A Holy Week Every Week: Weekday Meditations by St. John Eudes

In December 2016, Pope Francis accelerated a process to proclaim St. John Eudes a Doctor of the Church. In a few years he may be christened "Doctor Cordis" (the Doctor of the Heart), using the title given him by Pope St. Pius X: "the Father, Doctor, and Apostle of Devotion to the Hearts of Jesus & Mary."

This series is an introduction to his spirituality, widely available in English for virtually the first time.

In this little volume, St. John Eudes helps us contemplate the life of Christ, both hidden and revealed, within the natural progression of our week. He tells us: "The holy exercise of prayer must be considered one of the chief foundations of Christian life. The whole life of Jesus Christ was a perpetual prayer which we must continue and express in our lives."

According to this great saint, prayer can be expressed in ways that go beyond words. This is what his weekday meditations seek to show us. We "pray without ceasing" when every action in our lives is united to the life of Christ. Jesus performed the most mundane acts in a perfect and divine way. When we are imitators of Jesus, our actions themselves become "a fragrant offering to God." (Eph 5:2, also 2 Cor 2:15, Phil 4:18)

The meditations designed to bring us to this point of mystical union include:

- The First Moment of the Temporal Life of Jesus (p.4)
- The Hidden Life of Jesus (p.8)
- The Life of Jesus in Mary and that of Mary in Jesus (p.14)

Check out our other prayerbooks on Amazon, as well as a short biography titled A Heart on Fire: St. John Eudes, Model of the New Evangelization.