05/25/2026
Happy Feast Day, Saint Madeleine Sophie!
“Be humble, be simple and bring joy to others.” — St. Madeleine Sophie Barat
Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, who founded the Society of the Sacred Heart in France in 1800. Sophie's aim was to reveal the heart of Jesus in everything she did and her mission was carried out through education. Her vision and wisdom led her to establish Sacred Heart schools in North America by sending St. Philippine Duchesne to begin our school in St. Charles in 1818. From here, Sacred Heart schools grew to South America, Asia and Africa and now number more than 150 schools in 41 countries.
Let us pray the prayer that Sophie prayed daily:
Sacred Heart of Jesus,
Give me a heart that is one with your own;
A humble heart that knows and lives its nothingness;
A gentle heart that holds and calms its own anxiety;
A loving heart that has compassion for the suffering of others;
A pure heart that recoils even at the appearance of evil;
A detached heart that longs for nothing other than the goodness of heaven;
A heart detached from self-love and embraced by the love of God,
Its attention focused on God, Its goodness its only treasure in time and in eternity.