BOUDON, HENRI-MARIE. – Writer on asceticism, born at La Fère (Aisne) on 14 October 1624, died at Evreux on 31 August 1702. Archdeacon of Evreux from 1654, he soon began to remedy the many abuses in the diocese; he restored worship, obliged parish priests to teach catechism, and denied benefices to unworthy priests. Hence arose bitter opposition and shameful calumnies, exploited by the Jansenists, which led to his removal from office. B.
He himself gives an account of his works in one of his letters (Lettres de H.-M. B., I [Paris 1785], letter 28, p. 132 ff.); but he does not list them all, and he composed others afterward; it is uncertain whether some of them should be attributed to him. All of them exerted a strong and profound influence. The principal ones are: Dieu seul ou l'association pour l'intérêt de Dieu seul (Paris 1662), which was nevertheless placed on the Index (decree of 9 September 1688), after the condemnation of Molinos, because of the use made of it by the Quietists; Le saint esclavage de l'admirable Mère de Dieu (there 1674), disapproved in Rome, but not prohibited, in order to eliminate certain abuses (P. Pourrat, pp. 152–53); La vie cachée avec Jésus en Dieu (there 1676); L'homme intérieur (there 1684).
B.’s dominant idea is “pure love,” untainted by any motive of self-interest, “God alone,” which in practice is realized through love of the cross, self-denial, and passivity; hence a hint of Quietism, also encouraged by some unfortunate formulations.