St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, Foundress of the RSCJ

St. Madeleine Sophie Barat (1779-1865 A.D.)

St. Madeleine Sophie Barat was called by God to found a religious order of women whose work is to educate young women for leadership roles and positions in society.

Praying to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

St. Madeleine Sophie Barat (1779-1865 A.D.) is the foundress of the Religious of the Sacred Heart. When she was just 10 years old in Joigny, Burgundy in France, she first knew of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart of Mary through images in their own home. Her brother, Louis Barat, who was 21 years old at the time, was imprisoned during the Reign of Terror. This situation made their parents and Madeleine prayed fervent before those images - entrusting Louis Barat to God. This spiritual experience made such a deep impression on Madeleine Sophie. The Sacred Heart of Jesus then came to be the focus of her devotion.

Education in Paris

After the Reign of Terror, Louis Barat returned home as a priest. That was in 1795 A.D. When Louis noticed his sister to have grown and with much intelligence, he persuaded their parents to allow him to take Madeleine for a good education in Paris. Louis believed that she was destined for an outstanding service in the Church. Under the direction then of her brother in Paris, Madeleine Sophie devoted hours every day in studying the writings of the fathers of the Church, the classics of western spirituality, and the Scriptures.

Origins of the Religious of the Sacred Heart

As she studied in Paris, St. Madeleine Sophie felt attracted to the contemplative life and so planned to become a Carmelite. But Joseph Varin, a priest in Paris who got to know Madeleine Sophie, also believed as her brother Louis did, that her intelligence indicate that she is called to more active service in the apostolate. And since convent schools in France at the time had been destroyed, these priests urged St. Madeleine to establish an order that would work for the education of girls. At the time also, St. Madeleine Sophie was directed to lead the family of a French branch of the just started religious congregation of Dilette Gesú. Eventually, without intending it, she was already laying the foundation for a separate congregation - the Religious of the Sacred Heart.

The Spirituality and Thought of St. Madeleine Sophie

In the mind of St. Madeleine, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was closely linked to devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. She followed the tradition of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and also emphasized reparation, the practice of the Holy Hour for the first Friday of the month, and the use of devotions and prayers intended to draw people to the worship of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. With her influence in these spiritual practices, the custom of making a half-hour of mental prayer daily before the Blessed Sacrament grew up in her congregation.

The Interior Life

Though St. Madeleine Sophie emphasized formal prayer, she also said that interior life is even more than prayer. And she points out the constant recollection of God's presence throughout the activities of the day as a good exercise to develop this interior life. She continues to add that this renewed recollection of God's presence is equivalent to the entire sacrifice of oneself. Such an action also makes a person truly given over to the action of God. St. Madeleine Sophie describes this reality to one of her sisters in her writing:

"Few give themselves over to the Holy Spirit, and what a mistake we make in not being among the privileged few! Believe me, it costs much more to stay in a miserable mediocrity in which one belongs neither to God nor to oneself. It is like swimming between two currents; it is difficult and dangerous. Hurry up and plunge into mid-stream. The Holy Spirit will then carry you and you will get to port much more quickly" (Letters 5 vols., II, 339)

Much of St. Madeleine Sophie's interior life was lived under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit drew her to an immersion and inner penetration of the gospels. She was much absorbed in the mysteries of Christ in the course of the liturgical year of the Church. This inner life that revolved around the mysteries of Jesus made St. Madeleine Sophie more aware of God's love and His guidance.

The Work of Education

The work by which St. Madeleine Sophie and her congregation was best known for in her lifetime and also years thereafter, was that of boarding schools for girls of affluent families. St. Madeleine Sophie saw the pressing need of good Christian education for young women who can become leaders in society. She wanted them to exercise a good influence by following ideals of service, self-sacrifice, and strong faith. Even with all the work that soon consumed the activities of all in the congregation, St. Madeleine Sophie never ceased to teach her spiritual daughters that prayer must not be of less importance than activities. She stresses that prayer must dominate and sustain all activities.

Old Age and Death

St. Madeleine thought that in old age the religious should give their major attention and energies to prayer, as she also wished for herself. However, despite her desire to do so, the Congregation she founded refused to release her from her duties as superior general at the age of 84. St. Madeleine Sophie accepted this as God's will for her. She therefore continued to the end until she totally gave herself to God upon her death in 1865 A.D.

Related resources:

• Spiritualities of the Heart

What Happened to the Apostles After Pentecost (Part four)

St. Simon

St. Simon the Zealot was one of the original followers of Jesus. Story-traditions from the West say that he preached in Egypt, and then went on to Persia with St. Jude Thaddeus. Both of them suffered martyrdom in Persia. Another tradition, this time from the East, tells a different story. It reports that St. Simon died peacefully at Edessa. Other story-traditions say that St. Simon also went in his missionary journeys to Libya and into present-day Tunisia. And there is also evidence that this apostle took the gospel with him to Britain, where Christianity took root because of him, before Britain became a colony of Rome in 42 A.D. The most popular tradition commonly believed by many, is that Simon died a martyr together with St. Jude Thaddeus. The two were stoned to death by a mob led by pagan leaders.

St. Jude Thaddeus

St. Jude was a relative of Jesus. He preached the gospel in Judea, Samaria, Idumaea, Syria, Mesopotamia, Armenia, and Libya. He is the author of a New Testament epistle bearing his name. As he preached in many places, he strongly attacked the heresies of the Simonians, Nicolaites, and Gnostics. It was in Armenia (which was under Persian rule) where he suffered martyrdom. His death as a martyr however bore much fruit, because Armenia was finally converted to Christianity in the third century A.D. St. Jude is known to have performed many miracles. These were due to his powerful intercession. He has been made the patron saint of lost causes and hopeless cases.

St. Matthias

We all know what happened to Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus to the chief priests. After the Ascension of Jesus, St. Peter addressed the assembly of Christ's followers and said that someone must take the place of Judas Iscariot to fulfill the Scripture. At first, the choice was narrowed down to two: Joseph Barsabbas and Matthias. After the whole assembly prayed for guidance before drawing lots, Matthias was selected. A story-tradition handed down by historians Clement of Alexandria, Eusebius, and St. Jerome, report that St. Matthias first preached in Judaea, then to Cappadocia, and to the shores of the Caspian Sea. In his preaching, he was remarkably insistent upon the necessity of mortifying the flesh to subdue temptations - an important lesson he learned from Jesus and which he himself practiced faithfully. Because of this, he suffered great persecutions and ill-treatment and was eventually martyred in Colchis.

Summary and conclusion

Writers have repeated many times in their works that Jesus is not a myth nor a legend but walked with the people of His time and became part of human history. One truth that attests strongly to what these writers report, is the zeal by which the apostles preached the Gospel, and their readiness to suffer even death for their love of Christ. After this era of the apostles, the early Christians who knew the apostles likewise did what the apostles have taught them by both word and deed. The first centuries of early Christianity were marked by strong martyrs who sacrificed their lives, in the same spirit as Jesus, so that the Good News of salvation may be brought to as many people as possible. This tradition of martyrdom that began with the apostles, continues to this day. Those who are called by God to witness to the saving power of Jesus, through death as martyrs, are all great gifts to the Church - influencing the Church to become stronger in their faith in God.

Resources of these blog posts

• Dictionary of Saints, by John J. Delaney
• A Year with the Saints, by Don Bosco Press, Inc.
• Saints for Our Times, by Ed Ransom

Memorial of Saints (June 5)

St. Boniface was influenced early in life to commit himself to God. After his ordination, he became a very inspiring preacher. In 718 A.D., Boniface was authorized by the Pope to be a missionary to Germany. Boniface had to convert the people from pagan superstitions. He built new churches and new convents all over Germany. He was then named Bishop of Mainz and Primate of Germany. In 754 A.D., while quietly reading in his tent, he was killed by a band of pagans. St. Boniface is known in Catholic tradition as the Apostle of Germany (died ca. 754 A.D.).

St. Dorotheus of Tyre was a scholar and a priest who was exiled during Emperor Diocletian's persecution of Christians. After the persecutions ended, Dorotheus returned and was made bishop of Tyre. He was able to attend the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., but had to flee again, this time to Varna in Bulgaria, because of another wave of persecutions. St. Dorotheus was arrested there at Varna and died of the beating he received (died ca. 362 A.D.).

St. Sanctius was born at Albi, France, and was captured by the Moors as a young boy. He was brought to Cordova where he was trained to be a member of the Turkish infantry corps. He however decided to declare his Christian faith. Because of this declaration, he was condemned by the authorities, was tortured and then impaled to death as a martyr for Christ (died ca. 851 A.D.).