St. Madeleine Sophie Barat

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Madeleine who is an incredible saint and did a lot of things for other people specifically children.

St. Madeleine was born on December 12, 1779, and she was actually able to receive her education, thanks to help from her brother Louis, who was 11 years older then her and her godfather at baptism.

Louis was a seminarian, and Louis decided that his younger sister should be able to learn Latin, Greek, history, physics and mathematics. Louis believed that it was important that St. Madeleine learned without any interruptions and with a minimum of companionship.

Eventually when St. Madeleine had turned 15, she was able to receive a very thorough exposure to the Bible, the teachings of the Fathers of the Church and theology. Despite the oppressive regime Louis had imposed, St. Madeleine was able to thrive and developed a genuine love of learning.

However during that time many political things had been occurring, to be more specific during that time the French Revolution was occurring and of the suppression of Christian schools. Unfortunately during this time the education of the young, specifically young girls, was in a very troubled state.

St. Madeleine, who had been discerning a call to the religious life, was eventually persuaded to become a teacher. St. Madeleine was able to found the Society of the Sacred Heart, which focused on teaching and educating the poor as well as boarding schools for young women of means. The co-ed Sacred Heart schools can still be found presently, and they also have schools exclusively for boys.

During the year 1826, her Society of the Sacred Heart was able to receive formal papal approval. During that time she had served as superior at a number of convents. During the year 1865, St. Madeleine was stricken with paralysis and she died on May 25, 1865 which was the feast of the Ascension that year.

St. Madeleine Sophie Barat was canonized during the year 1925, her feast day is celebrated on May 29 and she is the patron saint of Educators.

Prayer to St. Madeleine St. Madeleine we pray that you may protect all of the educators in this world, help them to be able to teach the truth to their students and help they to be able to stand up for the truth. Provide them with the conscious and wisdom they need so that they may seek to protect their students dignity and innocence and only teach them appropriate and correct things even during times of difficulty or trial. Amen St. Madeline pray for the teachers and for us St. Joseph pray for the teachers and for us

May we continue to strengthen our journey to sainthood and keep others in our prayers.

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Works Cited

Information (read from, not taken):

Franciscan Media. "Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat. ”Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat | Franciscan Media. Accessed 29, May 2021.

Images:

Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat. May 29, 2021. Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat - Google Search.