Page 60 - Saints of the Month: February

Saints of the Month: February

entered the Society of Jesus in 1659. After
fifteen years of religious life he made a vow,
as a means of attaining the utmost possible
perfection, to observe faithfully the rule and
constitutions of his order under penalty of
sin. Those who lived with him attested that
this vow was kept with great exactitude. In
1674 Father de la Colombière was made
superior at the Jesuit house at Paray-le-
Monial, where he became the spiritual
director of Blessed Margaret Mary and was
thereafter a zealous apostle of the devotion
to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In 1676 he was
sent to England as preacher to the Duchess
of York, afterwards Queen of Great Britain.
He lived the life of a religious even in the
Court of St. James and was as active a
missionary in England as he had been in
France. Although encountering many
difficulties, he was able to guide Blessed
Margaret Mary by letter. His zeal soon
weakened his vitality and a throat and lung
trouble seemed to threaten his work as a
preacher. While awaiting his recall to
France he was suddenly arrested and
thrown into prison, denounced as a
conspirator. Thanks to his title of preacher
to the Duchess of York and to the protection
of Louis XIV, whose subject he was, he
escaped death but was condemned to exile
(1679). The last two years of his life were
spent at Lyons where he was spiritual
director to the young Jesuits, and at Paray-
le-Monial, whither he repaired for his

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