Subj : May 25th - Saint Madeline Sophie Barat To : All From : rich Date : Mon May 24 2021 10:15:46 From: rich May 25th - Saint Madeline Sophie Barat (also known as Madeleine) Born in Joigny, Burgundy, France, December 12, 1779; died in Paris, France, May 21, 1865; canonized 1925. Madeleine's father, Jacques Barat, owned a small vineyard and also worked as a cooper. Louis, her elder brother by 11 years who later became a priest, was Madeleine's godfather and determined to give her an education at least as good as that of any boy of the time. He also imposed on her strict discipline and penance. Madeleine loved her lessons and her Latin and Greek, her mathematics and science and history gave her enormous pleasure. For a while the brother was imprisoned during the Revolution, but he escaped and took his sister to Paris, where she studied religion. Madeleine grew into charming womanhood and yet retained a desire to serve God in the modest capacity of a Carmelite lay sister. But God's call came from elsewhere. A group of French priests of the Sacred Heart decided to establish a society of women devoted to teaching girls=E2=80=94the feminine counterpart of the Jesuits. The leader, Joseph Varin (afterwards a Jesuit), heard of Madeleine through her brother, and, in 1800, received her and three companions as nuns, commissioning them to found a society to educate girls. They started the first school of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at Amiens in 1801. Madeleine was scarcely 23--younger than any of her companions--but unanimously they elected her their superior. She ran the order for the next 63 years. The society spread throughout France, absorbed a community of Visitation nuns at Grenoble in 1804 (among whom was Blessed Philippine Duchesne, who took the society to the United States in 1818). Times were not always easy. The order was nearly wrecked in its early stages by the ambition of the chaplain in Amiens; but the patience and tact of Mother Barat and Father Varin prevailed, and together they drew up the rules of the society which were finally adopted in 1815. The society was formally approved by Pope Leo XII in 1826. The July Revolution of 1830 banished the sisters' novitiate for a time to Switzerland. But Madeleine was glad to travel, opening schools outside as well as inside France. Mother Barat led a life of extraordinary laboriousness as she organized the life and work of an ever-growing congregation, which became one of the best-known and most efficient educational institutes under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church. The secret of her endurance and determination was the religious spirit that inspired all her undertakings; she was endowed with wisdom and insight to a remarkable degree, joined with endearing modesty and attractiveness. By 1865, her society had founded 105 houses and schools in 12 countries (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Williams). Bible Quote: It is necessary that scandals come, but woe to the man through whom scandal does come!=C2 (Matt. 18:7) Let us attach ourselves to God alone, and turn our eyes and our hopes to Him. Saint Madeline To suffer myself, and not to make others suffer. Saint Madeline Our Lord who saved the world through the Cross will only work for the good of souls through the Cross. =E2=80=93 Saint Madeline God does not ask of us the perfection of tomorrow, nor even of tonight, but only of the present moment. =E2=80=93 Saint Madeline Sophie Barat <><><><> O Sacred Banquet (O Sacrum Convivium) O sacred banquet, in which Christ is received, the memory of His Passion is renewed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us. V.=C2 Thou didst give them bread from heaven: R.=C2 Containing in itself all sweetness. Let us pray. O God, who under a wonderful Sacrament hast left us a memorial of Thy Passion; grant us, we beseech Thee, so to reverence the sacred mysteries of Thy Body and Blood, that we may ever feel within ourselves the fruit of Thy Redemption: Who livest and reignest for ever and ever. - Amen. In Paschaltide the following prayer is said: Pour upon us, O Lord, the Spirit of Thy love, to make us of one heart, whom= , by Thy tender mercy, Thou hast filled with the paschal sacrament. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who with Thee liveth and reigneth in the unity of the same Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. - Amen. -- Roman Breviary --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .