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Saint Claude de la Colombiere
Saint Claude de la Colombiere

Saint Claude de la Colombiere

Feast Day
Feb 15, 2013
Patronage
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<p>St. Claude de la Colombiere was born near Vienne in 1641.&nbsp; He entered the Society of Jesus in 1659, and after fifteen years of religious life in the Jesuits, he made a vow as a means of attaining the utmost possible perfection, to observe faithfully the Rule and constitutions of his order under penalty of sin.&nbsp; Those who lived with him attested that this vow was kept with great exactitude.&nbsp; He was a good holy Priest and confessor, as well as a spiritual director to many. &nbsp;</p> <p>Claude was made Superior at the Jesuit house at Paray-le-Monial in 1674, where he became the spiritual director of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, and was then a zealous apostle of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.&nbsp; In 1676, he was sent to England as a preacher to Mary of Modena, Duchess of York &ndash; who became Queen of Great Britain.&nbsp; The official residence of the British Monarchy was the Court of St. James, and even there, St. Claude lived the life of a religious.&nbsp; He was as active a missionary in England, as he had been in France.&nbsp; Although he encountered many difficulties, he was still able to guide St. Margaret Mary by letter. &nbsp;</p> <p>St. Claude&rsquo;s zeal soon weakened his vitality and a throat and lung infirmity seemed to threaten his work as a preacher.&nbsp; While awaiting his recall to France, he was suddenly arrested and thrown into prison, denounced as a conspirator against the English throne.&nbsp; Thanks to his title &ldquo;Preacher to the Duchess of York&rdquo; and to the protection of the King of France &ndash; Louis XIV, who knew Claude, was he able to escape death but was condemned to exile in 1679.&nbsp;</p> <p>The last two years of his life were spent at Lyon where he was spiritual director to the young Jesuits, and at Paray-le-Monial, where he returned to improve his health.&nbsp; His principal works including &ldquo;Pious Reflections&rdquo;, &ldquo;Meditations of the Passion&rdquo;, &ldquo;Retreat and Spiritual Letters&rdquo; were published under the title, &ldquo;Oeuvres du R. P. Claude de la Colombiere, in Avignon in 1832, and Paris is 1864.&nbsp; He died on February 15, 1682 at the age of 41.&nbsp; He was beatified by Pope Pius XI on June 16, 1929, and canonized by Pope John Paul II on May 31, 1992.&nbsp; His relics are preserved in the Jesuit Church around the corner from the Monastery of the Visitation Nuns at Paray-le-Monial. &nbsp;</p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Practical Take Away&nbsp;</strong></span></p> <p>St. Claude de le Colombiere was born near Vienne in 1641.&nbsp; He was a holy man that studied and became a Priest with the Jesuit Order.&nbsp; He practiced heroic virtues in adhering to the Rules of his Order, and wanted to obtain the highest level of perfection possible.&nbsp; He became the Spiritual Director to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.&nbsp; He was sent to England as a preacher to Mary of Modena, Duchess of York &ndash; who became Queen of Great Britain.&nbsp; He eventually spent the last two years of his life as spiritual director to the young Jesuit Priests back in his motherhouse in France.&nbsp; He died at the age of 41.&nbsp; Pope John Paul II canonized him on May 31, 1992. &nbsp;</p>