Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat: Woman of Courage and Confidence

In the coming months, we will feature reflections on the vocation stories of the founders of our partner religious communities and other partner institutions. We invite you to visit us and read the stories of these unique individuals. We believe that the lives of these men and women continue to be rich sources of insight and inspiration.

Madeleine Sophie Barat, founder of the Society of the Sacred Heart, would understand much of what is happening in our times, because she herself, born on the eve of the French Revolution, knew both the hopes and fears, joys and sorrows, accomplishments and failures, deep friendships and heartaches of life. She grew up in a country torn by war and uncertainty.

Sophie was born prematurely in the midst of a fire in 1779 in Joigny, France, a small town in the wine country of Burgundy. Her eleven-year old brother, Louis, was chosen to be her godfather and took this responsibility very seriously throughout Sophie’s life. He recognized her intelligence and supervised her studies, which provided her with an extraordinary education for a young woman of her times. Her course of study eventually included Scripture, theology, Greek, Latin, geography, sciences, mathematics and literature.

We learn from Sophie’s stories of her childhood how her family was instrumental in her development. Her father, Jacques Barat, was a wine grower and cooper. Sophie learned from him how the vines were tended and pruned. During harvest time she, as well as every member of her family, helped to gather the fruit in the vineyards. As a result, she had a great appreciation for and involvement in the earth and all of creation throughout her life. She often used images from nature in her spiritual writings.

Sophie made her first communion at age ten, dreaming of being a Carmelite. It was the time of the abolition of churches in France. Her brother, now a seminarian in Paris, was imprisoned. At fifteen she lived through the Reign of Terror, which took 35,000 lives in France.

When the churches were re-opened in France, Louis, now a priest, brought twenty-year-old Sophie to Paris to continue her education. He introduced her to Father Joseph Varin, who wanted to begin a new religious order of women dedicated to the Heart of Jesus and committed to the education of young girls. Sophie, because of her desire to enter Carmel, at first refused to consider his invitation to be a founding member. But Father Varin told her that her gifts for education were not meant to be kept in a cloister and that once the will of God was made known, she had nothing left to do but obey.  Sophie later said “I would always regret not going to Carmel if I did not have the assurance that God so designed it.  But, at least, we must unite solitude with the work we do – and counter this whirlwind with a deep cavern where the soul can take refuge as often as possible.  For us this cavern is the Heart of Jesus.”

At the age of twenty-six, Sophie was chosen to assume leadership of the Society of the Sacred Heart – for life.  Sophie and those who joined her soon realized the value of providing a faith-filled, solid education for young women who would eventually influence their husbands and children. She was drawn to reach out to the children of parents who were poor as well as those who could afford to pay tuition. She developed a Plan of Studies that was to be followed in every Sacred Heart school.  Through the years it has been modified to meet the needs of the times.

Always convinced that prayer had to be the foundation and support of the Society of the Sacred Heart, Sophie once said to her sisters: “An order that unites the contemplative to the active life has a powerful grace, which underlies its action. By this means interior life is maintained. I pray to God to draw to us many who have an attraction for prayer, for it is thus that I have always conceived of the Society.”

The story of the foundation of the Society of the Sacred Heart is full of intrigue. Sophie dealt with many circumstances beyond her control. She experienced tension with the institutional church of her day and with the French government. She also struggled with members of the Society who challenged her leadership and vision for the community. During that time she had her own share of successes and failures in relationships but never stopped loving even those who turned against her.

One of Sophie’s cherished friends was Rose Philippine Duchesne, a former Visitation nun. Philippine was forced to leave her convent during the French Revolution, and after trying in vain to re-open it when the Revolution ended, she eventually met Sophie and instantly knew that she would join the Society of the Sacred Heart. Sophie, although drawn to missionary service, knew it was impossible for herself to leave Europe. Recognizing Philippine’s passion to teach the “Indians” in the new world, Sophie sent her and four companions to carry the Society’s message and work of education to America. In 1818 they began the first free school west of the Mississippi River and the beginning of the Society’s international spirit which today has expanded to forty-four countries on all the continents.

Sophie faced many obstacles in her sixty-three years of leadership in the Society of the Sacred Heart. She prayed constantly and reflected on her experiences in order to hear the voice of the Spirit in herself, in her sisters, in her church in her world and in all of creation.  She discovered through prayer and her daily experiences the immensity of God’s love and proclaimed that love through her words and actions.  She was alert to what was happening around her, responding to concrete needs and reaching out to people of all backgrounds. She noticed what she was thinking and feeling and shared honestly what was happening within her. She had to learn to distinguish between the conflicting voices within and without and consulted with those she trusted.  As a result, the mission of the Society continued to develop. At the time of her death, in 1865,  it had spread to 16 countries; she had founded 111houses, twenty-two of which had been closed, some by violence.

What advice would she give you if she were alive today? Here are some of her own words: “The times in which we live call for fervor, fidelity and generosity.”  “Saints are less admirable for the holiness of their lives than for the courage with which they rise after each fall.” “The heart’s best security is to trust in God alone.” “If I had my life to live over again I would seek to live in complete openness to the Holy Spirit.”

Nancy Koke, RSCJ