Confessor and confidant of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, St. Claude de La Colombière was chosen by God to spread love and confidence, through devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In the year 1675, a new superior was assigned to the Jesuit house in Paray-le-Monial. Being also designated as the extraordinary confessor of the nearby Visitation nuns, he went to pay a visit to the superior, Mother de Saumaise, placing himself at the disposal of the convent. The superior presented the entire community to him and while the priest addressed a few words to the nuns encouraging the practice of heroic virtue, one of them, Sister Margaret Mary Alacoque, heard an interior voice say to her:
“He is the one I sent you.”
This nun had only been in the Congregation for a few years, yet had been favoured by the Sacred Heart with numerous visions and revelations. At that period, however, she was suffering a crisis of distress and doubt, since her superiors and some ecclesiastical authorities were dismissing her as a “visionary”, leading her to question whether she had fallen victim to delusion or deception of the devil.
But Our Lord had promised her: “I will send you My faithful servant and perfect friend.” 1 This was Father Claude de La Colombière whom Jesus was sending to St. Margaret Mary at that hour to confirm “in her way and to make her a partaker of the special graces of His Sacred Heart.” 2
Formation in schools of the Company
Little is known of the childhood of Father de La Colombière. He was born on February 2, 1641, in the village of Saint Symphorien, but at age nine he moved with his family to Vienna, where he received First Communion from the Benedictines of Saint Andrés-le-Bas who also sowed into his heart the first seeds of an ardent devotion to the Holy Eucharist.
Shortly after arriving in the city, he began studying grammar with the Jesuit fathers, and, three years later, moved to Lyon, to take up Humanities at the Jesuit college. It was also in this city, in which he lived for five years, that he became acquainted with the work of the great Francis de Sales, through the Sisters of the Visitation of Bellecour, in whose convent the holy founder had died.
At age seventeen while spending his holidays with his parents, Claude made the decision to become a Jesuit. Of a reserved nature, somewhat shy and very affectionate, it cost him to leave his family. Yet, he did so willingly and completely, understanding that true happiness consists in giving oneself to God with an exclusive love.
He would later affirm: “Jesus Christ promised to give a recompense of one hundredfold, and I can say that I never did anything without receiving, not just one hundredfold, but a thousand times more than what I gave up.” 3
From novitiate to priesthood
Claude entered the novitiate in Avignon in 1658. There he alternated between trials and joys, periods of aridity and of profuse light. Two years later, he made his first vows and, having finished his course of Philosophy, went to teach in the Jesuit college, as stipulated by the rules, before continuing his studies for the priesthood.
Due to his great intellectual capacity, literary talent and preaching style, in 1666, the Superior General sent him to study Theology in the College of Clermont, in Paris. There he proved himself as an eminent orator and distinguished professor of rhetoric. His academic prowess and spotless example of religious life merited him the office of tutor to the sons of Colbert, the famous Controller-General of Finances of Louis XIV. This required him to frequent court settings, where he made many friends and showed great talent, fine manners and superior culture, and distinguished himself for his strong principles and outstanding virtue.
The Third Trial
On April 6, 1669, Claude received holy orders and five years later, the moment arrived for what St. Ignatius called the “School of Affection.”
The founder’s wisdom perceived that long years of study, teaching and ministry could lead to a waning of the first fervour among his spiritual sons from contamination from worldly aspirations or from sentiments of vainglory due to success. Therefore, he established that every Jesuit should undergo another period of novitiate, also called the Third Trial, before professing solemn vows. During this time, under the paternal guidance of an instructor, the religious would take stock of his life, and aim at detaching himself from all human concerns, in order to let himself be led entirely by divine light.
Father Claude spent this term at St. Joseph House in Lyon, and at this time made a private vow to perfectly fulfil the rules of the Institute, “without exceptions,” pledging to joyfully accept the orders of Holy Obedience and to break, once and for all, the chains of self-love. At the same time, he also unreservedly consolidated interior confidence in divine mercy, indispensible for remaining faithful to the resolutions made in favour of his personal sanctification as well as that of others.
This period of solitude and recollection also detached him from all human relationships, to which he was extremely sensitive, leaving Our Lord as his sole and true friend: “My Jesus […] I am certain to be loved, if I love Thee. […] As miserable as I may be, do not withdraw Thy friendship from me for anyone nobler, more cultured, or holier than I.” 4
Before completing the stipulated time he was admitted to solemn vows at age 34, on February 2, 1675. Soon afterwards, he received the office of superior of the Jesuit house in Paray-le-Monial. His soul was ideally forged for the great mission that awaited him.
Three hearts united forever
Little did Father de La Colombière know what he would find in this small town, but his superiors, privy to the visions of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and the furor they had sparked, chose him precisely for his balance of soul. Father Claude was consummately capable of upholding the proper criteria in face of controversy within and without the convent.
Indeed, not swayed by unfavourable criticisms and judgements, he soon discerned the hand of God in the visions of Sister Margaret Mary Alacoque and reassured and supported her, receiving in return, messages and favours from the Divine Master.
One of these took place one day during a Mass celebrated for the community. When the nun went up to receive Holy Communion she saw the Sacred Heart of Jesus as a burning furnace and two other hearts being absorbed into It: that of Father de La Colombière and her own, while she heard these words: “It is thus My pure love unites these three hearts forever. This union is destined for the glory of my Sacred Heart. I desire that you discover these treasures; he will help you to know their value and benefits. Therefore, be as brother and sister, sharing equally these spiritual goods.” 5
She hastened to transmit this to the priest and afterwards described his reaction. “The profound humility and gratitude with which he received this message and several other things concerning himself, which I told him in the name of My Sovereign Master, touched me so much, that I profited more thereby than I would have done by all the sermons I might have heard. ” 6
Apostolate of confidence and rekindling fervour
In the short span of eighteen months in Paray-le-Monial, Father de La Colombière did perhaps more for souls than in all the previous years of his life.
France of that time was in the grip of Jansenism, which undermined the soul’s confidence in the goodness of Our Lord and His Blessed Mother, and drew the faithful away from the Sacraments, especially Holy Communion.
The apostolate of St. Claude through letters, preaching and spiritual guidance countered this current, promoting confidence in Mary and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, drawing many straying sheep back to the Saviour’s fold.
He united the Catholic gentry of the city by founding a Marian Congregation for nobles and bourgeois. He also reorganized one for the students of the Jesuit College. He restructured the hospital for pilgrims and indigents, and preached missions in the neighbouring villages, gathering abundant fruits of renewed fervour.
“Behold the Heart which has so loved men”
However, his greatest mission was to participate, by the design of Jesus, in what is known as the “Great Revelation” made to St. Margaret Mary, on a day within the Octave of Corpus Christi in 1675, while she prayed before the Blessed Sacrament: the spreading of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as well as the institution of His feast and the consecration of reparation.
With the following words, the saint transcribed the famous words spoken by Our Lord, while He showed her His Divine Heart: “Behold this Heart, Which has loved men so much, that It has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming Itself, in order to testify to them Its love; and in return, I receive from the greater number nothing but ingratitude, by reason of their irreverence and sacrileges, and by the coldness and contempt which they show Me in this Sacrament of Love. But what I feel the most keenly is that it is hearts which are consecrated to Me, that treat Me thus.” 7
Our Lord then asked her to have the first Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christ consecrated as a special feast to honour His Heart, with a solemn public act and Communions of reparation. He added the formal promise to grant abundant spiritual favours to those who practice this devotion.
When the religious replied that she knew not how to accomplish what He desired of her, she received this reply: “Go to my servant Claude and tell him, on My behalf, that he should do everything possible to establish this devotion and thereby please my Divine Heart; that he should not become discouraged in face of the obstacles he encounters, because there will be no shortage of these, but he should understand that the one who does not confide in himself so as to only confide in Me, is all powerful.” 8
Accordingly, on the following Friday, St. Claude, St. Margaret and the community of the Visitation of Paray-le-Monial celebrated, for the first time, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, consecrating themselves entirely to Him.
Mission related to the Duchess of York
At the height of his activity in Paray-le-Monial, Father de La Colombière received orders to leave for London, to serve as chaplain of the Duchess of York, Mary of Modena, a fervent Catholic who would only consent to marry the Duke, brother of Charles II, after securing authorization from the English government to always have a priest at hand.
Through the holy seer, the Heart of Jesus counselled St. Claude on how to undertake this new mission: do not be alarmed by the attack from hell against your charism to attract souls, but confide entirely in the goodness of God, because He will be your support; practice kindness and compassion toward sinners; be careful to never separate the good from its source. 9
When Saint Margaret Mary ventured afterward to reflect upon her loss, Our Lord reproved her: “What! Am I not sufficient for thee, I Who am thy beginning and thy last end? 10
For his part, St. Claude remained faithful to the vow and resolutions made during his Third Trial, keeping himself, “unreservedly” aloof from life at Court. As chaplain to the Duchess of York, he lived in St. James Palace, but maintained a life of deep recollection and mortification. He spent himself exclusively in promoting devotion to the Holy Eucharist and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, despite difficulties created by the hostility against the Church.
He eventually converted entire families and drew many members of London’s aristocracy to the consecrated life. Some of these he sent to religious institutions in France; others he gathered in a clandestine monastery in London itself, which he founded near St. Paul’s Cathedral.
It was around this time that Titus Oates unjustly accused the Jesuits and other members of the Church of plotting the assassination of Charles II, to replace him with his brother, the Duke of York, a convert to Catholicism. Although the king himself considered the complaint absurd, it triggered violent persecutions against Catholics, unjustly accused of having participated in the so-called “Popish plot”.
On this pretext St. Claude was denounced and imprisoned for the crime of religious proselytism, fulfilling a premonition of four years earlier, when he had seen himself “clad in irons and chains, and dragged to prison, accused and condemned for having preached Christ crucified.” 11
The deplorable conditions of the dungeon into which he had been cast eventually undermined his health—already weakened by incipient tuberculosis. He would surely have soon died there, had he not been liberated by intervention of Louis XIV.
The offering is accepted
He arrived back in France in mid-1679, his strength sapped. After a partial recuperation, he set out for the College of the Blessed Trinity, in Lyon, where he had long ago completed his first studies, to assume the office of spiritual director of the philosophy students. There, physically drained, he tirelessly spread devotion to the Divine Heart, defending it from numberless attacks and misunderstandings.
In the winter of 1681, he returned to Paray-le-Monial, where the climate seemed to restore his health somewhat. Yet, because of the intense cold of that season, it was thought better to transfer him to Vienna, where he could be cared for by his brother, the archdeacon of that diocese. Nevertheless, the superior of the house ordered him to remain, after St. Claude received a note from St. Margaret, with this message from his Divine Friend: “He has told me that He wants the sacrifice of your life here.” 12
The oblation was not long in coming. On February 15, 1682, at only 41 years of age, Claude de La Colombière went to join He of whom he had been a faithful servant and perfect friend on this earth. Some hours after the funeral, Sister Margaret, whose heart remained united to his, in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, affirmed: “Cease to be afflicted; invoke him with complete confidence because he can come to our aid.” 13
The great mission of St. Claude, however, was only fully realized many years later, on May 8, 1928, when Pius XI raised the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to the highest liturgical category, through the encyclical Miserentissimus redemptor.
One year later, Claude de La Colombière was beatified by the same Pope. And on May 31, 1992, the honour fell to John Paul II of including the name of this Jesuit priest, so loved by the Divine Heart of Jesus, in the catalogue of saints. ◊
Notes
1 DUFOUR, Gérard. Na Escola do Coração de Jesus com Cláudio de La Colombière. São Paulo: Loyola, 2000, p.7.
2 ST. MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE. Autobiografia. São Paulo: Loyola, 1985, p.59.
3 ST. CLAUDE DE LA COLOMBIÈRE. Oeuvres, II, 99, apud GUITTON, SJ, Jorge. El Beato Cláudio La Colombière: su medio y su tiempo. Bilbao: El Mensajero del Corazón de Jesús, 1956, p.26.
4 ST. CLAUDE DE LA COLOMBIÈRE. Reflexões cristãs, Oeuvres, V, 429, apud GUITTON, op. cit., p.121.
5 DUFOUR, op. cit., p.14-15.
6 ST. MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE, op. cit., p.61.
7 ST. MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE, Ouevres complètes, VI, 118 s, apud GUITTON, op. cit., p.156.
8 Idem, p.157.
9 Cf. DUFOUR, op. cit., p.19.
10 ST. MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE, Autobiografia, op. cit., p.68.
11 GUITTON, op. cit., p.116.
12 DUFOUR, op. cit., p.20.
13 ECHEVERRÍA, Lamberto de. San Cláudio de La Colombière. In: ECHEVERRÍA, L., LLORCA, B., BETES, J. (Org.). Año Cristiano. Madrid: BAC, 2003, v.II, p.340.
