Henri-Marie Boudon (14 January 1624 – 31 August 1702) was a 17th-century

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

French abbot and spiritual author.

Life

Boudon was born in

La Fère La Fère () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in France. Population See also * Communes of the Aisne department The following is a list of the 799 Communes of France, communes in the French Departments of France, de ...

Picardy Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. Hi ...

to Jean and Antoinette Jourdin Boudon. His father was lieutenant of the citadel. After 15 years of childless marriage his mother prayed for a child, which prayers became only more intense with the death of their first born shortly after birth. The town of

Liesse-Notre-Dame Liesse-Notre-Dame () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. In the Middle Ages, the village near Laon developed around the cult of the Black Virgin, known as Notre-Dame de Liesse (Our Lady of Joy/or Jubila ...

is situated about northwest of Reims. Liesse-Notre-Dame (Our Lady of Joy) is a center of Marian pilgrimage, and was a favorite shrine of Princess

Henrietta Maria of France Henrietta Maria (french: link=no, Henriette Marie; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until Charles was executed on 30 January 1649. She wa ...

. On her way to Liesse, in company with her mother,

Marie de' Medici Marie de' Medici (french: link=no, Marie de Médicis, it, link=no, Maria de' Medici; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV of France of the House of Bourbon, and Regent of the Kingdom ...

, and sister-in-law,

Anne of Austria Anne of Austria (french: Anne d'Autriche, italic=no, es, Ana María Mauricia, italic=no; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was an infanta of Spain who became Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XIII from their marriage in 1615 unti ...

, she happened to pass through La Fère on the day of the infant Boudon's christening. The princess agreed to be the child's godmother and he was baptized Henri-Marie. Not long after his christening, his parents made a pilgrimage to Liesse, where his mother dedicated the child to Mary, Queen of Angels and invoked her protection of him. His father died shortly thereafter, and his mother soon remarried. At the age of eleven Henri-Marie was sent to attend the Jesuit college at

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

. Later he studied at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

. He was ordained in January, 1655. Boudon served as Archdeacon of Evreux"Catholic Review's Review of Thompson's "The Life of Henri-Marie Boudon", '' 'The Month' and Catholic Review' '', 1881
/ref> and given with the authority of Vicar-General. During his visitations to various ecclesiastical sites, the Archdeacon was particularly dismayed at the deplorable conditions he found in many domestic chapels of the chateaux of the privileged. His criticism was not well-received and made many enemies, as did his efforts to reform a disinterested and self-indulgent clergy. Boudon was a key figure in the

French school of spirituality The French School of spirituality was the principal devotional influence within the Catholic Church from the mid-17th century through the mid-20th century, not only in France but throughout the church in most of the world. A development of the Cat ...

. A recurring theme in Boudon's work, characteristic of the French school, was the idea that the search for God requires detachment from all creatures. "God Alone"''The life of Henri-Marie Boudon'', (Edward Healy Thompson, ed.) London: Burns and Oates, 1880
/ref> was his motto. His book ''Dieu seul: le Saint esclavage de l'admirable Mère de Dieu'', (Only God, the Holy Slavery of the admirable Mother of God) was praised warmly by

Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet Jacques-Bénigne Lignel Bossuet (; 27 September 1627 – 12 April 1704) was a French bishop and theologian, renowned for his sermons and other addresses. He has been considered by many to be one of the most brilliant orators of all time and a m ...

, and was a key influence on Saint

Louis de Montfort Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (31 January 1673 – 28 April 1716) was a French Roman Catholic priest and confessor. He was known in his time as a preacher and was made a missionary apostolic by Pope Clement XI. As well as preaching, Montfort ...

.Joseph Jaja Rao, 2005, ''The Mystical Experience and Doctrine of St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort'' Ignatius Press pages 324–327

Works

* ''Dieu Inconnu'' * ''Dieu seul: le Saint esclavage de l'admirable Mère de Dieu'', 1662 * ''Règne de Dieu dans l'Oraison Mentale'' * ''Les saintes Voies de la Croix'', (The Holy Ways of the Cross)Boudon, Henri-Marie. ''The Holy Ways of the Cross'', (Edw. H. Thompson, trans.), Burns, Oates & Co., London, 1875
/ref>

References

Bibliography

* Henri-Marie Boudon, ''Dieu seul: le Saint esclavage de l'admirable Mère de Dieu'', Paris 1674 * Henri-Marie Boudon, ''The Holy Ways of the Cross'' St Athanasius Press, 2010

External links

Butler, Charles. ''The Life of Fenelon'', p. 123 et seq.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boudon, Henry 1624 births 1702 deaths People from La Fère Catholic spirituality French abbots