LOUIS CHARDON. — Born at Clermont (Oise) in 1595, died in Paris on 17 August 1651, a Dominican mystical writer, a much sought-after spiritual director and prolific author, has been placed by modern criticism alongside St John of the Cross as one of the greatest masters of spirituality of the 17th century. *La Croix de Jésus* (Paris 1647) has, thanks to H. Bremond, received enthusiastic and universal recognition.
BIBL.: H. Bremond, *Histoire littéraire du sentiment religieux en France*, VIII, Paris 1928, pp. 1-77; R. Garrigou-Lagrange, *L’amour de Dieu et la Croix de Jésus*, Italian trans., II, Turin 1936, p. 146 ff.; F. Florand, *L. C. La Croix de Jésus* (text with introduction and notes), Paris 1937; id., s.V. in *Dictionnaire de spiritualité*, II, cols. 498-503. Innocenzo Casati