CHEVALIER, JULES

Religious founder; b. Richelieu (Indre-et-Loire), France, March 15, 1824; d. Issoudun (Indre), Oct. 21, 1907. Because of his family's poverty he was apprenticed early to a shoemaker, but in 1841 he entered the preparatory seminary at Saint-Gauthier. After studies in the major seminary in Bourges he was ordained (1851) and spent the remainder of his life working in that archdiocese. He served in several parishes until in 1854 he became a curate in Issoudun. From 1872 until his death he was pastor and archpriest in Issoudun. With the encouragement of Father Maugenest, who had been a fellow seminarian, he founded the sacred heart missionaries (1854) and acted as their superior general until 1901. In 1882 he collaborated with Marie Hartzer to found the Daughters of our lady of the sacred heart. Devotion to the sacred heart, around which his spirituality centered, formed the subject of all his writings. His two principal works, reprinted several times, are: Notre-Dame du Sacré-Coeur de Jésus (1895) and Le Sacré-Coeur de Jésus (1900). Chevalier was one of the leading promoters of devotion to the Sacred Heart in the 19th century.

Bibliography: c. piperon, Le Très Révérend Père Jules Chevalier (Lille 1924). k. schneider, Wege Gottes R. P. J. Chevalier (Schwann 1928). h. vermin, Le Père Jules Chevalier (Rome 1957). r. limouzin-lamothe, Dictionnaire de biographie française (Paris 1929–) 8:1064–65. a. bondervoet, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912–) 12:647–648. l. despresse, Dictionnaire de spiritualité ascétique et mystique. Doctrine et histoire, ed. m. viller et al. (Paris 1932–) 2:829–831.

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