Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat

The Society lives wholly in its members and its members in it, and what is common to all thus includes what is special to each.

The spirit of prayer is the essence of our vocation.

Why can we not say to the universe, "Know His Heart?"

As your difficulties increase, increase your trust.

It is better to err on the side of being too kind than too firm. 

To live without suffering is to live without love; to live without love is to die.

When we have lost neither heaven nor hope, what else matters?

Humility is the oil which keeps the lamps of the faithful burning, lighting the way to the Bridal Chamber of the Lamb.

Let us remember that peace can only reign in hearts that are humble and detached.

Speak little, pray much, go onward always, let passing things pass by, holding only onto what is eternal…

Our Lord bears with souls; he loves them even with tenderness and excuses and forgives their faults. How much greater reason have we to bear with one another?

Let us open our hearts to confidence to the spirit of joy; we serve the best of all Masters and all that we have is His. What is there to fear?

Let us belong to God and to God alone; let us love Him only.

What are we without the children? I have lived for them and I will die for them.

The Holy Spirit will come to you quietly, gently, almost imperceptibly.

We do everything at top speed, and I am not sure the Holy Spirit can act at that pace.

Keep on then like the sunflower, turning towards the true Sun of Justice so as to enter ever deeper into the prayer of simplicity.

When we seek God, the one whom we seek is already ours.

When the love of Jesus is in question our generosity should know no bounds.

Speed on towards holiness! We have so little time to complete this important task.

Mary Magdalen is the first adorer of the Heart of Jesus, and she must be the model for our love, a tender and generous love that refuses nothing and is always ready for the complete gift of self.

It is a great art to act only by the Spirit of Jesus.

Let love be your life for all eternity.

We don’t live with angels; we have to put up with human nature and forgive it.

The Spirit is always speaking to us deep in our hearts, if only we listen to her. 

God’s work is done slowly and in obscurity.

Courage and confidence must be our battle-cry. We cannot repeat these words too often.

Love God, and if you cannot meditate you can always say: My God, I love you.

Let us keep our hearts for Jesus; we may love others in him and for him, but his must be the first, the undisputed right. Has God not won the claim to a love surpassing all others?

He wants you to realize that strength is one of his gifts, and at the same time know how to sympathize with weakness.

The Sacred Heart never asks that we become perfect all at once, but that we work at becoming so day by day as God gives us grace and light. 

Only try to be generous and faithful; the Holy Spirit will do her work in you.

Jesus, let us make this pact: that I will die to everything in myself so that you can live through me; that I will be utterly silent so that it is you who speak in and through me; that in my being still you will act in and through me.

If you seek God alone, and seek him always, you will easily find him.

Let us love the Will of God above all things; let us cling to it no matter what happens, in life, in death, in sickness, in health. This is the source of all peace and happiness. 

Reflect before the tabernacle, calm yourself, empty yourself face-to-face with fullness…renew yourself in the wounds of Jesus Christ, especially in the wound of his side; it is ours…and then live anew joyously.

We must know how to inspire in our pupils a passion for the beautiful.

Nothing blots out sin like love.

There is room for all in that wide wound in the Heart of Jesus, but its secret depths are for the little and lowly ones. 

Let your heart be more attentive than your head, for the Holy Spirit is love, and to take hold of her, it is more important to love than to understand. 

The Holy Spirit looks for a heart totally free of selfishness in order to take possession of it…When the Spirit finds such openness, she pours herself out plentifully and rewards the person with boundless love. 

Even though you have fallen a thousand times in one day, if in the evening at examen you stand up again on your two feet, you may sing of victory.

For the sake of peace, I try to put myself in their place and only judge them by looking through their spectacles.

…repay our God love for love, heart for heart…

We should have but one desire, to love Jesus and to do His Will 

What difference does it make how you pray, provided that your heart is seeking the One whom you love?

Work more and more at letting yourselves be led by the Spirit of God: with this divine leader you will be rich in every spiritual gift for yourselves and others; you will have prudence, firmness when necessary; in fact, the Spirit will supply all you lack.

The Heart of Jesus is for (Religious of the Sacred Heart) shelter, food, fire, light, cool water…It is their element, their path, their life, their all. They were born there; there they must grow, live and die: in him, with him, for him.

This name [Religious of the Sacred Heart] is in itself a mission.

Let us never lose sight of Jesus, bearing in mind that God is all and the things of earth nothing except by him and in him.

Beware! The best is sometimes the enemy of the good.

For the sake of [a single child], I would have founded the Society of the Sacred Heart.

Pray a great deal for the people in charge; they cannot always do what is best and often they have to be content with doing something good. 

Hurry to be holy.

Grasp this fact clearly: Our Lord wishes you to become a great saint. He brought you into this little Society just to give you the means to doing so. You can do all things now, if only you are faithful to grace.
- in a letter to Rose Philippine Duchesne

Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne

Let us bear our cross and leave it to God to determine the length and the weight. 

Preach by the example of your lives rather than by words. Example is the very best sermon.

Those who desire only the good pleasure of God abide in peace even in the midst of failure, for God has not told us that He requires success of us.

God must be very good to give me an intercessor like you. Thank you, a thousand times, for the Masses offered to God for my poor soul. I beg you to continue to protect it with your prayers. 
-Letter to Father De Smet, 1852

He who has Jesus has all.

How very beautiful and consoling our faith is! For the little work we do here on earth, it promises in return all the joys of assured happiness.

Do not look back to the past, nor forward to the future. Claim only the present, for it holds God’s will. 

I am where God wills me to be, and so I have found rest and security. His wisdom governs me, His power defends me, His grace sanctifies me, His mercy encompasses me, His joy sustains me and all will go well with me. 

Let us try not to be exacting with other people, but rather to pass over in silence those thousand little annoyances that tend to irritate us. For we know that no one is perfect in this life, and we must put up with the defects of others as they put up with ours.

. . . the dear Lord has favored us with His cross. The greatest and undoubtedly the hardest to bear is the lack of success in our work here. If a saint had been in charge, all would have gone well.

. . . We have wanted the cross and not honor, poverty and not riches, the Will of God and not success: therefore, if God’s work is opposed, we shall always have the precious advantage of being in a situation that allows us to be closely united to Jesus Christ, our Spouse.

Profit by the little trials that come to you, for through them, we make real progress.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who bringeth good tidings and who teacheth peace!
- in her greeting to Madeleine Sophie Barat when meeting for the first time

I am just as imperfect here in America as I was in France. Martha bustles about with good intentions, but it is Mary – the soul that is humble and recollected – who is approved by Jesus.
- in a letter to her cousin

Kneeling in spirit at your feet, dear Reverend Mother, I offer my wishes for you to the Heart of Jesus. May He bless the year that is ahead of us; may he take care of you, help you bear the burden you carry and never let me add to it by any fault of mine.
- in a letter to Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat, 1822

Those who desire only the good pleasure of God abide in peace even in the midst of failure, for God has not told us that He requires success of us. 
- in a letter to Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat, 1825

I beg you never to close this house of Saint Charles. If you could only see the pretty place we have here, standing beside the church, you would not have the courage to take it from us. I sympathize with all the crosses you have to carry, and I beg you, take mine away by safeguarding our first dwelling-place.
- in her letter to Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat, 1851

You may dazzle the mind with a thousand brilliant discoveries of natural science; you may open new worlds of knowledge which were never dreamed of before; yet, if you have not developed in the soul of the pupil strong habits of virtue which will sustain her in her struggle of life, you have not educated her, but only put in her hand a powerful instrument of self-destruction.

We cultivate a very small field for Christ.  But we love it, knowing that God does not require great achievements, but a heart that holds back nothing for self.

I would regret dying before having built a public oratory dedicated to the Sacred Heart in this country.

Janet Erskine Stuart, RSCJ

Love is the gift of self; all forms of the gift of self for the love of Christ are devotion to the Sacred Heart.

We are called to a fuller, richer, higher life within ... called to work with God, to walk with God, to have influence with God.

That we are called to be and are Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, means that we ought above all to excel in love.

So much wealth goes through our hands every day, it is such a pity if it goes to waste. Don’t let it. Live a life that, in the midst of material details, is quiet, rich, thoughtful and progressive.

Try to do the one thing worth doing, abandon yourself to His care and His love, and let Him love you in His own way

Try to do the one thing worth doing, abandon yourself to His care and His love, and let Him love you in His own way

We must remember that it is better to begin a great work than to finish a small one. 

We are all God’s property, and your life must be one wild bird’s song of praise, one wildflower’s face looking up to God.

The way to do much in a short time is to love much. People will do great things if they are stirred with enthusiasm and love. 

Yes, do be a saint; why not? What else is worth living for, caring about; and every little thing in the day may help you on towards it, if you look at it on the right side as coming from our dearest Lord, who is so in with us in all our daily troubles and duties.

We are all God’s property, and your life must be one wild bird’s song of praise, one wildflower’s face looking up to God.

The way to do much in a short time is to love much. People will do great things if they are stirred with enthusiasm and love. 

Yes, do be a saint; why not? What else is worth living for, caring about; and every little thing in the day may help you on towards it, if you look at it on the right side as coming from our dearest Lord, who is so in with us in all our daily troubles and duties.

You do not know what prayers can do, making impossible things possible. God will help you, and, if you keep hold of the deepest things you know and keep hold of God Himself, you may go through very hard days but you can never go under.

You begin every day just where you are, no matter what. It is always here and it is always now.

Remember that whatever happens ... you must say, according to circumstances, joyfully and thankfully or humbly and submissively or bravely or, if need be, defiantly to the troubles within, "This is part of the story and the story is of God's love for you and yours for Him."

The higher we want to fly, the greater the risk, but that is the glorious part of it.

Above all remember that you are the most cherished object of the Lord's most tender love. May He convince you of that.