Background
Jacques Bossuet was born in Dijon, France on September 27, 1627. He was raised by his uncle Claude, the mayor of Dijon. Bossuet was tonsured at the age of 10, a logical step for a seventh son in eventual need of a career.
(Keep Christ in Christmas this year by turning to this sli...)
Keep Christ in Christmas this year by turning to this slim volume of daily Advent meditations by Bishop Jacques-Benigne Bossuet, one of the greatest homilists in the history of the Church. Carefully selected to lift your soul to God in those hectic days that stretch from Thanksgiving to Christmas, these forty daily meditations will keep you mindful of the real meaning of Christmas while affording you an admirable distillation of the doctrines and piety of our Holy Catholic Church. With the help of Bishop Bossuet and the sense of God's grandeur and love that permeates his every word all through the rush toward Christmas you'll stay mindful of the holy words of Isaiah foretelling the birth of our savior; you'll find yourself marveling at the Annunciation and the Visitation; you'll rejoice in anticipation of the coming birth of Jesus; and, finally, you ll look forward to kneeling with St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin in silent adoration of the incarnate Son of God. This year, you won't (as so often happens) arrive at Midnight Mass distracted, exhausted, and frazzled, having neglected your Advent devotions and your ordinary prayers, too. Instead, you'll find yourself stepping lightly into church, ready and eager to adore the newborn King, your soul what it should be: a fit dwelling place for the Redeemer. Don't waste another Advent! Let Meditations for Advent keep you prayerful amidst the worst distractions of the holiday season. Let it draw you daily closer to Jesus, whose birth the season celebrates, and whose birth your soul yearns to celebrate, too.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933184876/?tag=2022091-20
(This history of the true religion, written some three hun...)
This history of the true religion, written some three hundred years ago by the "Eagle of Meaux," Bishop Jaques Bossuet, is a study of the Old and New Testaments in the light of the continuity of God's interactive and faithful presence in the salvific affairs of His people. There is no book which better explains the meaning behind the types and figures of so many seemingly enigmatic commandments given to the patriarchs and prophets of old by the Lord God. No book better illustrates God's particular and permissive providence in the rise and fall of nations and empires demonstrating, too, how those powers willfully estranged from the true religion cannot act outside of the Creator's universal economy of salvation. Bossuet's genius for teaching and lucidity of style merge beautifully in this unequaled masterpiece of pious erudition. As you read this book you will understand how it is that nothing of the ancient covenant was left unfulfilled in Christ and/or in the Church, His extended body. This is scriptural theology for clergy, religious, or laity. It is the complete story, this side of heaven, of man's fall and his consequent restoration in Christ through the Church. Another chapter of this continuity of religion yet remains to be completed -- an everlasting one, the Author of which is the Word of God -- we pray we may all read the final chapter in heaven.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1930278195/?tag=2022091-20
(Even three hundred years ago, believers found it difficul...)
Even three hundred years ago, believers found it difficult to sustain for forty days the proper Lenten spirit. That's why even then, countless Christians turned to the writings of Bishop Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (1627-1704), whose great piety and simple eloquence won him renown as one of the greatest preachers of his time. From Bishop Bossuet's sermons and spiritual writings, believers drew ever greater Lenten wisdom and strength. Now translator Christopher Blum has selected from Bishop Bossuet's voluminous works fifty brief but remarkably powerful meditations that complement the daily readings at Mass during the Lenten season, thus offering to us the perfect companion for a thoughtful and fruitful Lent. If you read and meditate briefly on just one of them each day in Lent, I guarantee that this good French bishop's eloquence will soon have you not merely remembering the events of Christ's journey to His Crucifixion; it will have you spiritually walking with Him on that journey . . . which is precisely what we are called to do in Lent! With Bossuet, this Lent you will find yourself saying, "O Jesus! I present myself to you to make my journey in your company. O my Savior, receive your traveler! Here I am ready, holding on to nothing. Let me go with You to the Father." That's the fire that should burn in the heart of all Christians. This Lent, let Bishop Bossuet enkindle it in yours. Among the Meditations: • God Alone Suffices • Pray to God in Secret • The Truth and the Life • Tempted in the Desert • The Sign of Jonah • Love Your Enemies • This Is My Beloved Son • And You Will Be Forgiven • The Wicked Tenants • In Spirit and in Truth • The Silence of Christ • Priest, Prophet, and King • Our Life, a Journey to God • The Great Commandment • I Was Hungry and You Fed Me • The Love of God for Repentant Sinners • Up to Jerusalem • God, the Life of the Soul • The Witness of the Baptist • The Raising of Lazarus • Jesus Is Persecuted • The True Messiah • The Anointing • The Betrayal • The Eucharist • The Passion • The Brevity of Life • Washed of Our Sins • A Sign of Contradiction • No Man Ever Spoke Like This Man • The Entry of Our Lord into Jerusalem • To Unite Ourselves with Christ
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( Spiritual meditation is the surest way to grow in holin...)
Spiritual meditation is the surest way to grow in holiness, and Our Lady is truly an example of perfection. This combination makes Meditations on Mary a spiritual powerhouse that will lift your soul to God and help you along the path to heaven. Meditations on Mary features twenty-four of the most powerful and moving meditations written by 17th Century Bishop Jacques-Benigne Bossuet considered to be one of the best homilists in the history of the Church. Author of Meditations for Lent and Meditations for Advent, Bishop Bossuet has been admired for his piety and eloquence for over three hundred years. Now his meditations on Our Lady are available to you in English for the very first time! Although we know Our Lady serves as a perfect example of how a Christian should live and bear witness to Our Lord, Scripture contains only a few glimpses of her life, leaving our knowledge limited and our imagination wanting. In these pages, Bishop Bossuet takes you on a stunning pilgrimage through the principal mysteries of Our Lady's life. He masterfully blends what he's learned from Sacred Scripture with the spiritual traditions rooted in the heart of the Church, and illuminates it with his own theological reflections. He'll bring you to a deeper understanding of Our Lady's compassion, her suffering during Christ's Passion, and the loneliness she felt after his Ascension to heaven. Bishop Bossuet will show you how Jesus brings honor to himself by honoring his mother, and how Our Lady is extraordinary solely because of her alliance with Jesus. Mary teaches us how to let God direct our steps, how to remain humble in commanding and obeying, and how to seek holiness through our daily work. She shows us how to pray with humility and perseverance, to advance in perfection, and, by doing all these things, to conform ourselves to the holy will of God. Each short meditation is worthy of your contemplation, because each contains a lesson directly from the Blessed Mother to sinners like you and me.
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Jacques Bossuet was born in Dijon, France on September 27, 1627. He was raised by his uncle Claude, the mayor of Dijon. Bossuet was tonsured at the age of 10, a logical step for a seventh son in eventual need of a career.
He distinguished himself at the Collège des Godrans in Dijon and later at the Collège de Navarre in Paris, where he received a doctorate of theology in 1652.
Ordained in 1652, he was a leading figure in Parisian theological circles and also frequented the fashionable salon of Madame de Rambouillet. Bossuet might have pursued a worldly career had he not come under the influence of Vincent de Paul, whose apostolic ideal included charity to the poor, missionary zeal, and counterreformatory activity. Partially motivated by him, in 1653 Bossuet took up residence in Metz, a frontier city with a diverse religious population. Until 1659 he was immersed there in religious studies, Catholic-Protestant relations, the Jewish apostolate, and civil and ecclesiastical affairs.
His Réfutation du catéchisme de Paul Ferry (1655; Refutation of the Catechism of Paul Ferry) exhibits the firm but nonpolemical spirit which he brought to Catholic-Protestant relations. After his return to Paris in 1659, Bossuet devoted himself to preaching in convents and churches as well as at court. In 1662 and 1666 he preached before the King during Advent, but it was not until the Advent sermons of 1669 that this worldly milieu was completely receptive to him.
Between 1655 and 1687 he pronounced his famous funeral orations; among these were the orations for Anne of Austria (1667), Henrietta of France (1669), Henrietta of England (1670), Maria Theresa (1683), and the Prince of Condé (1687). In 1669 Louis XIV named Bossuet bishop of Condom and in 1670 tutor of the Dauphin.
Bossuet strove to provide a practical education for his charge, composing such works as the Discours sur l'histoire universelle (Discourse on Universal History) and the Traité de la connaissance de Dieu et de soi-même (Treatise on the Knowledge of God and of Oneself) for the Dauphin's use. During this period he continued to address himself to the Protestant question, publishing L'Exposition de la doctrine catholique (1671; Exposition of Catholic Doctrine), and exercised a moderating moral influence at court.
Named bishop of Meaux in 1681, after the completion of his pedagogical task, Bossuet devoted himself to his pastoral duties with Vincentian zeal. He played a leading role in the Assembly of the Clergy (1681), which decreed the subordination of the national churches to the pope.
The Histoire des variations des églises protestantes (1688; History of Variations of Protestant Churches) was Bossuet's last counterreformatory work. His Instruction sur les états d'oraison (Instruction in States of Prayer) and Relation sur le quiétisme (1698; Report on Quietism) were instrumental in the condemnation of the doctrine of quietism. Chronic kidney stones gradually forced Bossuet to give up his pastoral duties, and he died on April 12, 1704.
He is best known for his sermons and orations. His ecclesiastical career traversed the principal milieus and encompassed the major religious questions of his time. His most famous work - Discours sur l'histoire universelle (or Discourse on Universal History) (1681).
The exterior of Harvard's Sanders Theater includes busts of the eight greatest orators of all time – they include a bust of Bossuet alongside such giants of oratory as Demosthenes, Cicero, and Chrysostom. The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) calls Bossuet the greatest pulpit orator of all time, ranking him even ahead of Augustine and Chrysostom.
(This history of the true religion, written some three hun...)
(Keep Christ in Christmas this year by turning to this sli...)
(Even three hundred years ago, believers found it difficul...)
( Spiritual meditation is the surest way to grow in holin...)
He began the transition from Baroque to Neoclassical preaching. He preached with a simple eloquence that eschewed the grandiose extravagances of earlier preaching. He focused on ethical rather than doctrinal messages, often drawing from the lives of saints or saintly contemporaries as examples.
Bossuet emphasizes the fact that royal authority comes directly from God and that the person of the king is sacred. In the third book, Bossuet asserts that "God establishes kings as his ministers, and reigns through them over the people. " He also states that "the prince must be obeyed on principle, as a matter of religion and of conscience. " While he declares the absolute authority of rulers, he emphasizes the fact that kings must use their power only for the public good and that the king is not above the law "for if he sins, he destroys the laws by his example. "
He was elected to the Académie Française in 1671.
He was raised by his uncle Claude, the mayor of Dijon.
