St Peter Julian Eymard (1811-68) founder of the Blessed Sacrament Fathers
Eucharistic devotion has changed a lot from the time Peter Julian
Eymard set up his congregation in 1856, but today the Blessed Sacrament
Fathers have a highly dynamic apostolate in all six continents.
Ordained a priest of Grenoble diocese
Peter
Julian Eymard was born in 1811 at La Mure, Isère, Grenoble, France. He
worked at his father's job as a cutler (making cutlery) before joining a
seminary. He had to leave because of poor health, but he was ordained
for the diocese of Grenoble in 1834.
Joined the Marist Fathers
In 1839, he joined the
Marist Fathers, where he worked first as spiritual director with
seminarians and with lay organizations promoting devotion to the Blessed
Virgin Mary and to the Eucharist, particularly in the Forty Hours. The
Jansenism of his time with its stress on the gravity of human sinfulness
brought out in Peter Julian a reparation spirituality and he struggled
for that perfection that would enable him to offer his whole self to
God.
Experience of 1845
He had an intense devotion to
the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament While carrying the
Blessed Sacrament on the feast of Corpus Christi in Lyon in 1845 he
experienced the Eucharist as a passionate of God for the people of the
world. He was elected provincial of the Marists at Lyon in that same
year.
Founding of the Blessed Sacrament Fathers and Servants of the Blessed Sacrament
In
1856, Paul Julian asked his Superior General, Fr. Jean-Claude Colin,
for permission to write a eucharistic rule for the Third Order of Mary
of which, he, Peter Julian, was the director but when this was
refused he left the Marists and went on to found his own Congregation of
the Blessed Sacrament, which was approved initially by Archbishop
Sibour of Paris and grew slowly at first. Two years later, together with
Marguerite Guillot, he founded a feminine branch called the Servants of
the Blessed Sacrament.
Instruction and apostolate of frequent communion
The
Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament worked with children in Paris to
prepare them to receive their First Communion. It invited non-practicing
Catholics to begin receiving Communion again and gave instruction to
help them do so. Eymard supported frequent Holy Communion, which was
given more authoritative backing by Pope Pius X in 1905.
Friend of other saints
Eymard overcame several
difficulties - poverty, his father's opposition, Jansenism and
opposition from his Marist superiors - to achieve his goals. He was a
contemporary and a friend of other saints including St John Vianney, and
fellow Marists, St Peter Chanel and St Marcellin Champagnat.
Friendship with sculptor August Rodin
The French
sculptor Auguste Rodin became a friend of Eymard when Rodin, after the
death of his sister, became a lay brother in the Congregation in 1862.
Eymard recognised Rodin's talent and advised him to return to his
vocation as a sculptor. Rodin later produced a bust of Eymard.
Death and influence
Eymard died in 1868 and was
canonised by Pope John XXIII at the end of the first session of Vatican
II on 9 December 1962. He was named Apostle of the Eucharist.
Spread of his congregation
Later the family of
the Blessed Sacrament Fathers spread in all continents and today has
about a thousand members in 128 communities in 28 countries. They are
well known in Dublin for their beautiful street-side chapel of the
Blessed Sacrament at 20 Bachelors' Walk.