Saint-Cyran, Abbé de

(1581–1643)

   Devotional Writer and Theologian.

   Saint-Cyran was born Jean Duvergier de Hauranne. He was educated in Paris and Bayonne where Cornelius jansen was a fellow-student. After acting as secretary to the Bishop of Poitiers, he became Abbot of Saint-Cyran in 1620 and from then on he lived in Paris. He was in correspondence with Jansen from 1617 to 1635; he knew vincent de paul, Jean- Jacques olier and Pierre de bérulle and in 1633 he was chosen to be spiritual director of the Convent of Port-Royal, the intellectual centre of Jansenism. He was the author of several books advocating reform in the Church and was, in his day, a highly influential figure. Cardinal richelieu strongly disapproved of his theology and saw him as a dangerous man. In 1638 he was imprisoned and it was during this period that he wrote his Lettres Chrétiennes et Spirituelles. After his death he was revered as a martyr by his supporters.

   Catholic University of America, New Catholic Encyclopaedia (1967).