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235 The five essays in this book present some of the collective and individual biographies of members of the Society of the Sacred Heart in nineteenth -century France. Central to their experience was the form of life they created, which responded to their spiritual ideals and was socially possible for them to live. That form of life was established relatively quickly and articulated in the text of the Constitutions in 1815. While this gave them a basis on which to build their lives and pursue their educational projects, it contained from the beginning a core ambivalence common to religious groups in all religious traditions: how to embody a spiritual ideal in a given historical time and place. In the case of the Society of the Sacred Heart, the task was how to reconcile the spiritual equality of all the members in their day-to-day living, in this instance in nineteenth-century France, where class differences were firmly embedded in society. While recognising the spiritual equality of all the members, the Society adopted a two-rank system in the community, that of choir and coadjutrix sisters. A similar social pattern was reflected in the schools of the Society: the boarding schools catered for the upper class and the poor schools served the poor class, usually established in separate buildings on the same properties. This model was pragmatic and effective and met the expectations and indeed the experience of those who joined the Society. What is remarkable , however, is the rapidity with which the model took root and developed from 1800. Along with many other religious communities of women of the time, the Society of the Sacred Heart took advantage of the new spaces created inadvertently for women by the decision of the Legislative Assembly in August 1792 to suppress religious life in France. Conclusion This break with the past, however ruthless, created the possibility of new forms of life, capable in time of meeting the new realities of revolutionary and post-revolutionary France. Another factor helped the Society of the Sacred Heart. The Roman Catholic Church had been weakened by the Revolution and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy divided the church in France. The Revolutionary armies sacked Rome twice and the papacy was humiliated when the pope was forced to witness Napoleon crown himself emperor in Paris. In such a position the church welcomed the initiatives taken by women in the early nineteenth century, in the field of education and health, and used them as vehicles to re-build its power and influence. Many of the women in the Society of the Sacred Heart, especially in the early years, were gifted and independent, and their background, capacity and spiritual convictions made them strong leaders. Together they created their form of life, their community and their schools, which they ran like villages, self-contained and effective. This was an exciting time for women in the Society, with so many opportunities opening out for them with the scope to act decisively. They learnt how to resist clerical or government interference, and knew what to do if they were opposed. While they never questioned the rightful authority of state or church, they contested any encroachment on the rights of the Society as enshrined in the 1815 Constitutions. The independence of the Society was helped by its central form of government led by a superior general. To safeguard this, and the goods of the Society, Sophie Barat and her companions sought early on, in 1826/7, to have the Society recognised legally in France and in Rome. However, the property and inheritance rights of individual religious remained confused; nuns did not fit the categories of mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt. The vast number of legal cases, concerning wills and legacies, which Sophie Barat had to deal with bear witness to this anomaly. Members of the Society were devout Catholics and they were committed to rebuilding the church in France after the Revolution, and many of the clergy recognised their contribution in this regard. In the sphere of the sacraments, the regulations concerning religious life, as well as the running of schools in dioceses, the authority of bishops and priests was usually accepted without question, unless the rights of the Society were infringed. However, tensions with local clergy tended to exist below the surface and could erupt easily into struggles for authority in the community , or around finance and ownership of properties. In such cases, and this usually affected only the leaders of communities...

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