During the conflict and violence of the French Revolution, Madeleine Sophie Barat founded the Society of the Sacred Heart, now an international religious institution. This biography draws on accounts by Barat's contemporaries and the many letters she wrote, some of which have not been translated before, to tell the story of a woman confronting division with personal integrity and love. This book is available for purchase  through Paulist Press (click here).

The Chapel at the Academy of the Sacred Heart and Berchmans Academy in Grand Coteau has just completed an extensive and necessary rehabilitation. For almost two centuries, the Chapel has been the spiritual heart of the campus and the site for Masses, prayer services, professions of vows, graduations, weddings, and first communions. Almost 30 years after the school’s founding in 1821, construction of this chapel began.

Many Religious of the Sacred Heart (RSCJ) have called the campus of Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart home since its founding in 1960. Sharon Karam, RSCJ, has resided in “the White House” on the school’s grounds since 1996. On Friday, January 17, many gathered to celebrate Sister Karam as she prepares to move to the RSCJ community in New Orleans this spring.

On January 15, the Villa Duchesne sophomore class visited the United States – Canada Province Archives to learn more about their school’s history.