La Colombière, Claude, Blessed

LA COLOMBIÈRE, Claude, Blessed. - Jesuit, propagator of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, b. at St-Symphorien d'Ozon (Dauphiné) on 2 February 1641, d. at Paray-le-Monial on 15 February 1682. Having entered the Society of Jesus, overcoming a terrible aversion, he was, once his studies were completed, a preacher at Lyon, then (1675) first superior of the residence of Paray-le-Monial; at the end of 1676 he was sent to the English court, as preacher to the Duchess of York, Mary Beatrice of Este. The alleged Titus Oates plot brought him imprisonment, from which he was freed through the intervention of the French ambassador and exiled. He returned to Paray, where death overtook him.

His name is linked to the propagation of devotion to the Sacred Heart, of which he had received the charge, through the revelations made to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque on 16 June 1675; he had approved the spirituality of the Saint and the reality of the divine messages in the face of the disapproval of many, and he accepted the charge with all enthusiasm, consecrating himself at once to the Sacred Heart and spreading devotion to it among those he directed. Although he had, for reasons of health, to leave Paray-le-Monial, he nevertheless remained there, in accordance with the famous note of the Saint: "He [Jesus] has told me that he wants the sacrifice of your life here."

There were published posthumously his Sermons prechez devant son Altesse Royale, Madame la Duchesse d'York (3 vols., Lyon 1684; increased to 4 in the 2nd ed., ibid. 1687; Italian tr., Venice 1707 and Turin 1913); La retraite spirituelle (ibid. 1684); Le lettres spirituelles (2 vols., ed. by P. Charrier, Grenoble 1902, Italian tr., Milan 1907). All these works had many editions and translations.