Baptism: Man's Contract With God

Saint John Eudes wrote many books and is best known today as the Apostle of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In fact, he composed the masses for those feast days. One of his most eloquent and powerful works is this treatise on baptism originally entitled, Le contrat de l’homme avec Dieu par le Saint Baptême. This translation was done in 1859 by Rev. J. M. Cullen and published in Philadelphia.

Other than spelling updating and some layout, citations, and punctuation changes, this 2012 edition is the same as Fr. Cullen’s edition of 1859. This treatise is one of the clearest and most lucid explanations of the essential nature of the sacrament ever composed. Due to his Jesuit training and his great sanctity, this saint is able to make such a clear and orderly presentation of the effects of this solemn contract between God and his children that it is hard to imagine anything better ever being written on the subject.