François Bourgoing (1585 – 1662) was a French Catholic priest and the third superior general of the Congregation of the Oratory of Jesus in France.
Biography
François Bourgoing was born in Paris in 1585 into a family of magistrates. Before joining the Oratory, he served as curé of Clichy, a position he resigned in favor of Vincent de Paul. In 1611, he became one of the first six priests of the Oratory of Jesus, founded by Pierre de Bérulle.
Bourgoing was entrusted with founding and directing new houses of the Oratory across France and Flanders. He taught theology in Paris, Rouen, and Nantes, and preached extensively in Auvergne, Brittany, and Lyon. In 1626, at the request of the Archbishop of Mechelen, he went to Flanders to establish Oratorian houses in Louvain, Maubeuge, and Mons.
In 1631, he was made assistant to the superior general, Charles de Condren. Upon Condren's death in 1641, Bourgoing succeeded him as superior general. As general, he worked to organize and expand the congregation, drafting regulations for the community and a plan of studies (Ratio studiorum) for seminaries. He was an energetic opponent of Jansenism.
Bourgoing suffered a stroke in 1656 from which he never fully recovered. He died in Paris on October 28, 1662. His funeral oration was delivered by Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet.
Works
Bourgoing was a prolific writer of ascetical and spiritual works. His major publications include:
- Veritates et sublimes excellentiae Verbi Incarnati, J.C. N.S. (Antwerp, 1629, 2 vols.) — later translated into French as Vérités et excellences de Jésus Christ notre Sauveur (Paris, 1636), which went through more than thirty editions.
- Direction pour l'oraison (1636)
- Institutio spiritualis ordinandorum (1639)
- Exercices de retraites (Paris, 1648, 4 vols.)
- Direction pour les missions qui se font par la congrégation de l'Oratoire de J.-C. N.S. (1646)
- Homélies des saints sur le martyrologe romain (1651, 1654)
He also edited the collected works of Pierre de Bérulle (Paris, 1644) in collaboration with Guillaume Gibieuf.
References
- Cloyseault, Charles Edme. Recueil de vies de quelques prêtres de l'Oratoire (Paris, 1882), II, 1.
- Batterel, Louis. Mémoires domestiques pour servir à l'histoire de l'Oratoire (Paris, 1903–1911), II, 285–329.
- Ingold, Augustin Marie Pierre. Essai de bibliographie oratorienne (Paris, 1880), 21.
- This article incorporates text from the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), which is in the public domain.
