Fr. Bob Kus 
There are many ways of “being a missionary.” Some leave home for foreign lands, while others spread the good news of Jesus Christ in their own lands. And some, like the missionary we have today, does mission by founding institutes that send others throughout the world.
Today we look at the life of St. Madeleine-Sophie Barat, founder of the Society of the Sacred Heart. It is fitting to introduce this woman today, for it is the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a day when Christians remember that the love of Jesus Christ has no limits. God loves all people, and there is no way we can ever destroy this love.
Madeleine-Sophie Barat, usually simply called Sophie, was born in France on December 12, 1779. As a child, Sophie obtained a splendid education from her brother Louis who would one day become an ordained priest.
Unfortunately, in her early years, the French Revolution was raging, and being a Catholic Christian was a very dangerous thing to be. In fact, Louis escaped from the guillotine through the intervention of a friend.
In 1795, Sophie and her brother went to Paris. There, Louis was ordained a priest and practiced his ministry in secret. Sophie lived in a safe house with some other women, and she continued her lessons from Louis – mathematics, Scripture studies, Fathers of the Church, and Latin. These courses augmented those Louis had already taught her, such as Spanish, history, natural sciences, Greek, and Italian.
Although Sophie wanted to become a Carmelite nun, the government had extinguished that Order in France. So, Sophie and three women she lived with in the safe house started a new Order in 1800, the Society of the Sacred Heart. But because the government had banned devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the women at first called themselves “Women of Faith” or “Christian Instructors.”
The primary purpose of this new Order of women was to serve God by serving as educators to the poor, especially poor girls. Soon, the Order grew and flourished, and missionaries were sent all over the world. Today, the Sisters of the Sacred Heart are found in many nations of Africa, Europe, North America, and South America.
Sophie died in 1865 at the age of 85 and was canonized 1925 by Pope Pius XI. St. Sophie’s feast day is May 25. She is a patron saint of school girls.
Some of St. Sophie’s sayings that show the kind of woman she was are: “More is gained by indulgence than by severity;” “Your example, even more than your words, will be an eloquent lesson to the world;” and “Be humble, be simple, bring joy to others.”
