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As
the Society grew rapidly with new houses and new members, it was
necessary to establish it on a legal footing with both canon and civil
law. In 1806 the long process narrated by Jeanne de Charry began.[i] The
council that met at Amiens in 1806 not only elected Madeleine Sophie
superior general but also drew up the earliest set of rules. It
provided for central government and for the name of the Society: they
were to be the “Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – not Dames, notice; they opted for the humbler title, Filles. As we know, for political reasons they could not use this title publicly at first but were called Dames de l’Instruction chrétienne or Dames de la Foi. The council also composed a common vow formula for all the houses.
As
Mother Barat returned to Grenoble after the council, she continued to
correspond with Father Varin about the development of the rules. It was
necessary to present them to diocesan authorities in each new diocese
where a house was opened, so the process had to be hurried. In
addition, there was question of obtaining government approval for the
new society, a necessity if the members were to avoid political
interference, even suppression. M. de Sambucy-St-Estève, chaplain and
confessor of the Amiens community, took care of that, presenting to
Napoleon a series of statutes for the congregation. On March 10, 1807,
Napoleon signed the imperial decree in favor of the Dames de l’Instruction chrétienne.
The earliest rule owed much to that of the Company of Mary, a 17th
century order, whose founder, St. Jeanne de Lestonnac, had wanted
central government but had been unsuccessful in getting that provision
accepted at the time. The Company of Mary Our Lady, known in France as Religieuses de Notre Dame, in turn was largely inspired by the Rule of St. Ignatius. The Jesuit summary, in the form it took among the Religieuses de Notre Dame,
remained the basis of all successive versions until 1814. It was the
rule that Madeleine Sophie presented to her novices in Poitiers. But,
as J. de Charry points out, Mother Barat had at heart the consecration
to the Heart of Christ that was the original inspiration; she formed
these novices to that spirit and that devotion as she understood it.
While
Madeleine Sophie was establishing the formation program in Poitiers,
Abbé de St-Estève, with the support of Anne Baudemont, superior at
Amiens, came to dominate more and more the religious life of the
members of the Amiens community. His delusions were such that he began
to see himself as the founder, and he began to alter the rules
developed so far. Influenced by some former nuns of monastic orders –
his sister was an ex-Ursuline – he advocated a structure in which each
house would be relatively independent. The superior general’s role,
especially in sending religious from one house to another, was
diminished; her election was for ten years only. More importantly, from
Madeleine Sophie’s point of view, there was no provision for
consecration to the Heart of Jesus and for adoration of the Blessed
Sacrament. The decisions made in 1806 concerning the name of the
Society and central government were effectively reversed.
Mother
Barat was present when these new rules were presented to the Amiens
community who received them happily because they had already been
living according to them. It was Madeleine Sophie’s task to present
them to the other houses; she did so sincerely, believing that if all
the other religious approved these developments, their acceptance would
be a sign from God that they should be adopted. Reception, however, was
anything but enthusiastic. The first three, herself, Geneviève Deshayes
and Henriette Grosier, among others, did not recognize in this new
document the Society they had joined. The sisters in Ghent especially
wanted to retain the rules by which they had been living.
Political
events complicated this story: Father Varin was in a kind of exile at
his sister’s home in Franche-Comté; M. de St-Estève was imprisoned in
Paris for political intrigue. Needing advice Mother Barat sought it in
Paris from Abbé Jean Montaigne. She conferred also with Father Varin,
going twice to visit him at his sister’s home. Finally with the help of
Fathers Varin and Lambert from Poitiers a compromise was worked out,
and Mother Barat went to visit St-Estève in his place of confinement in
Paris to present him with the results. The compromise was not all that
Madeleine Sophie wished, but she accepted it for the sake of peace and
unity, always major considerations for her, as later events would show.
Jeanne de Charry points out that what was lacking was an accurate
reflection of the spirit of the Society and, above all, the explicit
mention of the keystone of the institute, namely consecration to the
Heart of Jesus. How that deficiency came to be remedied is another
chapter in the story.
[i] J. Charry, RSCJ, History of the Constitutions of the Society of the Sacred Heart: the formation of the institute, trans. B. Hogg, RSCJ)
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