RENTY, Gaston-Jean-Baptiste, Baron de. - Lay apostle and ascetic, b. in the castle of Bény (near Bayeux) in 1611, d. in Paris on 24 April 1649. As a young man he wanted to become a Carthusian; but in obedience to his parents he embraced a military career and distinguished himself in the wars of Lorraine.
From 1658 he withdrew from court life; he then composed Le cosmographe ou introduction facile à la cosmographie (Paris 1639) and a Traité de la fortification (ibid. 1639). Most pious and penitent, he soon devoted himself entirely to religious activities, as an active member (from 1658) and superior (several times) of the Company of the Most Blessed Sacrament (v.). He organized assistance to the poor Catholic English refugees in France. Following the example of H. M. Buch (v.), he instituted confraternities of artisans, especially of shoemakers (1645) and of tailors (1647), who lived united as the first Christians did and pooled all their earnings, giving to the poor whatever exceeded what was necessary for their subsistence. Several of these confraternities of tailors and shoemakers lasted until the Revolution.
A disciple, in ascetics, of Bérulle and of Condren, he was one of the founders of devotion to the Child Jesus. He had many missions carried out in the provinces at his own expense. His biography, written by Saint-Jure, is a treatise on the spirit of spiritual childhood.
Bibliography4 worksJ.-B. St.-Jure, Le vie de Monsieur de R. ou le modèle d'un parfait chrétien, Paris 1651; M. Souriau, Deux mystiques normands au XVIIe siècle
BIBL.: J.-B. St.-Jure, Le vie de Monsieur de R. ou le modèle d'un parfait chrétien, Paris 1651; M. Souriau, Deux mystiques normands au XVIIe siècle, ibid. 1913; H. Bremond, Histoire littéraire du sentiment religieux en France, III, Paris 1923, pp. 524-531; A. Bessières, G. de R. et Henry Buch, ibid. 1931.
Renaud, Ferdinando. “Renty, gaston-jean-baptiste, barone di.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. X, col. 780. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1953. https://azioneromana.com/article/renty-gaston-jean-baptiste-barone-di.
MLA
Renaud, Ferdinando. “Renty, gaston-jean-baptiste, barone di.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. X, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1953, col. 780. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/renty-gaston-jean-baptiste-barone-di.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec10_renty_gaston_jean_baptiste_bar,
author = {Renaud, Ferdinando},
title = {Renty, gaston-jean-baptiste, barone di},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {X},
pages = {780},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1953},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/renty-gaston-jean-baptiste-barone-di}
}
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