Michel Poncet de La Rivière

[6] He assigned his Vicar General, François Babin [fr], to write the essay, Conferences d’Angers, published in 1716; promoted the Papal bull, Unigenitus, against Jansenism; condemned Les Hexples, ou les six colomnes sur la Constitution Unigenitus, the 1721 collection of six Jansenist essays; denied the appeal from the Benedictines of the five Angevin abbeys; defeated two bishops in a debate at the Assembly of the Clergy in 1725.

[9] But he also found the time to dedicate in 1710 l'Église du Bon-Pasteur [ Church of the Good Shepherd ], built on rue Saint-Nicolas [ St. Nicholas Street ] in Angers, for the Soeurs du Bon Pasteur [ not to be confused with the modern Good Shepherd Sisters ], a local community of non-cloistered nuns; and to build, at his own expense, the Chapel of the Calvary, set against the Cathedral, as the shrine of the mission cross.

He earned great praise for two speeches he made at the Court – one of them in 1715 during Lent and the other in 1722 for the coronation of King Louis XV – but Saint-Simon felt that La Rivière's skills as an orator were not the equal of these important occasions.

His death caused the clergy considerable distress because, in spite his notoriously dissolute lifestyle,[13] his funeral oration would have to be delivered to the pleasure and satisfaction of the King and his Court.

In fact, d'Alembert declared, "Quand l'évêque d'Angers n'eût écrit que ce peu de mots en toute sa vie, il ne devrait pas être placé dans la classe des orateurs ordinaires [ If the Bishop of Angers had not written these few words, he would be counted only among the ordinary orators ].

The literal translation of its Latin title is: Series of Lessions, of the Breviary of Angers, of the Most Reverend and Illustrious Father in Jesus Christ Don Michel Poncet de la Rivière, Bishop of Angers, Recognized by the Authority and Approval of the Venerable Chapter, Château-Gontier, House of Joseph Gentil [fr], Printer and Bookseller of the Town and College, 1721, by the Privilege of the King.

Que mon bonheur serait extrême, Si cet aveugle était le même Qui me fait tout penser à vous!