Saint Claude was a man of the heart, endowed with enormous sensitivity towards his neighbor. Since childhood he had a profound inclination towards the family, thinking one day of being able to form his own and “horrible aversion” for religious life. He will choose the latter to the detriment of his most deeply rooted convictions.
Third of six children, he had an economically solid position and a secure future because his father was a wealthy notary. Brilliant in his studies, he entered at the age of 17 in the Novitiate of Avignon of the Society of Jesus, where he finished the course of Philosophy and after graduation, in the same institute, he managed to obtain a chair for the next five. At 25 he was sent to Paris to study theology at the famous boarding school in Clermont. The superiors, despite being diligently engaged in the studies, entrusted the task of tutor of the sons of Colbert, then minister of finance of the king of France. He was ordained a priest at the age of 28. In Lyon he was given the position of professor and preacher, exercised it for another five years.
In 1675, Father Claude was assigned the role of Superior of the Jesuit community of Paray-le-Monial. A nun, who by social class and culture was inferior compared to the other sisters, put in turmoil the monastery of the Visitation, with and visions. Prudent and enlightened priests judged her mystical gifts to be the work of the devil; she continued the message entrusted to her by Jesus, who asked her to spread the devotion to his heart in the world. Jesus promised Sister Margaret Maria Alacoque (whom the Catholic Church later proclaimed as Saint) to send her “one of her faithful and perfect servants”, who would support and encourage her. The nun during Father Claude’s first sermon in the monastery church, felt that he was the priest promised by Jesus. In fact, in the few months of his stay, Father Claude became the first apostle of devotion to the Sacred Heart, accepting with docility and enthusiasm the role assigned to him from above.
The following year he was sent to London as a preacher to the Duchess of York, but the Protestant environment that surrounded him made his stay extremely bitter. He was even arrested on charges of “papist plot”, and after three weeks in prison, he was expelled from England. The bitterness of the prison, along with the ill-treatment suffered, affected his health, already proven by severe lung disorders. After a period spent in Lyon, the superiors, trusting in the best climate, made him return to Paray-le-Monial, where he died on 15 February 1682 at the age of just 41. In 1994 Pope John Paul II proclaimed Saint Father Claude de la Colombière, “master of enlightened spirituality”, whom God himself had chosen to make known the “inscrutable riches” of the Heart of Christ.