Lacorder, Jean-Baptiste Henry

Born in the family of a former naval doctor and daughter of a lawyer.

At first he was a lawyer, was considered a Volterian.

In 1824, he took up the study of theology, accepted a spiritual rank and became an ardent defender of Christianity in general, in which he found the only correct teaching on the norms of social life, and in particular Catholicism, in which he saw the only form of Christianity that could realize its ideals. According to Lamenne, with whom he became close, Lacorder thought that one could be a sincere Catholic and at the same time a supporter of political freedom. In the magazine Lamenne "l'Avenir" he ardently defended the independence of the church from the government and after the July Revolution he founded, together with Montalamber, without state permission, a free collegium; the collegium was closed by order of the civil authorities, and in 1832 the papa magazine L'Avenir was banned.

Obeying the decision of the pope, Lacorder joined the clergy of Notre Dame and from the church pulpit began to defend a purely ultramontan (that is, oriented to the Roman throne, and not to national trends in French Catholicism) teaching in the field of theology. To convince the higher clergy of his rejection of previous ideas, Lacorder wrote against Lamenne "Considerations sur le système philosophique de M. Lamennais" (1834). In 1839, he printed Mémoire pour le rétablissement en France de l'erdre des frères prê cheurs, and soon entered the Dominican order. The Vie de Saint-Dominique (1840) written by him is legendary and alien to all criticism.

In 1841, Lacorder returned from Italy to Paris and again with brilliant success preached to the masses of listeners.

In 1848, he again became a journalist, published the Ere nouvelle and was elected a member of the constituent assembly, but soon resigned as deputy.

Since 1853, he devoted himself exclusively to the care of the Sorrèze collegium founded by him and wrote Lettres à un jeune homme sur la vie chrétienne (1858), Liberté de l'Eglise et de l'Italie, 73 sermons and many grave words.

An original feature in the sermons of Lacorder is the constant effort to combine the Catholic church doctrine, in its ultramontane form, with the doctrine of political freedom and the rights of the people. No less characteristic is his desire to reconcile faith with the freedom of scientific research. In some sermons, however, he comes to the complete denial of science, reason, and enlightenment.

The language of Lacorder’s sermons, full of antithesis, romance and lyricism, his fans called the “language of the apostle." He acted more on the imagination and feeling of the audience than on their mind. Lacorder himself wrote that he wanted to heal the diseases of the century - skepticism and mental turmoil. He asks more than threatens and compels, more merciful than scourges. His speech is half religious, half philosophical, since he came to the conviction of the truth of Christianity mainly through reflection.

After the death of Lacorder, his writings were published in 1866, a collection of his sermons in 1886–88.

His correspondence with Svechina (1862), with the count, was separately published. Tour de Pen (1864); Lettres à des jeunes gens (1864); “Lettres à Th. Foisset "(1886).

• Chocarne, “Lacordaire, sa vie intime et religieuse” (1866), which tells us that Lacorder led the life of an ascetic and tortured himself daily
• Montalembert, Le Père Lacordaire (1862)
• De Broglie (speech at the entry of L. in the French Acad., 1863)
• Mourey, Maladie et Mort de Lacordaire (1868)
• Villard, Correspondance in é dite de Lacordaire (with biography and critical essay, 1870)
• De Broglie. Le Père Lacordaire (1889)
• L. Comte, "Etude homilétique sur la prédication contemporaine. Monodet Lacordaire "(1882)
• Nicolas, Etude historique et critique sur le Père Lacordaire (1886)
• d'Haussonville, "Lacordaire" (Paris 1895), in the "Grands écrivains français".

• Lacorder, Jean Baptist Henry // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.