Aug 19th - Jean (John) Eudes

We honor many saints for the effort they put forth during times of crisis. Church Fathers, Doctors, martyrs...they all have helped to build the Church we have. In the West, the Reformation is a seminal event and many whom we honor kept the course during that turbulent and often violent time through love. Though we may not recognize his name, John Eudes is one of those people. John sought to focus both the laity and the clergy with wisdom and practicality. He narrowed and focused by reminding people that Jesus is the source of holiness and that we can be successful as shown to us in Mary, the model of the Christian life.
"Over and over again in the lives of the saints we find the Church sick and corrupt. Perhaps it must always be so, journeying in a fallen world and staffed by sinners who are as fallen as the rest of us and subject to worse temptations. And over and over again we find God’s grace acting through people like St John Eudes. They do not stand outside and complain or run campaigns, they go in and do things, removing the mold of worldly corruption and putting back, bit by bit, the leaven of grace. They will always be needed, until the world ends." (From "About Today" on Universalis.com)
Let us seek out the aid and prayers of John Eudes during times of crisis in our lives and especially in the Church.

---

The first verse contains only four Latin words, Magnificat anima mea Dominum, but they are words imbued with great mysteries. Let us weigh them carefully and devoutly; let us consider them attentively, in a spirit of humility, piety, and respect, in order that we may be inspired, like the Blessed Virgin, to magnify God for the great and marvelous things that He wrought in her and through her, on her behalf and for us as well. Here is the first word: Magnificat. What does this word mean? What does it mean to magnify God? Is it possible to magnify one whose grandeur and magnificence are immense, infinite, and incomprehensible? Not at all; such a thing is impossible - impossible for God Himself, Who cannot make Himself greater than He already is. We cannot magnify God, that is, make Him greater in Himself, since His divine perfections are infinite and therefore cannot be increased in themselves, but we can magnify Him in ourselves. "Every holy soul," says St. Augustine, "can conceive the eternal Word within himself by means of faith. He can engender God in other souls by preaching the divine Word, But he can magnify His creator by loving Him so truly that he too may say: 'My soul magnifies the Lord.'" (Sermon on the Assumption) "To magnify the Lord," continues St. Augustine, "is to adore, praise, and exalt His immense grandeur, His supreme majesty, His infinite excellence and perfections." We can magnify God in several ways: first of all, by our thoughts, having a most exalted idea of God and the highest esteem for Him as well as for all things of God; secondly, by our devotion, loving God with all our hearts and above all things; thirdly, by our words, always speaking with the most profound respect of God and all things pertaining to Him, and by adoring and praising His infinite power, His incomprehensible wisdom, His immense goodness and His other perfections; fourthly, by our actions, always performing them solely for the glory of God; fifthly, by practicing what the Holy Spirit teaches us in these words: "Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find mercy in the sight of God. For great is the power of the Lord; by the humble he is glorified." (Sirach 3:18,20)

-- From The Admirable Heart Of Mary, Chapter 3 (my emphasis)