Jean du Vergier de Hauranne, the Abbé (

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fe ...

) of Saint-Cyran, (1581 – 6 October 1643) was a French

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

who introduced

Jansenism Jansenism was an early modern theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in the Kingdom of France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. It was declared a heresy by t ...

into France.

Life

Born in the city of

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitain ...

to a noble family, Vergier studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing t ...

at the Catholic University of Leuven. Either there or, more likely in 1604 in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, he formed a friendship with Cornelius Jansen and, as the wealthier of the two, became Jansen's patron for a number of years, getting Jansen a job as a tutor in 1606. Two years later, he obtained for Jansen a position teaching at the episcopal (or "bishop's") college back in Bayonne. The duo spent 1611–1614 there, in seclusion in a house belonging to the family, where they studied the

Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical pe ...

together, with a special focus on the thought of St.

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...

, until Jansen left Bayonne in 1614 to return to the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands ( Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

. In 1617 Vergier left Bayonne at the invitation of Henri-Louis Chasteigner de La Roche-Posay, the

Bishop of Poitiers The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Poitiers (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Pictaviensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Poitiers'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in France. The archepiscopal see is in the city of Poitiers. Th ...

, where he soon became a leading figure of the

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

. In 1620 he became the

commendatory abbot A commendatory abbot ( la, abbas commendatarius) is an ecclesiastic, or sometimes a layman, who holds an abbey ''in commendam'', drawing its revenues but not exercising any authority over its inner monastic discipline. If a commendatory abbot is an ...

of the Abbey of Saint-Cyran and was thus generally known as the Abbé de Saint-Cyran for the rest of his life. During that same year, he made the acquaintance of the mystic, Charles de Condren, and through him Pierre de Bérulle, founder of the French Oratory. He also became friends with Robert Arnauld d'Andilly, through whom he became connected with the Arnauld family. Vergier kept on corresponding with Jansen, urging him to prepare his book '' Augustinus'', the source of the Jansenist teachings. He also became

spiritual director Spiritual direction is the practice of being with people as they attempt to deepen their relationship with the divine, or to learn and grow in their personal spirituality. The person seeking direction shares stories of their encounters of the div ...

and

confessor Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways. Confessor of the Faith Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death.Port-Royal des Champs, in whose history the Arnauld family played significant roles. Under his leadership from 1633 to 1636 the abbey became a center of

. After the death of his friend Bérulle in 1629, Vergier became the leader of a group of devotees, allied with the

Parlement of Paris The Parliament of Paris (french: Parlement de Paris) was the oldest ''parlement'' in the Kingdom of France, formed in the 14th century. It was fixed in Paris by Philip IV of France in 1302. The Parliament of Paris would hold sessions inside the ...

, which brought him into conflict with the French Prime Minister,

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

. In 1638, Richelieu had him imprisoned at

Vincennes Vincennes (, ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is next to but does not include the Château de Vincennes and Bois de Vincennes, which are attache ...

, where he remained until after the cardinal's death in 1642. He himself died shortly after in Paris in 1643, having lived long enough to hear of the condemnation of Jansen's teachings by

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As po ...

the previous year.

Works

Together with Jansen, Saint-Cyran insisted that love of God was fundamental, and that only

contrition In Christianity, contrition or contriteness (, i.e. crushed by guilt) is repentance for sins one has committed. The remorseful person is said to be ''contrite''. A central concept in much of Christianity, contrition is regarded as the first ste ...

, and not simple attrition (imperfect contrition), could save a person. The debate between the respective roles of contrition and attrition was one of the motives of his imprisonment. However, he remained hesitant on this matter, and in prison signed a declaration in favor of attrition. Jean Orcibal, ''La Spiritualité de Saint-Cyran'', Paris, 1962, , quoted by Gérard Ferreyrolles, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hauranne, Jean Du Vergier De 1581 births 1643 deaths People from Bayonne Old University of Leuven alumni 17th-century French Roman Catholic priests 17th-century French Catholic theologians Jansenists