- Jean-Pierre de Caussade
Fr. jean-Pierre de Caussade was born on this day in 1675 in Toulouse, France. He entered the Society of Jesus at age 18. He was ordained in 1705, and his priesthood was spent in relatively obscure assignments.
He taught classics at a Jesuit college, and served as a missionary and preacher. In the 1730's, he went to Lorraine, France, where he met religious sisters of the Order of the visitation in the nearby city of Nancy. In 1731, he became spiritual directory to a seminary in Albi, but returned to Nancy to years later to take charge of the Jesuit Retreat House. During his seven years at the retreat house, he became spiritual director for many nuns at the Visitation convent. Even after he was reassigned and left Nancy, Fr. Caussade continued to write to the Visitation sisters. As he grew older, he began to go blind. He died in 1751 at age 76.
As a spiritual director and retreat master, Fr. Caussade is known for his contemplative approach to spirituality and for his belief that one should abandon oneself to God.
The Visitation Sisters preserved Fr. Caussade's letters, which were published in 1861 as Abandonment to Divine Providence (also known as The Sacrament of the Present Moment). The book is considered a spiritual classic.
- Little Black Book, Diocese of Saginaw