St. Madeleine Sophie to Mother Duchesne:

Window of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat and child
(photo taken on December 8, 2008) and
Bishop George Rassas
 at Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart

December 7, 1810 ~ St. Madeleine Sophie to Mother Duchesne: "Be docile and faithful, and even if you do not make great strides, go on trying without losing courage.  Can you refuse these efforts to the Infant Jesus, Who in His little crib preaches so eloquently, so persausively, the virtures of humility, meekness, obedience?"

Taken from the book:  Through the Year with Philippine Duchesne


Below is a brief history of the window pictured above with Bishop George Rassas

The Woodlands Academy St. Madeleine Sophie Barat Window

Thanks to the generosity of the Barat Education Foundation, a historic Barat College stained glass window picturing St. Madeleine Sophie Barat and a young child now graces the Bolton Sullivan Library at Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart. A bequest from the William B. Traynor Estate to the Barat Education Foundation funded the restoration and installation of the beautiful floor-to-ceiling window, which was formally dedicated in December 2008 as part of Woodlands’ Year long commemoration of 150 years of Sacred Heart education in Chicago.

The St. Madeleine Sophie Barat window was dedicated to honor Barat College of the Sacred Heart faculty and alumnae/i. The engraved plaque next to the window reads:

"For the sake of one child, I would have founded the Society of the Sacred Heart."

-St. Madeleine Sophie Barat-

This window is dedicated to honor the Alumnae/i and Faculty of Barat

College of the Sacred Heart, 1918- 2005, each of whom is that one child.

The St. Madeleine Sophie Barat window was commissioned for the Academy of the Sacred Heart at the time of the building of the chapel at Barat College of the Sacred Heart. The chapel was built in 1924 by George Hellmuth of St. Louis, whose sister, Mother Mary Hellmuth, RSCJ was a faculty member at the Academy.

The window itself was one of three above the entrance to Old Main welcoming students to the Academy of the Sacred Heart and Barat College. All three windows were designed by Emil Frei, Sr., also of St. Louis. It was the Emil Frei Art Glass Company, still based in St. Louis, which undertook the window’s restoration.

Today, those who use the Woodlands library and pass through the hallway to its adjoining courtyard experience the window’s beauty and serenity, and are reminded of the Sacred Heart legacy that connects Woodlands Academy and Barat College.