The Society of the Sacred Heart in 19th century France, 1800-1865

Introduction

Introduction In the wake of the Counter Reformation and more intensely after the French Revolution, religious communities of women sprang up with astonishing rapidity in France. These communities shared a spiritual path, provided companionship and the opportunity to respond to the needs of society. This phenomenon invites analysis. It is intriguing to know how these women came together, agreed on their ideals and then set up structures and codes of behaviour which informed every aspect of their lives. On that basis they committed themselves to bringing their ideals to wider society, mostly by education and nursing. In that process, certain cultural transformations occurred, certain exchanges took place, between the social worlds these women had known and the one they created together in their community. One such community was the Society of the Sacred Heart, founded in 1800. During the French Revolution, Madeleine Sophie Barat (1779–1865) and her companions created a way of life which attracted women from both the aristocracy and the poor class. Their calling was based on their spiritual equality, made all the more evident during the Revolution when uncertainty and violence had created social chaos and a certain, if temporary , blur between the classes. By the time the Bourbons had returned to the throne in 1815 and social order and class structures were restored, the Society of the Sacred Heart had already embarked on a genuine and brave attempt to seek resolution between the internal and external social worlds the members had inhabited in their childhoods. In working out their life together the members certainly experienced tensions and conflicts, within and without the Society. But over time they began to open new spaces for women’s energies, new possibilities for independent 1 action, and they served the wider and indeed international community by the service of education. These women merit research; the history of religious women has been well embedded in rigid stereotyping of nuns. The French historian Jeanne de Charry1 considered Sophie Barat as ‘the great unknown’, and that, despite having a series of biographers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, she had remained a hidden and veiled figure. This was due in part to the canonisation process,2 which began soon after Sophie Barat’s death in 1865, and also to the genre and style of biography which obtained at that time. Two major biographies of Sophie Barat appeared between 1879 and 1884. One was written by her secretary , Adèle Cahier, and published in 1884. The other was published in 1876; this was written by Louis Baunard and commissioned by the Society of the Sacred Heart specifically in view of the canonisation process which began in 1872.3 Contemporary witnesses appeared in church court hearings held in Paris and Rome, each testifying under oath. The regulations concerning canonisation required a biography of the candidate, providing evidence of the person’s way of life and virtue, worthy of sainthood. The judicial body for the process then decided if Sophie Barat had exercised sufficient heroic virtue to merit the reward of canonisation. This investigation lasted from 1879 until 1925.4 The outcome of the canonisation process was successful and Madeleine Sophie Barat was awarded first the title of Venerable in 1879, then Blessed in 1908 and finally Saint in 1925. Thus, in a relatively short time after her death, the narrative and significance of Sophie Barat’s life was locked into a framework which sought to meet and satisfy the requirements of the canonisation process. In many ways she was the ideal candidate for sanctity in the late nineteenth century, a time when the church sought to increase its hold and influence over education. Sophie Barat’s contribution to the education of young women of the rich and poor classes in society was a useful example for the Catholic community. For its part, the Society of the Sacred Heart welcomed the possible canonisation of its founder. This would give it status within the church and wider society, particularly in the field of education. Such public, papal recognition would also facilitate the extension of the Society of the Sacred Heart internationally and provide a certain prestige when dealing with local bishops, clergy and secular authorities. However, what the process of canonisation had to do with the actual life of Sophie Barat is another thing altogether. In the creation of the 2 Introduction saintly figure of Sophie Barat, worthy of canonisation, hagiography inevitably...