St. Claude de la Colombiere

I have been busy trying to unwind from a stressful week today and am getting to this pretty late, so I will try to make my post brief.

St. Claude de la Colombiere was a Jesuit priest and the confessor of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. He was born in 1641 and at the age of 18 entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus in Avignon. After professing the Fourth Vow of the Society in 1675, he was appointed rector of the Jesuit community at Paray-le-Monial, where he also became the Spiritual Director of the Monastery of the Visitation Sisters located next to the Church. This is how he came to know St. Margaret Mary. She had suffered greatly from the disbelief of her sisters in the Monastery regarding her visions. When Fr. Claude began to hear the confessions of the sisters, she felt that she had found someone who would understand and she opened her heart to him. After much prayer, he was convinced of the validity of her visions and became an ardent supporter of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

In 1676, Fr. Claude was sent to England as preacher to the Duchess of York. He took up residence in the royal court while still observing all his religious duties as a Jesuit. In 1678, while awaiting recall to France, he was arrested and accused of being part of a Popish plot against the English throne. Caught up in the anti-Catholic hysteria, he was confined in severe conditions which aggravated his already fragile health. Thanks to his position at the Royal Court and the protection of the King of France, he escaped death and was expelled to France. He died in 1682 at the age of 41.

St. Claude is a patron of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. His Feast Day is February 15.