Gaspard Terrasson (October 1680 – 2 January 1752) was a French
Oratorian, teaching humanities and afterwards philosophy, and later a well-known preacher.
Life
Terrasson was born at
Lyon
Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
. His oratorical talents were revealed at
Troyes
Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...
, 1711, on delivering the funeral oration of the
Dauphin, son of
Louis XIV
LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...
; but he did not devote himself to preaching till after the death in 1723 of his brother
André Terrasson, when he fulfilled several engagements which the latter had made. For five years he preached at Paris, and finally delivered a Lenten course in the Church of Notre Dame.
He appealed repeatedly against the
papal bull
A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it.
History
Papal ...
''
Unigenitus
''Unigenitus'' (named for its Latin opening words ''Unigenitus Dei Filius'', or "Only-begotten Son of God") is an apostolic constitution in the form of a papal bull promulgated by Pope Clement XI in 1713. It opened the final phase of the Janse ...
''; he was the anonymous author of twelve "Lettres sur la justice chrétienne" (Paris, 1733), in which, to support the
Jansenists
Jansenism was a 17th- and 18th-century theological movement within Roman Catholicism, primarily active in France, which arose as an attempt to reconcile the theological concepts of free will and divine grace in response to certain development ...
whom the bishops deprived of the sacraments, he endeavoured to prove the inutility of
sacramental confession
A sacramental (Latin pl. ''sacramentalia'') is a sacred sign, a ritual act or a ceremony, which, in a certain imitation of the sacraments, has a spiritual effect and is obtained through the intercession of the Church. Sacramentals surround the sa ...
. This work was condemned by the faculty of theology at Paris (1 Sept., 1734), and by the Archbishops of Sens and Embrun, as containing erroneous, schismatical and heretical assertions.
Terrasson had to leave the Oratory and abandon preaching. He withdrew to the
Diocese of Auxerre
The diocese of Auxerre () is a former French Roman Catholic diocese. Its historical episcopal see was in the city of Auxerre in Burgundy, now part of eastern France. Currently the non-metropolitan Archbishop of Sens, ordinary of the diocese of S ...
where the bishop, , a well-known Jansenist, confided to him the care of
Treigni. But he was soon arrested (Oct., 1735) by the order of the king for his Jansenistic activities, and was confined during nine years either at
Vincennes
Vincennes (; ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Vincennes is famous for its castle: the Château de Vincennes. It is next to but does not include the ...
or with the
Minims of
Argenteuil
Argenteuil () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Argenteuil is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise Departments of France, ...
. A belated retraction, the authenticity or sincerity of which has never been well established, was attributed to him. He was living in retirement with his family when he died at Paris.
Works
A volume of his discourses appeared at Utrecht in 1733, but the first real edition was at Paris in 1744 (4 vols.). The sermons of the two brothers were reprinted by
Migne
Jacques Paul Migne (; 25 October 1800 – 24 October 1875) was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias, and the texts of the Church Fathers, with the goal of providing a ...
in his "Collection des orateurs sacrés", XXIX (Paris, 1849).
References
;Attribution
* The entry cites:
**Cursay, ''Mémoires sur les savants de la famille de Terrasson'' (Trévoux, 1761);
**''Nouvelles ecclésiastiques'' (1736, 1744);
**''Supplément au nécrologe des plus célèbres défenseurs de la vérité'' (s. l., 1763), 120;
**Candel, ''Les prédicateurs français dans la première moitié du XVIIIe siècle'' (Paris, 1904);
**, ''La Faculté de théologie de Paris, Epoque moderne, VI'' (Paris, 1909), 144.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Terrasson, Gaspard
1680 births
1752 deaths
Clergy from Lyon
18th-century French Roman Catholic priests