Eudes, Jean

Eudes, Jean founder of the congregation called the Eudists, was born at Rye, Normandy, November 14, 1601, and died at Caen, August 19, 1680. At 14

he commenced his studies under the Jesuits at Caen, entered the Congregation of the Oratory in 1623, and was ordained priest in 1625. From 1627 to 1632 he was engaged in missionary labors among the plague-stricken people of Normandy, and in 1642 he became superior of the Congregation of the Oratory at Caen. Much of his time was spent in missions throughout France to reform the clergy. In 1643 he organized a new society, which took the name "Eudists," or the "Congregation of Jesus and Mary," and soon had numerous branches in France. Its members were devoted to the education of young candidates for the priesthood, and to "missions" (in the Roman Catholic sense) among the clergy. Eudes wrote a number of books of devotion. The Eudists were scattered at the Revolution, but were revived by the abbe Blanchard in 1826. They have a college, called St. Gabriel's, in the State of Indiana.