were practically unknown.(1) Occasionally avolume was discovered in the library of some seminary or religious house. Many others preserved i nmanuscript form were lost in the chaos of the French Revolution(2) At the beginning of the presentcentury the sons of St. John Eudes united in a tribute of filial piety to bring out a complete edition of theworks of their spiritual father, seeking them in public and private libraries throughout the world(3)About twenty volumes were found and edited in 1905 by the late Fathers Charles Lebrun, , andJoseph Dauphin,(1).Before the French Revolution the works of St. John Eudes were popular in France. In 1792 the housesof the Congregation of Jesus and Mary were confiscated by the Government and its members were massacredor dispersed throughout Europe.

3 With the suppression of the Eudists, their rich literary heritage waswidely scattered and partially destroyed. It was not until the re-establishment of the Congregation of Jesusand Mary in 1826 that effort was made to recover the printed and manuscript works of St. John Eudes. Theresearch was carried on until the latter pact of the nineteenth century. In the "Preface G n rale to theOeuvres Compl tes (Vannes, 1905), Father Charles Lebrun points out that one of the purposes of theedition was "to unearth these works buried too long in oblivion," exhumer ces ouvrages ensevelis depuistrop longtemps dans l' (2)The following manuscripts were not found: The christian Man, All Jesus , The Divine office, TheAdmirable Sacrifice of the Mass, Meditations, (2 vol.), Sermons of St.

4 John Eudes (3 vols.), Favorsobtained by the Diocese of Coutances through the Blessed Virgin, The Divine Childhood of Jesus , TheDevotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus , The Admirable life of Mary des Vall es, (incomplete copy found atLaval University Library, Quebec) and Correspondence of St. John Eudes.(3). cf. oeuvres Compl tes, P. xiv. V-GENERAL The first edition in French, Oeuvres Compl tes du V n rable Jean Eudes, ran into twelve octavovolumes with introductions, explanatory notes, analytic and alphabetic indexes of great value. Thesewritings constitute a complete summa of ascetic and pastoral theology. The list is as follows:Volume 1 The life and kingdom of Jesus in christian Souls. In this work the Saint develops hisspiritual teaching on the christian life , namely, that the christian life is simply the life of Jesus extendedand continued in each one of 11.

5 This volume contains six short treatises on subjects relating to the christian Treatise on the Respect Due to Holy Places, which is an echo of the fiery denunciations hepronounced during his missions against profaners of the temple of Meditations on Humility, a series of meditations on the profession of humility as used daily in hisorder of Priests, the Congregation of Jesus and Colloquies of the Soul with God, meditations on creation, the end of man and the grace Man's Contract with God in Holy Baptism, a summary of the teachings of Sacred Scripture andTradition on the Sacrament of The Practice of Piety, a brief explanation of what is necessary in order to live a christian of the Mission, an outline of the catechetical instructions given during a III. Contains two important works on sacerdotal Memorial of the Ecclesiastical life , an explanation of the dignity and duties of the A Manual of Piety for Use in an Ecclesiastical Community, in which the author explains how themeans of sanctification he recommended to his priests should be practically applied in their daily IV.

6 Comprises significant works on the priestly Apostolic Preacher is one of the first treatises written on the ministry of the Word of God andis even yet one of the most PREFACE V11-2. The Good Confessor explains the qualities, and obligations of the minister of the Sacrament Counsels for Mission Confessors suggests practical means of assisting penitents to make theirexamination of conscience and excite themselves to Manner of Serving Mass explains the dignity and holiness of this act and what one must do toperform it devoutly and V. The Admirable Childhood of the Most Holy Mother of God. This book treats of the holychildhood of Mary and the practical means of honoring the mysteries and virtues of her early VI, VII, VIII contain the entire writings of the Saint on the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and work is entitled: The Admirable Heart of the Most Holy Mother of God.

7 It comprises twelve bookscovering the complete theology of the devotion to the Sacred Hearts. Eleven books discuss the theory,history, and practice of the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The last book deals with the devotionto the Sacred Heart of Jesus . It is this work, together with the Offices of the Sacred Hearts, that merit forhim the title of Father, Doctor and Apostle of the Devotion to the Sacred IX. The Rules and Constitutions of the Congregation of Jesus and X. Contains The Rules and Constitutions of the Order of Our Lady of Charity, the Directory ofthe Order, and a collection of two hundred and forty XI and XII embrace the Saint's Liturgical Works, comprising twenty-five Offices andMasses for feasts to which he urged special devotion, the Memorial of God's Blessings and several otherminor second French edition appeared in 1935,Oeuvres Choisies de Saint Jean Eudes, prepared underthe direction of Father Lebrun, the leading authority on Eudistic research.

8 It comprises nine volumes: TheLife and kingdom of Jesus in christian Souls, Meditations of Various Subjects, Regulae Vitae Christianae eSacerdotalis, Man's Contract with God in Holy Baptism, Letters and Minor Works, Writings on thPriesthood, The Sacred Heart of Jesus , The Admirable Heart of Mary, and The Admirable Childhood of thMother of God. The format ofV111- GENERAL PREFACE these volumes is compact and more convenient than the 1905 edition, which is now out of publication of the works of St. John Eudes revealed the extent and depth of their spiritualdoctrine. Cardinal Pitra, who was associated with the cause of Beatification, discovered in the writings ofSt. John Eudes a remarkable depth of thought and purity of doctrine. Cardinal Vives has more recentlyexpressed his admiration:I was acquainted with the Doctors of the Order of Saint Francis; I was acquainted with Saint Teresaand Saint John of the Cross, the mystical writers of my own country, Spain; but I was completely ignorantof the writings of Father Eudes.

9 As a member of the Sacred Congregation of Rites it was my duty to study hislife and his works, and I am in admiration. Blessed John Eudes must be ranked with the great lights of theChurch. His spiritual doctrine is profound and of wonderful exactitude. He is one of the writers who hasbest propounded the doctrine of the Gospel.(4).The late Father Ange Le Dor , for fifty years Superior General of the Congregation of Jesus andMary, wrote:The works of Blessed John Eudes, although they do not bear the scientific touch of the professionaltheologian, are nevertheless proof of his remarkable theological, ascetic and scriptural He isnot a Doctor after the fashion of the scholastics of the thirteenth century or of the great theologians of thesixteenth and seventeenth centuries. As they, he might have built up theses and composed books didactic i nform; but he was before all a saver of souls.

10 For him the science of theology found its chief field ofusefulness in the practice of virtue and in the acquisition of sanctity of which it is the He was aDoctor after the manner of the Apostles, the Fathers of the Church, St. Francis de Sales and St. Alphonsus deLiguori. The science which shines in his works not only emits light; it engenders piety and sanctity.(5)The spiritual doctrine expounded by St John Eudes follows the teaching of Cardinal Pierre de B rulleand Father Charles de Condren, two prominent members of the seventeenth-century French School ofSpirituality. St. John Eudes applies this doctrine to the devotion to the(4). Quoted by P. A. Bray, , Saint John Eudes (Halifax, 1925), P. 116.(5). Quoted by Buy, op. cit., p. PREFACE1X-Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, developing and rendering it more precise and practical.