John Eudes

John Eudes was a French Catholic priest who lived from 1601 to 1680 and founded both the Order of Our Lady of Charity in 1641 and the Congregation of Jesus and Mary, known as the Eudists, in 1643, having also been a professed member of the Oratory of Jesus until that year. He authored the propers for the Mass and Divine Office of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary and was an ardent proponent of both devotions, compiling and celebrating Masses for them within his own lifetime despite opposition from the Jansenists. He preached missions across France, including Paris and Versailles, earning recognition as a popular evangelist and confessor and writing prolifically on the Sacred Hearts. He was canonized in 1925, and his supporters have since petitioned to have him named a Doctor of the Church.