S MADELEINE SOPHIE BARAT (1779-1865)

 Sophie herself received an extensive education, with her 11 year-older brother Louis. Himself a seminarian, Louis decided that his younger sister would likewise learn Latin, 

    Greek, history, physics and mathematics—always without interruption and with a minimum of companionship. By age 15, she had received a thorough exposure to the Bible, 

    the teachings of the Fathers of the Church and theology. Despite the oppressive regime, Louis imposed, young Sophie thrived and developed a genuine love of learning. 

    Meanwhile, this was the time of the French Revolution and of the suppression of Christian schools. The education of the young, particularly young girls, was in a troubled state. 

    Sophie, who had discerned a call to the religious life, was persuaded to become a teacher. She founded the Society of the Sacred Heart, which focused on schools for the poor as 

    well as boarding schools for young women of means. In 1826, her Society of the Sacred Heart received formal papal approval. 

    By then she had served as superior at a number of convents. In 1865, she was stricken with paralysis; she died that year on the feast of the Ascension. 

    Madeleine Sophie Barat was canonized in 1925.





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