Peter Julian Eymard. Detail of a photo from the 1860s. The archives possess about fifteen photographs: they all show the same eyes, whatever the pose, on an angular Matheysin face with sharp bones and deep cheeks that reveal the man and the apostle. He seems to express in his face what he proposed to his disciples, to become men of fire. Many witnesses keep an unforgettable memory of Eymard s face: the look of a saint: profound, calm and ardent all at the same time, and seemingly enlightened with a supernatural brightness (Mme Charrat, née Carrel). I
The political map of France around 1865 (Atlas Petermann s Geographische Mittheilungen, Gotha 1870). Below: 20th century photo of La Mure d Isère where Peter Julian Eymard was born on February 4, 1811 in a middle class, deeply Christian family of artisans, originally from l Oisans. The little country of Fr. Eymard is at the heart of Dauphiné and of the rugged French Alps. III
To the right: rue de Breuil at the beginning of the 20th century on a market day. Peter Julian was born on the ground floor of the first house to the right. His father, Julien, bought the house next door around 1815: this is the Eymard family house where Peter Julian grew up. He also died there on August 1, 1868. On top: the apse and bell-tower of the former parish church of La Mure, where Peter Julian was baptized, confirmed, made his First Communion, and where his burial rites were celebrated. Saved from total demolition in 1902, it is today dedicated to the Founder. IV I
Above: The Calvary of La Mure. As a child Peter Julian often climbed this hill in preparation for his First Communion. On the side: a a celebration in the former parish church of La Mure. On page VII, at the top: the shrine of Notre-Dame du Laus where 13-year-old Peter Julian received the assurance of his call to the priesthood. He would return here many times on pilgrimage during his life, and he would say: «Le Laus! The mere thought of it brings joy. There were many graces for me there. The Blessed Virgin was so good there» (Tesnière, Notes éparses, 1868). Below: the actual entrance of the former major seminary of Grenoble where he was admitted in 1831 to prepare himself for the priesthood, and the actual shrine of Notre-Dame de l Osier constructed at the place of the former one where Father Eymard celebrated his First Mass. The place was administered by the Oblate Fathers. VI
The stained glass of Peter Julian Eymard in the little chapel on the Calvary of Saint-Romans (above on page IX). Fr. Eymard is offering the bread and the chalice for Communion and Adoration, with the Latin text: «Through him and with him and in him», and the reminder «Do not forget my rocky Calvary, its chapel». On the side: the parish house of Chatte where Father Eymard lived as vicar from 1834 to 1837 and, on the right, the actual church. On the side: the sanctuary and an aisle of the old parish church of Monteynard, where Eymard was pastor from 1837 to 1839. VIII
On August 18, 1839, Father Eymard leaves the parish of Monteynard to enter the novitiate of the Society of Mary in Lyons. Above: the College of Belley where Father was spiritual director from November 1839 to November 1844. Still above on the right: the first portrait of Fr. Eymard as a Marist (oil on canvas, done around the year 1853). This tableau, executed at La Seynesur-Mer while he was Superior of the college (1851-1855), is the first portrait that we have of him, and the only painting done in his life-time. On the right below: Jean-Claude Colin, Founder of the Marists. On the page to the right: the hill of Fourvière in Lyons with the apse of the new shrine, built after a vow by the people of Lyons who had escaped a Prussian occupation in 1871. The photo was taken from the square of St. John the Baptist. X I
On May 25, 1845, Fr. Eymard, presides at the procession of Corpus Christi in the church of Saint-Paul (above on the left: a view of the church; below: the interior). During the procession, he received a grace of faith and love for Christ Eucharistic. In his personal notes, he writes: «May 25, 1845, Corpus Christi. I had the great privilege to carry the Most Blessed Sacrament at St. Paul s, and my soul felt great peace. I was filled with faith and love for Jesus in his divine Sacrament». Above to the right: the old chapel of Notre-Dame de Fourvière where Fr. Eymard went frequently during his years at Lyons as Provincial and Visitor General (1844-1851). On January 21, 1851, he received a grace of vocation: «Our Lord is in the Most Blessed Sacrament, alone, without any religious body to guard him, to honor him, and to glorify him. Why not establish something». Below: the Marist college of La Seyne-sur-Mer, where Fr. Eymard is named Superior on September 16, 1851: it is here that his final vocation as Founder ripens. XIII
On the page to the left: fphoto of Fr. Eymard, around 1860. After the approbation of the new religious family, the Archbishop of Paris allows Fr. Eymard to use a property, the house of Chateaubriand (at the left, according to a drawing of the time), situated at 114 rue d Enfer, today 88 avenue Denfert- Rochereau (14th district). This house is the cradle of the Congregation and of the first community. It is here, on January 6, 1857, that he inaugurates the first exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Forced to leave the house of Chateaubriand, Fr. Eymard buys a property at 66-68 on rue du Faubourg Saint-Jacques (14th district). In this house, starting from 1858, the religious community began the catechism for the First Communion of Adults. The house was later destroyed in the urban renewal programs of Haussmann (who needed space for the boulevard Arago). The square of l Ile de Sein occupies today a part of this place (above, a photo at the beginning of the 20th century). XIV XV
Above: Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), the greatest French sculptor, poses next to the plaster bust of Father Eymard (photo of C. Aubry, 1863). At the age of 22, Rodin entered the Religious of the Blessed Sacrament after the death of his sister. In the month of May 1863, he leaves the community to pursue his vocation as an artist. He created a bust of Fr. Eymard, whose bronze model is preserved in the Rodin Museum in Paris. On the left: the interior of the church of Notre-Dame des Victoires in Paris. When he arrived in the capital on April 30, 1856 to make his vocation retreat, on May 1 st he celebrated Mass in this church where Cohen, de Cuers, and de Benque had founded the Nocturnal Adoration Society for Men. Fr. Eymard preached here on several occasions: this shrine is a witness of his devotion towards the Virgin Mary. On the right: the façade of the church of Saint-Sulpice. In the early afternoon of May 13, 1856, immediately after the approbation of Archbishop Sibour, Fathers Eymard and de Cuers go to Saint-Sulpice to express their gratitude. In the month of July, 1861, Eymard preached here the novena to the Sacred Heart. During the month of October 1863, in the solitude of the estate of Saint- Bonnet in the mountains near Lyons (at the top), Fr. Eymard worked on a new draft of the Constitutions for his Institutes. XVI XVII
At the left: Fr. Eymard (right) with his first companion, Fr. De Cuers. Captain of a navy ship, de Cuers, when his service had ended, decided to prepare himself for the priesthood; he was ordained a priest in 1855, and joined the Founder to realize the project of the new Congregation. Below: Archbishop Dominique Sibour of Paris. On May 13, 1856, he received Fr. Eymard and his companion, Fr. de Cuers, and authorizes them to begin their projected work. This date marks the birth of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament. Still below: Léon Papin- Dupont, «the holy man of Tours», friend of Fr. Eymard. He started Nocturnal Adoration in Tours, and became its zealous promoter. Fr. Eymard benefited more than once from his hospitality. On the right, above: the house of Saint-Maurice. In 1866 Fr. Eymard acquired this property at Saint-Maurice- Montcouronne (Essonne) and transferred here the novitiate that had previously been in the mother house of Paris. Below: Natalie Jordan and her daughter Mathilde. It is in 1846 that Natalie becomes acquainted with Father Eymard, while he was Marist Provincial in Lyons. She chooses him as her spiritual director. A few years later, her daughter Mathilde would also place herself at the school of Fr. Eymard. Their family became part of the close Eymardian friends (stained glass in the chapel of Saint-Romans). XIX
In March 1862, Fr. Eymard went to Rome to obtain from Pope Pius IX the pontifical decree of approbation of his Institute. On that occasion, he made a personal retreat at the convent of the Passionist Fathers on Mont Celio, near the basilica of Saints John and Paul (in the photo below). He received the decree of approbation on June 10th, during the octave of Corpus Christi. Fr. Eymard would later return to Rome once more. (at the right, photo the basilica of St. Peter at the end of the 19th century) Of particular interest was his stay of nearly five months from November 10, 1864 until March 30, 1865. Since the month of December 1863, Fr. Eymard had dedicated himself to the realization of a grandiose project: to acquire the Cenacle in Jerusalem to make of it a place of magnificent worship of the Eucharist. He approaches Pius IX (in the photo on the left) to plead his case. On January 25, 1865, he goes to the Redemptorists, at villa Caserta near Saint Mary Major (photo here above), for a prolonged retreat: for nine weeks he lives under the eyes of God. It is the great retreat of Rome that lasts 65 days, and that will affect in a decisive way the orientation of his spirituality. Although he failed in his efforts to obtain the Cenacle, Fr. Eymard received as a special gift the grace of the Internal Cenacle, a unique experience of God that transformed him in a definite way. XXI
On the left: the most widely known photo of Father Eymard. Above: photo of Marguerite Guillot, disciple of Father Eymard and first Superior General of the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament, a Congregation that began on July 31, 1859. On the side: Fr. Albert Tesnière (1847-1909). Privileged witness and confidant of Fr. Eymard, he transcribed his sermons or instructions from personal notes that he took. By his preaching and writings, Tesnière played a primary role in the diffusion of the mind of Fr. Eymard. XXII XXIII
On page XXIV: the Adoration chapel in Grenoble (administered by the Missionaries of La Salette) where Fr. Eymard celebrated his last Mass on July 21, 1868. At the bottom: a coach that used to make the journey from Grenoble to Gap. Fr. Eymard used this regularly to go to La Mure. Here above: the façade of the cathedral of Grenoble as seen from the square of Notre- Dame. At the top, the former chancery that recently became a museum. On the side: the room in which Fr. Eymard died in La Mure, in the early afternoon of August 1, 1868. The veneration of his town-mates is spontaneous: «The saint is dead». His funeral is celebrated on the following day in the presence of a very large crowd. XXV
Fr. Eymard wrote very much in the course of his life. Here is a draft of the Constitutions for his religious. At the left: one of the most expressive photos of Fr. Eymard: his angular features, already marked by sickness, give witness to the expression the look of a saint used by Mme Charrat. Below: the signature of the Saint. XXVI XXVII
The gravesite of Fr. Eymard in the cemetery of La Mure (at the right, foreground), marked by a simple monument: a kneeler of white stone, holding a monstrance and a stole, with an open book carrying the words: «Let us love Jesus who loves us so much in his divine Sacrament». To the right: next to the tombstone of Fr. Eymard are those of his two sisters. Above on the right: the Abbé Seymat, a friend of the Founder, who wrote the first memoir of Fr. Eymard, six months after his death. A witness and an original portrait (stained glass in the chapel of Saint-Romans). Below: a modern icon of the holy Founder realized in the United States. XXVIII
On December 9, 1962, at the end of the first session of Vatican II, John XXIII proclaims Peter Julian Eymard to be a saint. Above: the altar and the case of Fr. Eymard in the church of the Avenue de Friedland in Paris. At the left: interior of the church of the Avenue de Friedland in Paris. It is to this church, in the month of June 1877, that the body of Peter Julian Eymard was transferred from La Mure. It was placed in the sanctuary between the kneeling benches of the adorers. After his beatification in 1925, he was transferred to a side chapel where he is venerated today. Above: view of La Mure today. The little town has kept a large part of its historic atmosphere, evoking in witness to the events in the life of Fr. Eymard. The parish that bears the name of St. Peter Julian Eymard, the saint of La Mure, has been animated by an SSS community since 2007. XXX XXXI
Above: the beautiful stained glass of the parish church of La Mure, work of Georges (Claudius) Lavergne, corresponds to the traditional iconography of the Founder at the beginning of the 20th century. On December 9, 1995, Pope John Paul II inscribed his name in the calendar of the universal Church and fixed his liturgical feast for August 2, recognizing him as «an outstanding Apostle of the Eucharist». (Acknowledgment of photographs - Archives AGRSS in Rome for the pages: I, III, V, VI, X, XIV, XV, XVIII, XXII, XXIII, XXV, XXVI, XXVII. The colored photos are from V. Boccardi, except for those on pages X, XIII, XXXI from A. Coppens-Baeten). XXXII