Pierre Joseph de Clorivière |
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De Clorivière stayed with his family in St. Malo for some years. Then, since he had relatives in Douai, he was sent there to a flourishing school of the English Benedictines to finish his formal education. At age 19 he was dedicated to studying law, which continued until he entered the novitiate of the Society. "God wanted me here in Paris," he writes in a brief autobiography of his early years and adds: “I fell into the hands of an excellent secular priest and through him my conversion came, following a spiritual retreat I made when I had just turned 20 years." "From that moment I became truly another man." After this retreat he made another 10 days, which confirmed his vocation: "I had a calm yet strong impression all at once and a clear conviction that God was calling me to the priesthood”. He entered the Society of Jesus on August 14, 1756 at the age of 21. He made his first vows on August 17, 1758. As a consequence of the suppression of the Society in France, he was assigned to the English province in 1762. He did his theological studies at Liege where he was ordained a priest on October 2, 1763. Ten years later, on August 15, 1773 he pronounced his vows, a few days before the Society of Jesus was suppressed. During his priestly ministry he was pastor, religious chaplain, and rector of the Scholasticate. |
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Along with Marie Adélaïde de Cicé, he founded the Society of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary in 1791. In 1814, he was commissioned by the Father General of the Jesuits to dedicate himself to the restoration of the Jesuits in France. He lived his priestly ministry with complete generosity and courage. He is remembered as "priest of the essentials" and in various circumstances was called the “Living Gospel”. Lather de Clorivière died on January 9, 1820 while in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. |
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WRITINGS OF FOUNDERS AND FIRST DAUGHTERS OF THE HEART OF MARY |
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