Saint’s Life Story

His Early Life

Claude was born on February 2, 1641 in the city of Saint-Symphorien-d’Ozon, then in the ancient Province of Dauphiné, in southeastern France near Lyons. He was the third child of six born to the notary Bertrand de la Colombière and Margaret Coindat in a noble and very devout family. Claude’s young years were happy ones, as he was close to his family and friends, leading an active social life. After the family moved to Vienne, Claude began his early education there, completing his secondary studies in rhetoric and philosophy in Lyon, France.

Jesuit Novitiate

Brilliant in his studies, Claude overcame a temporary revulsion against religious life and entered the Novitiate of the Society of Jesus in Avignon at the age of 17. In 1660, he moved from the Novitiate to the College, also in Avignon, where he pronounced his first vows and completed his studies in philosophy.

Studies in Paris

After completing his studies, Claude became a priest and professor, teaching grammar, literature, and humanities in Avignon, France at the same school. In 1666, Claude was sent to Paris, France to study theology at the College de Clermont. Already noted for his tact, poise and dedication to the humanities, Claude was assigned by superiors in Paris the additional responsibility of tutoring the children of King Louis XIV’s finance minister, Jean Baptiste Colbert.

Ordained

In 1669, Claude was ordained a priest and was initially assigned to teach at his former school in Lyon for the next five years. A true companion of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Claude learned to master his strong sensitivity. He humbly maintained a sense of “his wretchedness” so as to rely only on his hope in God and his trust in grace.

Then, Claude was assigned to join the preaching team of the Jesuit community, through which he gained notice for the clarity and soundness of his sermons. He preached passionately against Jansenism, a theological movement that emphasized the fallen nature of humanity and promoted strict adherence to moral laws.

Sermons

Claude became noted for solid and serious sermons. They were articulate and inspired from the gospel, communicating to his listeners serenity and confidence in God. His published sermons produced and still produce significant spiritual fruits. Given the place and the short duration of his ministry, his sermons are surprisingly fresh in comparison with those of better-known orators.

Paray-le-Monyal

On February  2, 1675, Claude was appointed the rector and Superior of the Jesuit community at Paray-le-Monial, in eastern France. This was a surprise and decidedly disproportionate, in terms of size, importance and geographical location, to the fame he had acquired and the gifts that everyone recognized he had. Here, he also became the spiritual director of the nuns of the Monastery of the Visitation Sisters located next to the church.

Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

In Paray-le-Monyal, a nun, who in social class and culture is inferior to all the other sisters, was causing an uproar in the monastery of the Visitandine nuns in which she lived with her oddities and visions. This is how Claude came to know Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque. She felt isolated in her situation of having experienced a series of private revelations from Christ in which she felt she was being called to promote devotion to his Sacred Heart. In addition, Jesus promised Sister Margaret Mary Alacoque to send her “a faithful servant and perfect friend”, who would support and encourage her.

As their confessor in the community, Claude began to hear the confessions of the sisters. Saint Margaret Mary approached Claude, insisting that Jesus had appeared to her and indicated that Claude should give her spiritual direction. More than a little skeptical, Father Claude replied, “If Jesus appears to you again, you go back and ask him what the last mortal sin was that I confessed. If you can tell me that, then I’ll be your spiritual director.”

As it turned out, Saint Margaret Mary did see Jesus again, and asked him that very question. According to Sister Bethany Madonna of the Sisters of Life, who recounted this story in a talk, Jesus simply looked at her and said three words:

“I don’t remember.”

Spiritual Director

Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque felt that she had finally found a priest in whom she could truly confide and opened up her heart to him. Later, she wrote that she saw that Claude’s spiritual gift “was that of bringing souls to God along the Gospel way of love and mercy which Christ revealed to us”.

After speaking with her a number of times and after much prayer, as a result, Claude was convinced of the validity of her visions. He became both her supporter and a zealous first apostle of the devotion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, accepting with docility and enthusiasm the role that Heaven had assigned him.

In hindsight, this led to the supposition that his superiors assigned Claude, a talented young Jesuit, to this remote location having Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in mind in making this new assignment.

His Writings

Claude left a large number of writings. His principal works, Pious Reflections, Meditations on the Passion, and Retreat and Spiritual Letters, were published under the title, Oeuvres du R.P. Claude La Colombière (Avignon, 1832; Paris, 1864). In addition, Claude wrote Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence and this version was translated from French to English by Father Jean-Pierre de Caussade.

Claude’s absolute confidence in God is “eloquently expressed” in his prayer entitled:

An Act of Hope and Confidence in God  that starts:

“My God, I believe most firmly that You watch over all who hope in You,
and that we can want for nothing when we rely upon You in all things;
therefore I resolve to have no anxieties about the future
and to cast all my cares upon You.”

London, England

After a year and half in Paray-le-Monyal, in 1676, Claude was sent to London, almost as a missionary in a foreign land. He had been appointed preacher to the Mary Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of York. This was a very difficult and delicate assignment because of the Protestant environment at the time, making his English stay conditions extremely bitter. In October, Claude took up residence in St. James Palace, where he still observed all his religious duties as a Jesuit.

And even if there were great dangers, he had the consolation of seeing many reconciled to it, so that after a year he said: “I could write a book about the mercy of God I’ve seen Him exercise since I arrived here!”

He was also as active a preacher and confessor in England as he had been in France. Although encountering many difficulties, Claude was able to guide Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque by letter.

Arrested and Imprisoned

Claude’s zeal and the English climate soon combined to weaken his health and a pulmonary condition threatened to end his work in that country. In November 1678, while awaiting a recall to France, Claude was suddenly arrested. He was thrown into prison, denounced as being a part of the Popish Plot alleged by Titus Oates against the English throne.

After two days he was transferred to the severe King’s Bench Prison where he remained for three weeks in extremely poor conditions until his expulsion and banishment from England by royal decree. This suffering further weakened Claude’s health which, with ups and downs, deteriorated rapidly on his return to France. In 1679, thanks to his position at the Royal Court and to the protection of the King of France, Louis XIV, whose subject he was, Claude escaped death but was expelled from England.

His Death

During the summer of 1681, Claude returned to Paray-le-Monyal, in very poor condition. On February 15, 1682 at the age of just 41, the first Sunday of Lent, in Paray-le-Monial, Saône-et-Loire, France, Claude suffered the severe hemorrhage from hemoptysis (coughing up blood) which ended his life. To those who mourned him, Saint Margaret said: “Stop grieving. Invoke him with all your confidence, for he can help us”.

In 1994 Pope Saint John Paul II proclaimed a saint Father Claudio La Colombière, a “master of enlightened spirituality”, whom God himself had chosen to make known “the inscrutable riches” of the Heart of Christ in his Homily at the Canonization Mass for Saint Claude.

Born:                   February 2, 1641 in Saint-Symphorien d’Ozon, Rhône, France

Died:                   February 15, 1682 age 41 in Paray-le-Monial, Saône-et-Loire, France

Beatified:           June 16, 1929 by Pope Pius XI

Canonized:        May 31, 1992 by Pope John Paul II

Feast Day:          February 15

Patron Saint:     Sculptors; Toy Makers

Source:

• • America Needs Fatima – Saint Claude La Colombière
  • CatholicSaints.Info » Saint Claude de la Colombiere
  • St. Claude de Colombière and the Lord’s Radical Forgiveness| National Catholic Register by Matthew Sewell
  • Saint Claude De La Colombiere – Saint for a Minute: Saints & Blesseds
  • Saint Claudius de La Colombière – Santi e Beati (translated from Italian)
  • Claude La Colombière, S.I. (1641-1682) – biography – Vatican
  • Claude La Colombière – Wikipedia

Prayers

Video Link

Saint of the Week: St. Claude de la Colombière – YouTube Video (The True Enlightenment!)