TheFrench school of spirituality was the principal devotional influence within theCatholic Church from the mid-17th century through the mid-20th century, not only in France but throughout the Church in most of the world. A development of theCatholic Reformation like theSpanish mystics and theSociety of Jesus, it focused thedevotional life of the Catholic faithful on a personal experience of the person ofJesus and the quest for personalholiness. It was perhaps more concrete than the Iberian example and thus easier to teach, but it shared with the Spanish saints their focus on the divine person. This movement in Catholic spirituality had many important figures over the centuries, the first being its founder, CardinalPierre de Bérulle (1575–1629), along withSt. Francis de Sales, who in 1877 was declared aDoctor of the Church.
One of Berulle's disciples,Jean-Jacques Olier went on to found theSulpician Order to runseminaries and train future priests in France, Canada and the United States, thus spreading the French school's influence to North America where it would dominate for the next three centuries. Olier's particular strain of the French school's thinking at its most pessimistic is captured in this quote from Olier'sJournée chrétienne, (Part 1):
It is necessary for the soul to be in fear and distrust of self; ... It should make its pleasure and joy depend on sacrificing to Jesus all joy and pleasure which it may have apart from himself. And when taking part in those things in which by Providence it is obliged to be occupied, such as eating, drinking, and conversation with creatures, it must be sparing in all, must discard what is superfluous, and must renounce, in the use of them, the joy and pleasure to be found therein, uniting and giving itself to Jesus as often as it feels itself tempted to enjoy something apart from him and not himself.[1]
Another disciple of Berulle's wasJeanne Chezard de Matel who went on to found theOrder of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament inAvignon, France. The express purpose of thesecloistered women was to give adoration to Christ incarnate, making liturgy a matter of worshiping God in awe and mystery and through their presence make "an extension of the admirable Incarnation."[2]
It was through Berulle thatVincent de Paul became chaplain to the influential Gondi family, through whom De Paul met a host of important people in high society and the Church.[3]
The devotional axes of the French school were:
