You will find on this page some pictures characteristic of some moments of the life of Mother Barat.

Nota: Click on the picture to see a larger format.

December 12, 1779. St Madeleine Sophie Barat was born 225 years ago. Born premature, she was quickly baptised, in St Thibaut's church in Joigny. The above pictures in stained glass are in the baptistery of St Thibaut's church and are a reminder of the baptism and the Holy communion of St Madeleine Sophie.

Before that old painting, in Joigny, the young Sophie Barat used to pray with her family to have her brother Louis, who was in prison in Paris, not conducted to scaffold.

Before the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Sun of her life, the source of her whole energy, Madeleine-Sophie Barat shares her experience with us:

"He rewards whatever small is the gift.
He returns what we give him.
What a humility lesson he gives.
The Lord does not bless what we do at our own idea !" (1807)

November 21, feast of Mary's presentation. That feast reminds us that, according to the Tradition, Mary's parents presented their daughter in the Temple to have her educated there. Historicity of the fact is doubtful but the feast emphasises Mary's dedication to God as soon as her conscience began to develop.

On this feast-day, Sophie Barat and three companions consecrated themselves to God before that painting, without knowing what their future would be. The ceremony took place in Paris on November 21, 1800, the date being considered as the birth of the Society of the Sacred Heart.

That painting is a copy of an original, which is owned by the museum of Budapest. For 200 years, every General Superior has been elected before it. As Mary watched over Jesus' growth, she also watches over the spiritual life of the Society dedicated to Jesus' Heart.

20 October is the feast-day of Mater Admirabilis. In the Sacred Heart schools, there was a tradition placing the young Mary in the Temple. She is supposed to have learnt there to spin wool, to study, to pray, being educated just like the pupils of the Sacred Heart in the 19th century.

In 1844, a young French painter accompanied Mother Barat on one of her journeys to Rome. She prepared herself to enter the Society of the Sacred Heart. She was allowed to paint a fresco of the young Mary in a hall of the monastery of Trinita dei Monti. Pauline Perdrau started with courage this hard and difficult work. It took her 13 hours to paint the face. When the work was finished, everyone was disappointed: the colours were too garish. Waiting for an application of lime, the fresco was hidden behind a veil, . But, a few days later, the fresco appeared in all its beauty, revealing Mary's grace.

Two years later, on 20 October 1846, Holy Pope Pie IX, visiting the Trinita dei Monti monastery, exclaimed, when he saw the "Madonna with a lily": "It is really the most Admirable Mother". This is the name under which that Madonna is known in all houses of the Sacred Heart.

Recently, a former pupil of the Sacred Heart of Obayashi (Japan), not baptised, came to pray Saint Madeleine-Sophie for her daughter. Seeing the Madonna in a hall, she exclaimed with loving recognition: "Oh, Mater Admirabilis!" .

In Rome, not only former pupils of the Sacred Heart come to pray to her, but also saints like John Bosco or Therese of Lisieux… During the Council of Vatican II, several bishops from throughout the world were pleased to celebrate the Eucharist before her image, and to entrust to her the young people of their dioceses.

Saint Madeleine-Sophie, who had assisted to the creation of the fresco, loved to pray Mater Admirabilis. We may join her to pray for young people who are searching for interior peace and the spiritual life.

These two small paintings were put on the altarpiece of St Madeleine Sophie's chapel at Brussels, built in 1934. They represent the two poles of her life: on one hand, the prayer and on the other hand, her love for children.

The first painting reminds a grace she was not conscious of, as she was in adoration of the Lord: a light came out of the tabernacle of the Villa Lante in Rome and fully covered her.

The second one reminds that, when she was old and did not travel any more, she enjoyed meeting children and encouraging them to live in God's love. The academic style of the painting does not witness correctly of the children's love for her.

Last update: 2006-10-31