13th Jun - TODAY IN SJ HISTORY

 The first Messenger of the Sacred Heart appears, edited by Fr. Henry Ramiere, SJ. Eventually there were 73 editions in 44 languages.

    The Apostleship of Prayer was set up in 1844 by a group of Jesuit seminarians at Vals, France. Because they knew missionary work lay before them, they were frustrated and impatient. 

    Eager to join the missions in India and America, they failed to see how their dull study routines would make them better missionaries. In response, their spiritual director, 

    Fr. Francois Xavier Gautrelet, S.J., held a conference. He emphasized that the salvation of souls was a supernatural goal and could therefore be achieved most effectively through 

    supernatural means. Addressing his younger Jesuit brothers, he said, "Be apostles now, apostles of prayer! Offer everything you are doing each day in union with the Heart of 

    our Lord for what he wishes: the spread of the Kingdom for the salvation of souls." Gautrelet taught these seminarians to offer each day to God. Thus, their prayer, study, work, 

    recreation, headaches would advance the work of the missions as much as their direct work in the field. The seminarians took this idea of a Daily Offering to the surrounding villages.

    This soon was formalized into what is now known as the Morning, or Daily, Offering. In 1861 the first Messenger of the Sacred Heart was published. In 1861, the Rev. 

    Henry Ramière, S.J., adapted the organization for parishes and various Catholic institutions, and made it known by his book "The Apostleship of Prayer", 

    which has been translated into many languages. In 1879 the association received its first statutes, approved by Pius IX, and in 1896 these were revised and approved by Leo XIII. 

    The Apostleship of Prayer has always operated under the auspices of the Society of Jesus.






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