Society of the Sacred Heart

The Society of the Sacred Heart was founded in France in 1800 by Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat. Four years later, Rose Philippine Duchesne entered the new community. In 1817, American Bishop William Du Bourg came to call at the motherhouse in Paris to recruit religious to open schools for Native Americans.  Rose Philippine Duchesne and her four companions arrived at the Market Street landing in St. Louis on August 22, 1818, the first women religious in St. Louis. On September 14, 1818, Philippine and her companions opened the first free school west of the Mississippi, with twenty-two girls too poor to pay any tuition. This was the beginning of the Academy of the Sacred Heart and international Sacred Heart education, which now spans the globe.

History of the Society of the Sacred Heart

Contacts

• Sister Mary Charlotte Chandler – Local Area Coordinator