BERNARD, CLAUDE. - French priest known as the poor priest, b. at Dijon, to a distinguished magistrate, on 26 Dec. 1588, d. at Paris on 23 March 1641. Educated by the Jesuits at Dôle, he then studied law at Toulouse. He subsequently led a rather dissolute life, even after embracing the ecclesiastical life. Converted to fervor under the guidance of Fr. de Condren (v.), he placed himself under the direction of the Jesuit Fr. Marnat. Having distributed an inheritance of 400,000 livres to the poor, he imposed upon himself a life of solitude and mortification and devoted himself to the assistance of the poor.
His apostolate for 15 years in the hospitals and prisons of Paris aroused the admiration of Anne of Austria, of Richelieu, and of all the society of the time. His most humble and popular sermons attracted great crowds; Fr. de St-Jure sent his novices to learn from the "holy orator," as he called him. He circulated more than 200,000 copies of the Memorare (v.), awakening confidence in the Most Holy Virgin, to whom he was greatly devoted, and brought about very many conversions. In 1639 he founded the "Seminary of the Thirty-Three" (for 33 students), preceding the initiatives of St. Vincent de Paul, Olier and Bourdoise. This institute lasted until 1789.
Bibliography3 worksP. Lempereur, La vie du néo, p. B., Paris 1708 (sets forth many "miracles" attributed to the B. from 1641 to 1661); H. Bremond, En dansant d
BIBL.: P. Lempereur, La vie du néo, p. B., Paris 1708 (sets forth many "miracles" attributed to the B. from 1641 to 1661); H. Bremond, En dansant devant l'arche, ibid. 1929; C. Gazier, C. B. et le séminaire des Trente-Trois, in Le Correspondant, 314 (1929), pp. 896-911.
Fiocchi, Ambrogio Maria. “Bernard, claude.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. II, col. 1402. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1949. https://azioneromana.com/article/bernard-claude-2.
MLA
Fiocchi, Ambrogio Maria. “Bernard, claude.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. II, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1949, col. 1402. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/bernard-claude-2.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec2_bernard_claude_2,
author = {Fiocchi, Ambrogio Maria},
title = {Bernard, claude},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {II},
pages = {1402},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1949},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/bernard-claude-2}
}
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