Carrollton celebrates its 50th Anniversary... Miami style!

Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart

I have just returned from a wonderful weekend in Miami at Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart celebrating with alums, current and past faculty & staff, RSCJ, parents and students.  Many more photos to be added but for now here is a litle "taste" of my Saturday evening touring the Jay Weiss Art Gallery after having had dinner with the 17 RSCJ who came from far and wide to join the festivities. 

Loving gratitude to Sr. Suzanne Cooke, RSCJ and all who were involved with organizing and coordinating this special reunion weekend! 

Renowned Art Deco Artist Hildreth Meière Celebrated in New MOBIA Exhibition Walls Speak

Hildreth Meiere, AASH President 1957-1959
(1892-1961)

Hildreth Meiere, an alumna of the Covent of the Sacred Heart Manhattanville (class of 1911) and past president of AASH.  She is considered one of the best known and most prolific Art Deco muralists of the 20th century.  Recognized during her lifetime for both her liturgical and secular work.  Meiere completed over 100 commissions from 1922 to 1961 including altarpieces and decorative programs for many of America's most prominent congregations.  Wall Speak highlights Meiere's liturgical work examining her designs for several commissions including St.Bartholomew's Church and Temple Emanu-El in New York City; the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, and the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

Radio City Music Hall, NYC 
Most will recognize  the mosiac entitled "Dance" however few
may know the artist's name

The WALLS SPEAK exhibit at MOBIA will run from February 3,  2012 - May 20, 2012 

To Madeleine Sophie Barat

January 24, 1818 ~ Mother Duchesne writes to Mother Barat, "Our departure for America has been advanced. The religious who are going with me have only their good will to contribute. Bishop DuBourg warned us not to count on him for money.  That is why I must collect as much as possible. After all, money is desirable only in so far as it can be spent usefully."

Taken from the book:  Through the Year with Philippine Duchesne

Memorial Mass scheduled for Mary Burns, Sacred Heart alumna, former RSCJ and Headmistress of Grand Coteau

Mary T. Burns
Headmistress of the Sacred Heart School of Montreal
1993-1999

Mary Theodosia Burns, suffered death on December 14th, 2011 in Gainesville, Florida. She was born January 17th, 1942, in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of Mary Theodosia Weber and James Patout Burns, both of whom preceded her in death. 

Mary will be missed by her husband of more than twenty years, Sean McEvenue and by his children, whom they shared: Patrick, Kate, and Timothy McEvenue, by their spouses Joëlle Rudick, Jesse Bazzul, and Shannon Lu, as well as by grandchildren, Benjamin, Nathan, Luca, Joseph, and Ellie. She is also survived by her brothers James Patout Burns, Jr. and his spouse, Robin Jensen, and by Theodore Weber Burns and his partner-in-life Maura McDonnell, and his children Theodore, Jr. (Brad), David, Jeffrey, Jennifer, and their spouses and partners-in-life Krystal, Jamey, Beth, and James, as well as his grandchildren, Spencer, Dawson, Brayden, Linda (Elle) and Marley. 

Mary received her primary education at Mount Carmel Academy in New Iberia, LA, and her secondary education at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Grand Coteau, LA. She received degrees from Maryville College, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and Tulane University. 

During more than twenty-five years as a Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, she worked as a teacher and administrator in primary and secondary education. She taught in Sacred Heart schools in St. Charles, MO and Grand Coteau, LA, before being appointed Director of Students and then of Studies at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans. She served as Headmistress of Duchesne Academy in Houston and as Director of the Sacred Heart Schools in Chicago. After her marriage to Sean McEvenue, she was Headmistress of The Sacred Heart School of Montreal and finally of the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Grand Coteau, where she led the effort to establish Berchmans Academy for boys. That dedication commemorated the miracle of St. John Berchmans at Grand Coteau. Mary's death fell on the anniversary of that miracle. 

Mary served on the governing boards of Sacred Heart schools and colleges in Grand Coteau, New York City, St. Louis, Houston, and Montreal. She was also a director of M.A. Patout & Son, Ltd. in Patoutville, LA, a sugar producer established by her great-grandmother and presided over by her grandmother and father. She retired to Gainesville, Florida in 2009 where she served as a Eucharistic Minister at Holy Faith Catholic Church. 

And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior." (Luke 1.46-47)

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Saturday, December 17, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. at Holy Faith Catholic Church, 747 NW 43rd Street, with Fr. John Phillips as celebrant. Interment will follow at Memorial Park Central. The family will receive friends at the church, Friday, December 16, 2011, 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., with the Rosary being recited at 8:00 p.m.

Arrangements are under the care of WILLIAMS-THOMAS FUNERAL HOME DOWNTOWN, 404 North Main Street. Memorial gifts may be made to Institutional Advancement, Schools of the Sacred Heart, 1821 Academy Road, P.O. Box 310, Grand Coteau, LA 70541 and to Haven Hospice, 4200 NW 90th Blvd., Gainesville, FL 32606.

Published in Houston Chronicle on December 16, 2011

I first met Mary Burns in the Fall of 2004 when I attended the AASH Southern Regional Conference hosted in Grand Coteau, LA.  At that time Mary was headmistress of the school.  She shared her dream of soon opening up a school for boys - Berchmans Academy. The above photo was taken by me this past October (CASHA conference) when I saw her portrait hanging in the parlor of our Sacred Heart School in Montreal and it was shortly afterward I learned that Mary was ill.

On behalf of the Associated Alumnae and Alumni of the Sacred Heart, I send heartfelt condolences to Mary's husband Sean; her family; friends, and the many students whose lives she touched.

May she rest in peace.

Sr. Patricia A. Phelan, RSCJ has died at age 71... valiantly fought cancer for 8 years

Birth: April 6, 1940
Profession: July 22, 1968
Death: January 18, 2012

Patrcia A. Phelan, RSCJ an aluma of both Broadway and San Fransisco College for Women died peacefully last night at Oakwood community surrounded by loving and caring friends after an eight year battle with cancer.  Cherished daughter of the late Walter J. and Alice F. Phelan. She is survived by her brother, William D. Phelan; stepmother, Margaret C. Phelan; nephews, Steven, Daniel and Kenneth Phelan and many great nieces and nephews.


From www.rscj.org  -  Please join us in praying for Sister Phelan, now at home in God.

God of blessings,

source of all holiness,

the voice of your Spirit has drawn countless men and 
women
to follow Jesus Christ
and to bind themselves 
to you
with ready will and loving heart.


Look with mercy on your daughter Patricia,

who sought to fulfill her vows to you,

and grant her the reward promised to all good and faithful servants.


May she rejoice in the company of the saints

and with them praise you for ever.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.


Amen.

To her cousin Josephine Perier, Baronesse de Savoye-Rollin

These roses were in bloom on November 18, 2011
outside the Shrine in St. Charles, MO

January 18, 1830 ~ Mother Duchesne writes to her cousin Josephine Perier, "I left St. Louis on November 7; winter had already set in.  Reaching here, I found in December and January what can almost be called summer weather.  The gardens are in bloom and the parlors and chapels are profusely decorated with flowers.  It has given me great satisfaction to visit our Lousiana houses. Adieu, dear Cousin. I tell you again that I am growing old, but my love for you has all the depth and tenderness of our youth."

Taken from the book:  Through the Year with Philippine Duchesne

Sacred Heart Kindergarten Students Learn About Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

Carolyn, age 6 drawing of Dr. King

Teacher: “What do you know about Martin Luther King?

-”He was a King, he told people what to do.”

-”No! He was trying to stop hatred!

Teacher: “What’s hatred?

-”Like fights and stuff”

-”He got shot by a white guy”

-”The angels carried him to heaven”

Martin was angry and sad that there were unfair rules but he never used a gun. He used his words. “Fight hate with love” he said.


The above was taken from the "Cozy Chamomile Class" blog a Sacred Heart Kindergarten class of 2024.

Nine Women Professed Their Final Vows Today in Rome

This cross is worn by the Religious of the Sacred Heart.  

Its Latin abbreviation, " C.U. et A.U. ICJ" means 

One Heart and One Mind in the Heart of Jesus.

Earlier today in Rome, nine woman professed their final vows as Religious of the Sacred Heart.  Below was taken from the Society of the Sacred Heart website...

Prayer & reflection - loved from the depths

As per a Society tradition started by St Madeleine Sophie, the nine RSCJ professed on 15th January received a name and devise (motto) from the Superior General, which will accompany them individually and as a group of professed religious. As far as possible, both name and devise reflect their experience, process and insights throughout their time of probation (preparation for final profession)

                         

This group's name is 

Loved from the depths to be for others God's transforming love

with the devise

God's mercy and faithfulness shine forth (Consts # 2)

The following extracts from Kathy Conan's 

conference contain calls and challenges for us all

- not just the probanists. 

How do we respond, to be God's transforming love

for others?

At the beginning of probation you were invited to Put out into the deep. You have responded with openness, trust, and generosity. At that time I proposed several questions, two of which we could not answer then: What will you find there, out in the “deep”? and Who will you become?

What have you found there? Over and over again we heard that as you journeyed to the depth of your selves, of your relationship with God, of your vocation, what you have found there is Love.

Your experience of being loved in the depths of who you are has created 

a power, energy and zeal within you 

not only to share this love with others, that they may know it too, 

                           but to actually BE God’s transforming love for others...

Yes, it is a challenging call, to be God’s love. 

We give you this name with the confidence that the Spirit of Love is alive in you 

and will help you to know in each situation how to be for others this transforming love of God.

Your devise, “God’s mercy and faithfulness shine forth”, opens the first section of our Constitutions and is a very strong affirmation of our experience of God and of the way God has revealed God’s self to us. The very first thing we say of God is that God’s mercy and faithfulness shine forth, that God IS mercy and faithfulness...

Who have you become as you journeyed into the deep? You have become women more deeply rooted in the depth of God’s love, women called to live with God the compassionate, faithful love which transforms us and our world into who we are created to be, sons and daughters of God.  

We rejoice that you have become more deeply Religious of the Sacred Heart!

Like the probanists, may we all know ourselves to be called to let God’s compassion and fidelity shine through, and be God’s transforming Love for others.

Agatha de Marthon Hoff, Sacred Heart alumna and author talks about her life and the books she has written

Sacred Heart alumna Agatha de Marthon Hoff talks about her fascinating life and the books she has written in this short interview.  To learn more about fellow Sacred Heart alum authors please go the right hand column of my blog for a list and related web links.  Please feel free to write comments about books you have read and would recommend too.

Twenty gold coins similar to the one above were smuggled
out of Hungary inside a small Teddy Bear carried 
by Agatha de Marthon Hoff

Agatha de Marthon Hoff was born in Hungary.  She and her family fled the war-torn country during World War II.  Agatha is an alum of the Sacred Heart school in Hungary as well as our Sacred Heart school in Atherton/Menlo Park, California. When she arrived in the United States it was with a small teddy bear in her arms that conceled 20 gold coins. The book she has written: Burning Horses: A Hungarian Life Turned Upside Down is a fictionalized account of Eva Leopold Badies (mother of the author) and her survival of the Hungarian Holocaust.  

Agatha is a retired Commissioner of the San Francisco Supererior Court. After spending 20 years working in the court system she has much to write about! The title of her newest book:  Judge Hoff, Jesus Loves You but the Rest of Us Think You're an A**hole! is taken from graffiti left on a courthouse bathroom wall.  In Agatha's own words: "As I developed my notes into stories, it occurred to me that events in my own life provided the same mix of humor and pathos. I threw a few of those into the mix, so those who read this can laugh at, as well as with me."

Sacred Heart alums gather for Mass & Lunch in Palm Desert, CA at the home of Sr. Mary Schumacher, RSCJ

Sacred Heart alums and friends in the Palm Desert area
gather for Mass & Lunch

My recent travels have brought me to California and yesterday I had an opportunity to met many wonderful Sacred Heart alums and friends in the Palm Desert area.  Fellow alumna, Sr. Mary Schumacher, RSCJ invited all alums in the area to her home to meet me. It was a lovely day celebrated with Mass followed by a delicious buffet lunch.  So much fun!!

To the Religious of the Sacred Heart in Paris

St. John Francis Regis (1597-1640)
window is located in the Round House 

January 8, 1836 ~ Mother Duchesne writes to the Religious of the Sacred Heart in Paris, "The lowliness to which the infant Jesus abases Himself at this season, which is consecreted to the memory of His profound humiliations, will make you welcome the greetings and good wishes from the least and most obscure of all the Convents of the Sacred Heart.  But this house is expressly dedicated to St. Francis Regis and we have here at Florisssant the shrine promised by vow in France to obtain his protection on our Amercian mission."

Taken from the book:  Through the Year with Philippine Duchesne

Mary Lococo Forsyth Named Interim Head of Sacred Heart Convent High School for 2012-2013 Academic Year

Mary Lococo Forsyth

Just prior to the Thanksgiving holiday the announcement was made that our very own Mary Lococo Forsyth an alumna of both Convent of the Sacred Heart, El Cajon and San Francisco College for Women, Lone Mt., California has been named as Interim Head of School for the Sacred Heart Convent School in San Francisco, California.

Mary currently serves on the AASH Board as Western Regional Director, she also is serving as Vice-President of the AASH San Diego Alumnae Board, and is Committee Chair for the Southern California/Arizona campaign for "In Mission for Life".

Yes, Mary is one busy Sacred Heart alumna with an exceptional background that provides her the necessary qualifications to take on the position as Interim Head of the CSH.  Mary is no stranger to the Convent High School either. In fact it will be like coming home for her! She served as both a teacher and administrator  for 27 years at CSH and also at our Sacred Heart school in Atherton, California.  

Congratulations to you Mary!!

To Mother Adeline Boilvin, American RSCJ

January 5, 1835 ~  Mother Duchesne writes to Mother Adeline Boilvin ~ "Thank you so much for the picture of the Sacred Heart - the symbol of our union, the object of our dearest devotion, the mirror in which we perceive our faults and find the perfect model of all the virtues we lack."

Taken from the book:  Through the Year with Philippine Duchesne

Sr. Helen McHugh, RSCJ dies at Oakwood community

Helen McHugh, RSCJ
1916-2011

Sr. Virginia Rodee, RSCJ writes to alums who attended schools and/or live in the West coast...


Dear Sacred Heart Alumnae/i,

You will be saddened to know that Sr. Helen McHugh, RSCJ, died at Oakwood, the Society of the Sacred Heart’s Retirement Center in Atherton, on December 30.  Her funeral and burial will take place on January 5 at Oakwood.    

 

Sr. McHugh served in many Sacred Heart Schools including the Convent of the Sacred Heart, El Cajon as Director of Studies.  She also taught at the San Francisco College for Women, and in 1965 began teaching at the University of San Diego where she was professor of English.  During these years Sr. McHugh served  both as chair of the English department and the fine arts department.    Many of you will remember the Founder’s Tale, the book she wrote about Mother Rosalie Hill and the founding of the University of San Diego.  Sr. McHugh also was visiting professor at the University of the Sacred Heart in Tokyo, Japan, and  in 1998 was honored with an International Education Award from the Japan Society of San Diego and Tijuana. 

 

There will be a Mass celebrated for Sr. McHugh at USD in February when the faculty returns.  Her obituary is attached.

 

Lovingly,

Virginia Rodee, RSCJ

City of Lake Forest earns $48,000 on $12 million Barat sale - Lake Forester

Aerial view of Barat College and Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart
circa 1995

Click on the link below for the full story ~
City of Lake Forest earns $48,000 on $12 million Barat sale - Lake Forester

In 1901 the Society of the Sacred Heart purchased approximately 43 acres of property in Lake Forest, Illinois.  The Academy of the Sacred Heart located on Taylor Street in Chicago, IL was then relocated in 1904 to a beautiful Georgian style structure designed by architects Egan & Prindeville.  

Now fast forward 110 years later and anonymous donors have closed on the Barat College property with the intention of financing the demolition of Old Main and clearing the site of all debris.  So it appears that in 2012 all that will remain of the original 43 acre Barat College campus site will be the Sr. Madeleine Sophie Cooney Library, designed by architects Lohan Associates, Inc and completed in 1996 as well as, Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart, designed by architects Loebl, Schlossman & Bennett and completed in 1961.  An extraordinary gift indeed with endless possibilities for Woodlands Academy to expand and continue their educational mission.

To her sister Euphrosine, Madame Jean-Joseph Jouve

The Chateau de Vizille, a country home of the family of
Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne

January 3, 1812 ~  Philippine Duchesne writes to her sister Euphrosine, "One of the wishes in which I find the greatest joy this New Year is that God may let me be helpful to my dear ones.  The thought of our home at Grane, sheltering so many people and things dear to me, is constantly in my mind,  since I know my loved ones there are suffering and I can do nothing to ease the pain."

Taken from the book:  Through the Year with Philippine Duchesne

Wishing You A Happy New Year... from AASH President