Biography

He was born at Martres

Martres

Martres is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:...

, in the département of the Haute-Garonne

Haute-Garonne

Haute-Garonne is a department in the southwest of France named after the Garonne river. Its main city is Toulouse.-History:Haute-Garonne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc.The...

, France, 17 May 1604; died in Paris on 21 January 1674. At the age of seventeen he passed from the college of the Jesuits in Toulouse to the Dominican

Dominican Order

The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...

 convent of St. Thomas in the same city. There he made his religious profession, 16 May 1622, completed his course in philosophy and theology, and taught these branches.

As early as 1634 he was first professor in his convent and conventual doctor in the University of Toulouse

University of Toulouse

The Université de Toulouse is a consortium of French universities, grandes écoles and other institutions of higher education and research, named after one of the earliest universities established in Europe in 1229, and including the successor universities to that earlier university...

. Rare erudition, depth of thought and clearness of exposition earned for him the reputation of being one of the leading theologians of France.

While discharging his professorial duties he delivered courses of Lenten sermons in the principal churches of Toulouse

Toulouse

Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...

, Avignon

Avignon

Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...

, Bordeaux

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...

 and other cities of Southern France. Upon the invitation of the bishops of Languedoc

Languedoc

Languedoc is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day régions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées in the south of France, and whose capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyrénées. It had an area of approximately 42,700 km² .-Geographical Extent:The traditional...

 he preached throughout their dioceses for ten years, reviving the faith of Catholics, elevating their morals, and combating the doctrine of the Calvinists, with whose ministers he frequently joined in open debate, sometimes in their public synods. In the pulpit Father Baron was always a teacher; but while intent upon forming the minds of his hearers he won their hearts by his disinterestedness, sincerity and charity.

From 1630 to 1659 he filled the office of prior

Prior

Prior is an ecclesiastical title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier, first', with several notable uses.-Monastic superiors:A Prior is a monastic superior, usually lower in rank than an Abbot. In the Rule of St...

 in the convents of Toulouse (twice), Rhodez, Castres

Castres

Castres is a commune, and arrondissement capital in the Tarn department and Midi-Pyrénées region in southern France. It lies in the former French province of Languedoc....

, Albi and Avignon and in the general novitiate in Paris, always promoting the reforms in study and religious observance inaugurated by Sebastien Michaelis

Sebastien Michaelis

Sebastien Michaelis was a French inquisitor and prior of the Dominican order who lived during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. His Histoire admirable de la possession d'une penitente , includes a classification of demons which has passed into general use in esoteric literature.-Early...

 in the first years of the century. In 1660, having declined the office of provincial in the Province of Toulouse, he was sent by the master-general of his order to make a canonical visitation of the Portuguese convents. On his return to Paris he devoted himself during the remaining fourteen years of his life to the composition of theological works.

Works

He published an abridgment of his controversies with Lutheranism under the title "L'heresie convaincue" (Paris, 1668). Of his sermons to Catholic congregations we have only those preached at Paris in 1658 and 1659 (Paris, 1660), doctrinal discourses and panegyric

Panegyric

A panegyric is a formal public speech, or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing, a generally highly studied and discriminating eulogy, not expected to be critical. It is derived from the Greek πανηγυρικός meaning "a speech fit for a general assembly"...

s, composed in the forced style and manner of his age.

His most important productions were written to satisfy the desire expressed by Pope Alexander VII

Pope Alexander VII

Pope Alexander VII , born Fabio Chigi, was Pope from 7 April 1655, until his death.- Early life :Born in Siena, a member of the illustrious banking family of Chigi and a great-nephew of Pope Paul V , he was privately tutored and eventually received doctorates of philosophy, law, and theology from...

 to the Dominicans assembled in a general chapter at Rome in 1656, that they should publish a course in moral theology conformable to the doctrine of St. Thomas Aquinas, and thus correct the laxity of morals encouraged by certain casuists. These works were:

• (1) "Theologiae Moralis adv. Laxiores probabilistas pars prior" (Paris, 1665);
• (2) "Manuductionis ad Moralem Theologiam pars altera" (Paris, 1665);
• (3) "Theologia moralis Summa bipartita" (Paris, 1667).

In these works, while condemning opinions that seemed too lax, and censuring others that appeared to be too rigorous, he defended the system of Probabiliorism.

With Jean de Launoy

Jean de Launoy

Jean de Launoy was a French historian. Known as "le denicheur des saints", he was a critical historiographer. He was on the sceptical side over the supposed papal bull Sacratissimo uti culmine...

 he was long in controversy as to the Summa Theologiae

Summa Theologica

The Summa Theologiæ is the best-known work of Thomas Aquinas , and although unfinished, "one of the classics of the history of philosophy and one of the most influential works of Western literature." It is intended as a manual for beginners in theology and a compendium of all of the main...

of Thomas Aquinas, the authenticity of which he ably defended, although he did not demonstrate it, as later writers have done. The manuscript of a work entitled "Apologia pro sacra congregatione Indicis" having been published with alterations made by a stranger, which brought upon it the condemnation of the Sacred Congregation, he promised a new edition, which was embodied in his "SS. Augustini et Thomae vera et una mens de libertate humana" (Paris, 1666).

Another work is his "Libri V apologetici pro religione, utraque theologia, moribus ac juribus Ord. Praed." (Paris, 1666).

At the time of his death he was engaged on a complete course in theology to be entitled "D. Thomas sui Interpres". From this work, but half completed and never published, the one bearing the same title by Antoninus Massoulié, O.P., is entirely distinct.