Jean-Jacques Olier - Later Life

Later Life

Olier suffered a stroke in February 1652. He resigned his pastorate into the hands of Abbé de Bretonvilliers and, when he regained sufficient strength, on the orders of his physicians he visited various spas of Europe in search of health, as well as making many pilgrimages. On his return to Paris, his old energy and enthusiasm reasserted themselves, especially in his warfare against Jansenism. A second stroke at Saint-Péray, in September 1653, left him completely paralysed.

Olier's last years were full of intense suffering, both bodily and mental, which he bore with the utmost sweetness and resignation. They were years of prayer, but indeed the whole life of this servant of God, despite his immense external activity, was a prayer; and his principal devotion was to the inner life of Christ. His visions and his mysticism caused the Jansenists to ridicule him as a visionary; but they, as well as all others, acknowledged his sanctity and the singular purity of his intentions. His numerous ascetical writings show him a profound master of spiritual doctrine, and well deserve a close study. His great friend, Vincent de Paul, who was with him at his death, considered him a saint; and the Church historian, Frederick William Faber, in his "Growth in Holiness" (Baltimore ed., p. 376) says of him: "Of all the uncanonized servants of God whose lives I have read, he most resembles a canonized Saint".

Olier was buried in the Church of St. Sulpice.