Pierre de Bérulle, founder of the Oratoire de Jésus (commonly known as the Oratoire de France), is a leading figure in the renewal of the Catholic Church in France in the first half of the ...seventeenth century. He is generally regarded as the founder of the French School of Spirituality (École française de spiritualité), though this term has been much criticised in recent years. He is often described as a 'reformer' of the Church in France, but this is a half-truth which obscures his real originality; he certainly shared the aims of those striving to create a clergy which would be better educated, more morally upright and more pastorally sensitive and zealous; but above all else he was concerned with the spiritual renewal of the clergy and with the Church in France generally. Lastly, he has often been accused of wishing to create chiefly, if not exclusively, a spirituality of the priesthood and to work for the 'sanctification' of the clergy. But his work and ideas must be seen here in a broader perspective, for Bérulle and his disciples shared with St Francis de Sales the aim, expressed in his Introduction à la vie devote (1608), of creating and promoting a spirituality available to all Christians. This article examines his conception of the Oratory, which he intended to be an intermediary between the religious orders and the secular clergy, his spiritual theology, what I have called his 'spiritual pedagogy', and his influence in France and elsewhere.
Louis Tronson (1622-1700), élu en 1676 troisième supérieur de la Compagnie des prêtres de Saint-Sulpice, est connu principalement, dans l’histoire de la spiritualité, comme éditeur du Traité des ...saints ordres attribué à Jean-Jacques Olier (1676), auteur des Examens particuliers (1690), et hôte des entretiens d’Issy sur le quiétisme (1694-1695). L’objet de ce travail est de mieux mettre en perspective la place de cet homme dans l’histoire de la théologie catholique. Tronson joue en effet un rôle déterminant dans l’explicitation théologique de la vocation sacerdotale. Réfléchissant, à la lumière de son expérience de formateur de futurs prêtres, sur les « marques de vocation », il élabore de véritables grilles de discernement, au demeurant assez souples. Parmi ces critères, une place particulière revient à l’« inclination » ou « attrait ». Résonance subjective et intime de l’appel divin, l’attrait n’est cependant pas subjectiviste : il suppose au contraire un objet qui attire, c’est-à-dire le sacerdoce, envisagé comme « état » et « fonctions », deux mots très utilisés par Tronson qui, bien loin de s’opposer, se complètent. Ainsi cet auteur peut-il proposer une vision du sacerdoce qui soit à la fois sacramentelle et sociale, spécifiquement christologique et enracinée dans la société de son temps.
In the history of Catholic spirituality, Louis Tronson (1622-1700), who was elected third Superior of the Society of the Priests of Saint-Sulpice in 1676, is known mainly as editor of the Treatise on Holy Orders attributed to Jean-Jacques Olier (1676), as author of the Particular Examens (1690) and as host of the Conferences at Issy about quietism (1694-1695). The purpose of this work is to propose a better insight into the role of Louis Tronson in the history of Catholic theology. Indeed, this role was decisive in defining the theology of priestly vocation. By considering the "marks of vocation" in the light of his own experience in training future priests, Tronson drew up reliable yet flexible charts for discernment. Among these criteria "inclination" or "attraction" is of special importance. Although a subjective and intimate echo of divine calling, attraction is not a subjectivistic notion : on the contrary it supposes that there is an object which attracts, in this case the priesthood itself. Tronson frequently uses the words "estate" and "functions" to characterize it : far from being opposed, both terms complete each other and allow Tronson to offer a view of the Catholic priesthood which is both sacramental and social, specifically christological and rooted in the society of his time.
