A Holy Week Every Week: Weekday Meditations by St. John Eudes

"Among spiritual giants towers the figure of St. John Eudes." - Ven. Fulton J. Sheen

In December 2016, Pope Francis accelerated a process to proclaim St. John Eudes a Doctor of the Church. In a few years he may be christened "Doctor Cordis" (the Doctor of the Heart), using the title given him by Pope St. Pius X: "the Father, Doctor, and Apostle of Devotion to the Hearts of Jesus & Mary."

This series is an introduction to his spirituality, widely available in English for virtually the first time.

In this little volume, St. John Eudes helps us contemplate the life of Christ, both hidden and revealed, within the natural progression of our week. He tells us: "The holy exercise of prayer must be considered one of the chief foundations of Christian life. The whole life of Jesus Christ was a perpetual prayer which we must continue and express in our lives."

According to this great saint, prayer can be expressed in ways that go beyond words. This is what his weekday meditations seek to show us. We "pray without ceasing" when every action in our lives is united to the life of Christ. Jesus performed the most mundane acts in a perfect and divine way. When we are imitators of Jesus, our actions themselves become "a fragrant offering to God." (Eph 5:2, also 2 Cor 2:15, Phil 4:18)

The meditations designed to bring us to this point of mystical union include:

- The First Moment of the Temporal Life of Jesus (p.4)
- The Hidden Life of Jesus (p.8)
- The Life of Jesus in Mary and that of Mary in Jesus (p.14)

Check out our other prayerbooks on Amazon, as well as a short biography titled A Heart on Fire: St. John Eudes, Model of the New Evangelization.

"John Eudes: an outstanding man. The sanctity of his life gave a shining example of holiness, not only in his lasting service to humanity but in his illustrious zeal for the salvation of souls." - Pope St. Pius X

Born during France's "Golden Age of Saints" in the 17th century, he took part in a wave of new evangelization in France alongside Sts. Francis de Sales, Vincent de Paul, Margaret Mary Alacoque, and many others.

He founded lasting institutions like The Congregation of Jesus and Mary (the Eudists) to train priests in seminaries and continue his work of evangelization; the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd (the Good Shepherd Sisters) to care for repentant prostitutes and other victims of human trafficking); and he left his mark on many other orders like the Little Sisters of the Poor, and Mother Antonia Brenner's Eudist Servants of the 11th Hour.