Claude La Colombière Sermons: Christian Conduct 9781501756887

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CLAUDE

LA

COLOMBIERE

SERMONS

Image appearing on the frontispiece of Volume 1 of Sermons prechez devant Son Altesse Roiale Madame Ia Duchesse d'Yorck. ParleR. P. Claude La Colombiere (Lyon: Anisson, Posuel, and Rigaud, 1684). Copy housed in the Rare Books Collection, John M. Kelly Library, University of St. Michael's College in the University of Toronto (BX1756 .L22 1684 v.1-4 SMR). Used with permission.

CLAUDE LA COLOMBIERE SERMONS ~

T

VoLUME

CHRISTIAN

I

CONDUCT

Translated with Commentary by William P. O'Brien

FOREWORD BY GERARD FERREYROLLES

NIU Press I DeKalb, IL

© 2014 by Northern Illinois University Press

Published by the Northern Illinois University Press, DeKalb, Illinois 60115 All Rights Reserved Design by Shaun Allshouse Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data La Colombiere, Claude de, Saint, 1641-1682. [Sermons. English] Claude La Colombiere sermons I translated with commentary by William P. O'Brien, Sj ; foreword by Gerard Ferreyrolles. volumes em Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-87580-472-9 (cloth: alk. paper: v. 1)- ISBN 978-1-60909-092-0 (e-book: v. 1) 1. Catholic Church-Sermons. 2. Sermons, French-Translations into English. I. O'Brien,

William P. (William Patrick), 1969-, editor of compilation. II. Title. BX1756.L23S4713 2013 252:02-dc23 2013014980

To my brother Jesuits

Contents

Foreword by Gerard Ferreyrolles Acknowledgments

ix

xi

Introduction xiii I-On the Flight from the World

3

2-0ne Should Serve Only One Master 3-0n Care for Salvation

26

4-0n Mortal Sin

38

5-0n Venial Sin

48

6-0n Conscience

59

7 -On the Relapse

71

8-0n the Vicious Habit 9-0n Confession

15

84

96

10-0n the Mercy of God toward the Sinner 11-0n Submission to the Will of God 12-0n Confidence in God Abbreviations Notes

136

147

151

Selected Bibliography

201

Index of Scriptural Passages Index of Proper Names General Index 223

207

219

111

124

Foreword GERARD FERREYROLLES Universite Paris-Sorbonne

La Colombiere is "the ideal Jesuit:' In this way Henri Bremond expressed himself in 1922, in his monumental His to ire litteraire du sentiment religieux. By thus expressing his own judgment, he anticipated that of the Catholic Church, who went on to proclaim La Colombiere "blessed" in 1929, then "saint" in 1992, in recognition of both the exceptional character of his virtues and his decisive role in the promotion, during the seventeenth century, of the Devotion to the Heart of Jesus. But by "ideal Jesuit" it must be understood also that La Colombiere realized in his person the humanist ideal that the Society of Jesus, expert in eloquence as in spirituality, worked to spread in the colleges of France and Europe in order to form, in accord with the dictum of Cicero, a vir bonus, dicendi peritus-a "good man, skilled at speaking:' That La Colombiere was a "good man;' not only in the sense of natural morality but in the higher, Christian meaning, no one has ever doubted; that he was "skilled at speaking;' Fr. O'Brien permits us, by this edition, to assess how far this expression falls short of the truth. Fr. O'Brien, since his doctoral studies at the Sorbonne, where I had the good fortune and the honor to accompany him in his research, is the foremost expert of La Colombiere as orator. He indeed dedicated, in 2008, his dissertation in French Literature to the connections between rhetoric and spirituality in La Colombiere's corpus, and especially in three discourses delivered in 1665, 1671, and 1672, in praise of the panegyrist, the age of Augustus, and the French orator, respectively. These Latin discourses show in La Colombiere a supreme mastery of rhetorical technique and a virtuosity that verges on the spectacular. The texts that Fr. O'Brien translates in the present work issue from the same author, but they are at the same time altogether different. It is no longer a question of making the powers of eloquence shine for their own sake, in a pedagogical exercise of declamation, but of putting them at the service of God from the pulpit of Truth, in a preaching of which the sole end is the conversion of the listeners.

X

Foreword

La Colombiere evidently did not forget, when he preached these sermons in 1676, 1677, and 1678, what he had taught his students of rhetoric some years previously, just as Saint Augustine, preaching in his cathedral in Hippo, could not disown his past as professor of rhetoric at Carthage and Milan. And in fact, the texts chosen and presented by Fr. O'Brien are thoroughly those of a master of eloquence, as much on the level of rhetorical invention as on the levels of disposition and elocution. One could go even further and assert that La Colombiere, by his psychological lucidity and his sense of the paradoxical and demystifying turn of phrase, proves himself here the equal of the great moralists of the classical age. But he does not seek in his sermons to produce a literary oeuvre-and that may be why it attains such literary merit. He does better than to resist the temptation, denounced by Saint Paul in the work of certain preachers, to "preach himself" (se precher soi-meme) in order to attract the admiration of the crowds: La Colombiere preaches Jesus Christ and wants that his own word be nothing but the echo of the Word. Certainly, he resorts to all the rational and emotional means of persuasion, but he knows that these means are useless without that grace capable, with the help of our freedom, to render them effective. While human words echo in our ears, it is in us an invisible master who gives them access to our heart: the true preacher-that is, the Holy Spirit. Let us not say that the audience of great, worldly people that La Colombiere addressed is so different from us, or that his time is so far from ours. We recognize ourselves perfectly in the description he gives of the temptations or desires of his listeners. It suffices to read, by way of example, what he says about the bad habit, which he strikingly calls "a powerlessness that one wants" or "a free necessity;' for if it is easy to engage oneself in such habits it is nearly impossible to quit them. Is this not exactly what we name addiction, this practice into which one enters for pleasure and which then carries us away by force? And if the era of La Colombiere is distant, Fr. O'Brien, by the meticulousness of his lexical and historical notes-not to mention his invaluable scriptural and theological clarifications-brings within our reach these discourses delivered over three hundred years ago. Time passing changes nothing here: if the true preacher is the Holy Spirit, he continues to act through those who have lent him their voice. The texts of the saints are not a dead letter but a living word. And this is why one could not be too grateful to Fr. O'Brien: by passing on to us these intangible relics of Claude La Colombiere, he has opened to us a treasury for today.

Acknowledgments

This volume never would have appeared in print without the kind and generous help of numerous mentors, colleagues, and friends, first and foremost Professors Philippe U~crivain (Centre Sevres} and Gerard Ferreyrolles (Paris IV), the faculty of the Department of Theological Studies at Saint Louis University, and Fr. Jim Kubicki, National Director of the Apostleship of Prayer (USA), who first suggested to me that I consider providing English-language translations of Fr. La Colombiere's sermons. For the location of a complete first edition of the Sermons on this side of the Atlantic, I thank the following people and institutions: David Shahly, Director of the InterLibrary Loan Department, Pius Memorial Library, Saint Louis University; John Buchtel, Head, Special Collections Research Center, Lauinger Library, Georgetown University; Richard Carter, Reference and Instructional Librarian, John M. Kelly Library, University of St. Michael's College, University of Toronto; and his colleagues Gabrielle Earnshaw, Head, Special Collections and Archives, and Remi Pulwer, Academic Librarian. At my request, Ms. Earnshaw had transferred to microfilm the complete first edition of the Sermons that belongs to the Kelly Library Special Collections: I have based the translation on this document. Unfortunately, the integral Kelly Library copy of the first edition is missing the engraving of Fr. La Colombiere from the frontispiece; however, Ms. Earnshaw discovered in the Special Collections a second copy of the first volume, which copy includes the image. Ms. Earnshaw then digitalized that image for this edition, and Remi Pulwer later verified for me that the image indeed appears in this second copy. Ron Crown, Theology Reference Librarian, Pius Memorial Library, facilitated many of these contacts and operations, all of which have provided the material basis for the book that you hold in your hands. For technical help, including the checking out of ideas, location of sources, and correction of the manuscript in terms of content, I thank Ben Asen; John Deely; Carl Dehne; Mary Dunn; Harvey Egan; Gerard Ferreyrolles; Scott Granowski; Jay Hammond; Sr. Catherine Therese Hubert, VHM; Sr. Jeanne Charlotte Johnson, VHM; Tom Krettek; Mark Lewis; John Markey;

xii

Acknowledgments

Peter Martens; Michael McClymond; David Meconi; Viviane MellinghoffBourgerie; Geoff Miller; Lloyd Moote; Bryan Norton; John O'Malley; Louis Pascoe; Claude Pavur; Julie Riley; Louis Roy; David Shocklee; Corrine Smith; Nicolas Steeves; Eleonore Stump; Kasia Sullivan; Tobias Winright; and Tom Worcester. Special thanks to Wendy Mayer for tracking down and commenting on a number of references to the writings of John Chrysostom-a kindness occasioned by yet another kindness: that of Cornelia Horn, who first put me in contact with Wendy. In the notes I present Wendy's judgments regarding-and in some cases, translations of-the Chrysostom material. Special thanks go also to my research assistant, Elissa Cutter, for helping to establish the text, looking up references and secondary sources, proofreading the translation, creating the indexes, and performing a number of other essential tasks. On a related note, the hero's award goes to Bill Harmless, who voluntarily reviewed, corrected, and updated the patristic citations, and who graciously put himself on call for my many related questions. While the present volume owes any academic rigor to the efforts of these generous people, I take full responsibility for any remaining errors. For the correction of the manuscript in terms of form, I am particularly grateful to Karen Clauser; Mother M. Regina Pacis Coury, FSGM; Carl Dehne; Harvey Egan; Garth Hallett; Sr. Catherine Therese Hubert, VHM; Sr. M. Anne Maskey, FSGM; Fred McLeod; George Murphy; Steve Schoenig; Sr. M. Rita Severson, FSGM; Kasia Sullivan; and Tom Worcester. I especially would like to thank Bernie Owens, who read an early draft of the manuscript through from start to finish, and Benjamin Parviz, who cheerfully sacrificed several summer days to help me check the page proofs. Just as these people deserve credit for anything that may come across well in this volume, I again will answer for any oversights that remain. For the publication of the text, I thank the Editorial Staff at the Northern Illinois University Press and their collaborators, in particular Shaun Allshouse, Susan Bean, Amy Farranto, Julia Fauci, and Judith Robey, for their support of the project and for seeing it through to completion. I also thank those scholars who reviewed both the proposal and the final manuscript before publication. Their suggestions and encouragement have directed my work and have made this a much better book. In closing, a word of gratitude for the Visitation Sisters of Philadelphia, who invited me to preside at a novena in honor of the Sacred Heart in June and July 2011. Given the close relationship between Fr. La Colombiere and the Visitation, I feel particularly indebted for the friendship and commitment of these women-religious daughters of Saint Francis de Sales and Saint Jeanne de Chantal, whose spirit continues to animate them just as it influenced the composition of these sermons over three hundred twenty-five years ago. Thanks go finally to my brother Jesuits-including Fr. La Colombierewho have inspired me with their patience, generosity, and integrity.

Introduction

Devotion to the Sacred Heart has played a major role in modern Catholic culture. For evidence, one need only consider the number of churches, institutions, and publications named either for the Sacred Heart or for Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-90), the nun whose visions ofJesus launched a renewal of this devotion in late seventeenth-century France. 1 Yet her experience might have gone unnoticed by all but the members of her own religious community had she not met a sympathetic confessor, the Jesuit priest Claude La Colombiere (1641-82), whose superior had sent him to direct a grade school in Paray-le-Monial, the town where Margaret Mary lived. Claude met Margaret Mary shortly after arriving in Paray, and in the course of their conversations grew convinced of the authenticity of her unusual prayer experiences. Claude's approval in turn gave Margaret Mary's superiors reason to take her seriously, and her practice of the devotion began to spread. Not surprisingly, Claude himself gained a reputation for promoting devotion to the Sacred Heart under this new form. Such titles as "apostle of the Sacred Heart" often appear associated with his name, and his retreat notes include a prayer of consecration to the Sacred Heart. 2 Claude was born February 2, 1641, in the French town of Saint-Symphorien-d'Ozon, located between Lyon and Vienne in what is today the Rhone department in the central-eastern region of Rh6ne-Alps. 3 His paternal ancestry traces back to Gaude, a fourteenth-century nobleman who served as secretary of the Duke of Burgundy. The family home of the Gaudes, named "La Colombiere;' in turn gave the family its surname. In addition, Claude's ancestors had worked for generations as civil law notaries, further contributing to his mystique as a man of privilege who died a martyr-victim at the age of forty-one. 4 While these considerations have fueled popular devotion to him, culminating in his beatification (June 16, 1929) and canonization (May 31, 1992) by the Roman Catholic Church, they at times have eclipsed appreciation for his qualities as a literary figure. Between 1684 and 1697, there appeared five successive French-language editions of his pulpit oratory, which included one funeral address, ten meditations on the Passion of Jesus, and some seventy-eight sermons, relating to feasts of the liturgical cycle and a wide variety of religious

xiv

Introduction

themes. 5 Claude preached primarily in the church of the Jesuit College in Lyon (1673-74) and before Mary of Modena (1658-1718), then Duchess of York, in post-Restoration London (1676-78). Unfortunately, we have neither manuscripts of the sermons nor records of exactly who prepared the sermons for publication, apart from an early indication that Claude certainly could not have edited them himself. Nevertheless, the appearance of multiple editions of the sermons in the space of only thirteen years indicates a sustained interest in Claude among his contemporaries and grounds his reputation as a master of Christian eloquence. 6

I

Preaching during Claude's lifetime developed under a variety of influences, most notably the thematic sermons of the late medieval period and the humanistic retrieval of classical letters during the Renaissance. 7 As a student at Jesuit institutions, known as colleges, Claude received an education in this literary tradition following the systematic approach that Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), the founder of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, had encountered during his time in Paris. 8 In 1599 the Society formally adopted a Ratio studiorum or "plan of study" for training its members. 9 A Jesuit began this structured course with three years of classical grammar followed by a year each of humanities and Ciceronian rhetoric. Taking Aristotle as his guide, the student then would progress to the study of philosophy and metaphysics, which in turn would serve as the foundation for learning Thomistic theology. These three levels correspond roughly to what we know today as grade school, high school, and university or even graduate study. By the end of the program, the man would have acquired the ability to speak about God convincingly and with some degree of eloquence and theological sophistication in a variety of contexts, including the pulpit. The literary conventions within which Claude composed his sermons thus derive mostly from his formation in classical letters, above all the rhetoric of Cicero. 10 In October of 1650, at the age of nine, Claude entered Our Lady of Good Help, the Jesuit grammar school in Lyon, the building of which today houses the city hall of the fifth arrondissement. The Jesuits had established the school in 1628 to handle overflow from the larger College of the Holy Trinity, for which they had assumed responsibility in 1564. Together these institutions offered a complete classical education following the program outlined in the Ratio. Upon completing his grammar studies at Our Lady of Good Help, Claude moved in the fall of 1653 to the College of the Holy Trinity, located on the other side of the Saone

Introduction

XV

River. 11 There he took one year of humanities and two of rhetoric, the latter consisting of a year each of eloquence and poetics. Upon finishing these studies Claude entered the second course, consisting of two years of philosophy, which covered physics, mathematics, and logic. During these five years he met Jean Papon (1605-72), who functioned as his student monitor and later would serve as his novice master, and Fran