Madeleine Sophie Barat was born in 1779 in Joigny, a small town in France. From a very early age she heard the call to follow Jesus in the religious life. On the 21st November 1800, shortly before her 21st birthday, she made her first vows in Paris with some friends, and so the Society of the Sacred Heart was bom. In her own heart she had two deep desires: to lead a life of prayer, and to help the society of her day in the aftermath of war and revolution.
Throughout her life, she opened innumerable houses in various countries. Despite frail health, Sophie overcame many difficulties and challenges. Her faith was rooted in Jesus Christ. She had a deep desire to reveal to others the love of the Heart of Jesus, a love she herself experienced so powerfully.
Sophie's father was a vintner, and she often described this relationship with Jesus with his words John’s gospel: "l am the Vine, you are the branches".
Madeleine Sophie Barat died at the age of 85, leaving 3539 religious in 99 communities in Europe, Africa and the Americas. She was canonised in 1925, and her feast day is the 25th May.
Another woman important in the story of our beginnings was Rose Philipphine Duchesne. A French woman, like her friend Sophie Barat, she dreamt of taking the Society to distant lands.
Philippine was born in Grenoble, France, in 1769. She was very young when she first heard the call to show forth the love of the Heart of Jesus in distant lands. After long years of hoping, her wish was at last granted: to go to America and begin the first community of the Sacred Heart on the American continent, in what was then the pioneer territory of the southern states.
For many years, and against a backdrop of setbacks, Philippine laboured ceaselessly. Her example attacted other women, and so the Society began to grow in the USA. From there, the first foundation in Chile was made. Some years before she died, already in frail health, Philippine lived with a native American tribe called the Potowatomi. They remembered her as ’the woman who prayed always'.
Philippine died in 1852, and was canonised in 1988. Her feast day is the 18th November. Philippine's life and work and the life and work of the Society are symbolised by the oak tree that begins life as a very small seed and grows into a strong sturdy tree with deep roots.
From the beginning the Society's mission was expressed through the education of youth in schools and colleges. A changing world, however poses new challenges. RSCJ are always exploring new ways of carrying out their mission of education.
Sophle's vision helps us even today. For her, the aim of education was to prepare women committed to the society of their day. Education, for her, was about transforming society and strengthening the social fabric. That is why to this day RSCJ carry out their service of education in three areas.
- teaching and formation
- human development and the promotion of justice
- pastoral work and guidance ln faith.
