Later he was applied to preaching, his life's work; to this he gave himself up almost exclusively for eighteen years, until advancing age forced him instead to take up directing sodalities and hearing confessions.
[1] He was one of the number of missioners formed in the school of St. Francis Regis of the Society of Jesus, and spent years in the evangelization of Velay, Auvergne, Languedoc, and Aveyron.
He had two brothers: Jean-Paul, born in 1618, who later became a Jesuit missionary, and Jean, who inherited his father’s position and became a prominent attorney.
Jean-Pierre served as Assistant to the Rector of the Jesuit College in Aurillac before returning to Toulouse, where he met Father Noël Chabanel, S.J.
[4] In Le Puy-en-Velay, the Saint-Joseph hospice for orphans and widows was under the authority of Bishop Henri de Maupas.
[5] Bishop de Maupas, officially accepted the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph giving them canonical status and the habit on 15 October 1650.
[3] Sacred Heart High School in Vineland, New Jersey, was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph, and presents a "Jean Paul Medaille Award" in honor of their founder.