Saint of the day May 25: Saint Magdalene Sofia Barat. Catholic Saints

Every May 25, the Church celebrates Saint Magdalene Sofia Barat, founder of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Saint Magdalene Sofia was born in 1779 in Joigny (France). From a young age she felt attracted to prayer and religious life, but it would not be until after the worst years of the French Revolution – when religious freedom was being restored – that she would discover the call to consecrate herself to the service of God and the Church. Church.

Magdalena was born in a humble home, however, thanks to her older brother – who would become her tutor – she received a type of education considered a privilege for the time. This was because, firstly, most families had no money, and secondly, women had almost no access to education. Her brother, a young priest, brought her into contact with classical authors and theological tradition.

A “revolution” driven by charity

Little Magdalena was 10 years old when the Revolution broke out (1789). This historical-political process was pregnant with aspirations for freedom and justice, but understood from the rejection of all tradition. Furthermore, the ‘revolutionaries’ allowed themselves to be infected by the anticlerical spirit of many of the ‘new ideas’ that floated uncritically in the environment, which became a breeding ground for violence and lack of control. There were so many atrocities committed that the Revolution produced one of the most painful chapters in the history of French Catholicism.

As Magdalena grows, she begins to assume an increasingly solid commitment to her faith in a rather complicated context. The revolutionary movement had left a trail of resentment and rupture among the French, and many of them had turned away from the faith in which they had grown up. Thus, Magdalena Sofía perceives the need to contribute, from within the Church, to rebuilding the social fabric and establishing an authentic ‘fraternity’ – not the kind that resulted in the guillotine and the proliferation of scaffolds, but one that would respect truly the rights of human beings.

Christ has shown his heart

Magdalena, then, is dedicated to the formation of girls and young people, and to knowing and developing the spirituality of the Heart of Christ. In her childhood she had spent hours praying with her family in front of an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus for the release of her brother, imprisoned during the Revolution just for being a priest. That experience deeply marked her personal spirituality and encouraged her to cling to the Sacred Heart. Over time, her intuitions and dreams grew stronger and prompted her to take more solid steps on her vocational path: together with four companions she made her first religious vows in 1800, in what would become the new Society of the Sacred Heart, taking on a project that It combined contemplation and apostolate.

At the beginning of the 19th century, an epidemic decimated part of French society. The number of deaths left a terrible toll: many children were orphaned or completely helpless. Sister Magdalena Sofía and her sisters gave an effective response to the challenge they faced. The nun summed it up like this: “Don’t you have a mother? The Society of the Sacred Heart is founded for them. Even if there were no places left in the school, I would create a new one immediately for orphaned children or children abandoned by their parents.”

Love the poor like Jesus

Saint Magdalene Sofia Barat used to say: “I would give my skin to the poor.” That was the beautiful way in which she expressed how much she loved Christ and his suffering children. Those words carried a clear message: he would keep nothing to himself. And as happens when someone’s heart is inflamed by charity, Mother Magdalene helped many to strengthen their friendship and relationship with the Lord. As head of her institution, she was also concerned with the formation of Catholic educators in knowledge and virtue.

“If I were to be born again, I would do so only to obey the Holy Spirit and act moved by him” (Saint Magdalene Sofia Barat).

The saint left for the Father’s House on May 25, 1865. Today, the small society she founded has become a congregation that has more than 3,500 religious in the world, especially in Europe and America. The Mother was canonized in 1925 by Pope Pius XI.

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