He was born in Normandy in 1601 and educated in Caen. In 1623 he joined the French Oratory fathers; these were an offshoot of the Oratorians founded by St. Philip Neri, though enjoying a different constitution under Cardinal Berulle. He distinguished himself particularly as a missionary preacher. In 1643 he founded the Congregation of Jesus and Mary (the ‘Eudist’ fathers), whose primary purpose was to raise the standards of priestly education in seminaries. The Order’s roots were in his native Normandy, Coutances, Rouen and Lisieux, though there were later foundations much further afield. He developed the doctrine of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, promoted at that time by the visionary St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-90), and gave this devotion a strong theological and biblical basis. He also founded refuges to rehabilitate prostitutes, and for this purpose founded the Order of the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity, who are among us in this parish today. He died in 1680 and was canonised in 1925.