GIOVANNI EUDES, saint. - B. at Ri in Normandy on 14 Nov. 1601, d. at Caen on 19 Aug. 1680. Educated at the Jesuit College of Caen, he formed his religious vocation under the guidance of Card. De Bérulle. Ordained priest in 1625, he undertook the apostolic ministry. As superior of the Oratory at Caen, he was entrusted by the bishops of Normandy with preaching missions throughout the region.
To the ministry of the word he joined that of the pen, with numerous ascetical publications, such as La vie et le royaume de Jésus dans les âmes chrétiennes (Caen, 1637). In order to provide France with a clergy worthy of its mission, he founded the Congregation of Jesus and Mary and, in order to improve the condition of fallen women, founded the Order of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge (v.). He was the apostle of devotion to the Most Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and introduced it into the sacred liturgy with a proper Office and Mass, composed by himself and approved by ecclesiastical authorities. To the attacks of the Jansenists against this devotion he replied with various writings, the most important of which is Le Coeur admirable de la Mère de Dieu (Caen, 1680). Beatified by Pius X on 25 Apr. 1909, he was canonized by Pius XI on 31 May 1925. His feast is celebrated on 19 Aug.
Works: Oeuvres complètes, 12 vols., Paris, 1905–11; Oeuvres choisies, 8 vols., ibid., 1931–37.