Cause for the Doctorate
Saint John Eudes: Doctor of the Church?
A missionary priest and spiritual teacher, John Eudes left a body of work joining interior life, Christian formation, and service to people most in need.
What is a Doctor of the Church?
The Church recognizes certain saints as guides and teachers of the faith. The title honors teaching of particular depth that remains fruitful for the baptized, together with an exemplary life of holiness. In 2014, the French bishops supported the cause for Saint John Eudes, following their earlier support for Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.
The cause for Saint John Eudes
Several episcopal conferences in Africa, Central America, and South America later joined that support. In December 2016, Pope Francis met with the Eudist team coordinating the cause; three theologians were appointed to work with the Vatican on advancing it.
Thirteen volumes of writing
His collected books and correspondence fill thirteen volumes. The Admirable Heart of the Mother of God, completed in 1680, is a major treatise on Mary’s Immaculate Heart, with its final part devoted to the Heart of Jesus. The Life and Kingdom of Jesus in Christian Souls (1637) offers practical ways to live everyday life as a continuation of Christ’s life.
Guides for Christian life
Eudes also wrote works on prayer and mission, including Exercises of Piety (1636), A Catechism of the Missions (1642), and Humanity’s Contract with God in Holy Baptism (1654). For priests he wrote The Good Confessor (1666), A Memorial of Priestly Life (1681), and The Apostolic Preacher (1685).
Renewing baptismal life
As a pastor, he accompanied thousands of people and reminded them of the dignity of their baptism. Through baptism, Christians are united with Christ and called to live as his members in communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This call to holiness belongs to every baptized person.
The way of the Heart
For John Eudes, the heart is where people encounter God’s love, the source of all life, and learn to respond to it. He also contemplated the unity of the Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He gave this devotion a liturgical form: the Feast of the Heart of Mary in 1648, followed by the Feast of the Heart of Jesus in 1672.
A missionary and mystical legacy
This spirituality nourished founders such as Saint Mary Euphrasia Pelletier, Saint Jeanne Jugan, Venerable Amelie Fristel, and Blessed Maria Droste zu Vischering. Their legacy joins contemplation, mission, and a preferential concern for people who are poor. John Eudes’s life shows how interior faith becomes concrete works of mercy and evangelization.