Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat 17th C. French Nun Founded Worldwide Insitute

Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat was born on December 12, 1779, and died on May 25, 1865. Saint Madeleine was a French Carmelite nun. She happened to be the perfect age to live during the terror of the French Revolution. During the revolution, Catholics were persecuted, and Saint Madeline’s brother, Louis Barat, was arrested and imprisoned. Saint Madeline founded The Society of the Sacred Heart, which has become a worldwide organization. Saint Madeline Sophie Barat refused to have her picture taken, though there is a portrait of her on her deathbed. Do you know The Society of the Sacred Heart?

Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat Biography

Saint Madeleine was born in Joigny, France, to a middle-class family. Saint Madeline had three siblings, and her brother, Louis, became a Catholic Priest. Louis played a pivotal role in her life. In 1789, Father Louis was involved in the debate surrounding the pending Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which required all priests to swear allegiance to the new French revolutionary state. Father Louis took the oath of loyalty in January 1791, but on learning that the pope had condemned the Constitution, he renounced his oath in May 1792. He was imprisoned.

Louis was released from prison in 1795. Saint Madeleine and Father Louis lived in a safe house. Saint Madeline worked as a seamstress and became an excellent embroideress. Father Louis continued to say Mass and teach Saint Madeleine mathematics, Latin, and the Scriptures. Some of the subjects he taught before becoming a priest. The lessons affected her, and she, at about the age of 18, Saint Madeleine decided to become a Carmelite nun.

Doing so, however, proved to be impossible as all religious institutions in Revolutionary France were abolished. In November 1800, at the age of 20, she forewent becoming a Carmelite and, along with three other women living in the Paris safe-house, took her vows as one of the first members of this new religious congregation, marking the foundation of the Society of the Sacred Heart. However, because French authorities had forbidden anything named after Jesus, the institute was originally named ‘The Ladies of the Faith.’

The first school was opened in Amiens in northern France in September 1801, and Saint Madeleine taught there. She made her vows, June 7, 1802. The new community and school grew. A school giving classes to the poor of the town opened. In December 1802, when she was twenty-three, Saint Madeleine became Superior of the Society of the Sacred Heart.

In November 1804, Saint Madeleine’s partner, Joseph Varin, envisioned an entire network of such schools and, after the first establishments in France, foundations were established in North America (1818), Italy (1828), Switzerland (1830), Belgium (1834), Algiers (1841), England (1842), Ireland (1842), Spain (1846), Holland (1848), Germany (1851), South America (1853), Austria (1853) and Poland (1857).

In January 1806, Saint Madeleine was elected Superior General of the Society of the Sacred Heart, and in 1820, she called all of the superiors together in a council at Paris to establish a uniform course of studies for the quickly expanding network of Sacred Heart schools. The studies were to cultivate the mind and to create young women who would be devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and perform good deeds in God’s name. As foundations continued to multiply, she saw the need for a greater degree of unity and sought the approval of the Vatican in Rome. By 1826, the Society of the Sacred Heart had received its decree of approbation from Rome.

Conclusion

Having founded a worldwide Catholic education network during her lifetime, Saint Madeleine is noteworthy. Noteworthy further still is the fact that the Society of the Sacred Heart still exists. This obscure French nun accomplished some great things during her lifetime, and they lasted well beyond it. During her 65-year leadership, the Society of the Sacred Heart grew to include more than 3,500 members educating women in Europe, North Africa, and the Americas. Saint Madeleine died at the general motherhouse in Paris on Ascension Day, May 25, 1865.