| He joined the
religious community of the Oratorians and was ordained a priest
at 24. During severe plagues in 1627 and 1631, he volunteered to
care for the stricken in his own diocese. Lest he infect his
fellow religious, he lived in a huge cask in the middle of a
field during the plague.
|
At age 32, John became
a parish missionary. His gifts as preacher and confessor won him
great popularity. He preached over 100 parish missions, some
lasting from several weeks to several months
|
|
In
his parish mission work, John was disturbed by the terrible
living conditions of prostitutes who sought to escape from their
circumstances and to lead a normal life. Temporary shelters were
found but arrangements were not satisfactory. A certain Madeleine
Lamy, who had cared for several of the women, one day said to
him, “Where are you off to now? |
To some church, I suppose,
where you’ll gaze at the images and think yourself pious. And
all the time what is really wanted of you is a decent house for
these poor creatures.”
The words, and the laughter of those
present, struck deeply within him. The result was another new
religious community, called the Sisters of Charity of the Refuge.
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![[Saint John Eudes]](images/John_Eudes/hiv_ai1.gif "11kb gif drawing / clip art of Saint John Eudes, artist unknown; please do not write to ask about the image")