Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat

Life story

Madeleine Sophie Barat was born on 12 December 1779 in Joigny, in Burgundy, France, into a family of coopers. Her older brother Louis, a priest, taught her Latin, Greek and several other subjects, something unusual for a woman of her time. The French Revolution weighed heavily on her family.

In 1800 she met Fr Joseph Varin, who was looking for a way to found a women's order dedicated to education. The Society of the Sacred Heart was established in Paris that same year, and its first school opened in Amiens in 1801. In 1806 she was elected superior general and kept that responsibility for more than sixty years.

Under her leadership the society spread across many countries of Europe and then to the Americas. In 1818 Philippine Duchesne, a sister of the society, arrived with companions in what is now Missouri in the United States and opened the order's first school in the New World. Barat visited the communities, wrote a great many letters and gave priority to the training of teachers. She is also remembered for founding schools meant for girls of different social backgrounds, including free schools for the poor alongside boarding schools.

She died on 25 May 1865 in Paris, on the feast of the Ascension, at the age of eighty-five. She was canonised by Pope Pius XI on 24 May 1925. The Church keeps her feast on 25 May.

Works and witness

• Taught Latin, Greek and other subjects by her priest brother
• Founded the Society of the Sacred Heart with Fr Joseph Varin in 1800
• Opened the first school at Amiens in 1801
• Superior general from 1806 until 1865
• Sent sisters to the United States in 1818, extending the order to the Americas

Saints from the same country

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Louis IX of France, Saint Joan of Arc, Saint Francis de Sales

References

• Martyrologium Romanum
• Dicastery for the Causes of Saints – biographical profile
• Encyclopaedia Britannica, entry Saint Madeleine-Sophie Barat

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.