Prayer for the New Year by Janet Erskine Stuart, RSCJ

Photo taken at Barat College, Lake Forest, IL
Window designed by Emil Frei 

"Heavenly Father, unseen Companion of our life, give us faith and eager expectancy as we begin this fresh stage of our journey.  Take from us all fear of the unknown and teach us to wrest treasures from the darkness.  As the days come and go, may we find that each of one is laden with happy opportunities and enriching experiences; and when this year is ended may our best hopes be more than ever fulfilled."

~ Janet Erskine Stuart, RSCJ (1857-1914)
Sixth  Superior  General  of the Society of the Sacred Heart  

Click here for info on Janet Erskine Stuart - 2014 Centenary Celebrations

Sacred Heart Christmas Greetings and Consecration to the Child Jesus

Photo of Baby Jesus in Creche ~ Barat College of the Sacred Heart, circa 1950's

December 25th 

On this day of Jesus' birth, I'd like to share the following -

Consecration to the Child Jesus

Blessed Infant Jesus, kindly take us under Thy special protection.  We promise to try to avoid displeasing Thee, and humbly ask Thee to bless us, and teach us to practice obedience, patience, and humility, the great virtues of Thy hidden life.  Grant us to love Thee daily more and more, that, by so doing, we may merit to reign with Thee forever in Heaven.  Amen.

Taken from the book: SPECIAL DEVOTIONS compiled for Children of the Sacred Heart - Revised Edition 1956

St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, "Consider the Great One, ..."

Mother and Child as seen at Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton, CA

December 24

"Consider the Great One, the Most High, who becomes a frail little Child, the Changeless and Eternal in nothingness and humility, Riches made poor, a God bound and linked to weak humanity."

 ~ St. Madeleine Sophie Barat 

The above quote was taken from The Wisdom of Madeleine Sophie Barat - Day by Day Calendar.  To order a copy of the calendar (Cost: $10.00 + postage) - click here. 

The above photo taken at Sacred Heart Schools ~ Atherton, California

Season's Greetings from Manhattanville College

Manhattanville College ~ Season's Greetings 2013

For alums who have not been back to the Manhattanville campus in awhile you will see some familiar scenes in the video below posted by Manhattanville College President, Jon Strauss and his wife Jean.   Enjoy!

St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, ..."All Will Be Well"

St. Madeleine Sophie Barat
1779-1865

"It is easy to agree when each one seeks God's interests and not her own.  Personal pretensions spoil everything. If we cling to humility all will be well."

 ~ St. Madeleine Sophie Barat 

The above quote was taken from The Wisdom of Madeleine Sophie Barat - Day by Day Calendar.  To order a copy of the calendar (Cost: $10.00 + postage) - click here. 

Mother and Child...Christmas Greetings 2013

I received the following beautiful card via email from Hermine van Asten-Wennekers.  Hermine served as AMASC President from 2010-2014.   

Mother and child, painting in Father Picavet’s Enkabi Centre, Catholic Church in Jinja, Uganda April 2013

I wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year 2014.

Je vous souhaite un Joyeux Noël et une très bonne année 2014.

Ich wünsche Ihnen ein frohes Weihnachtsfest und ein glückliches neues Jahr 2014.

Les deseo una Feliz Navidad y un próspero Año Nuevo 2014.

Mbagaliza Krismasi ey'essanyu, n'omwaka omugya 2014 ogw'emirembe.

Nixtieqilkom Milied Merry u Sena Ġdida kuntenti 2014.

私はあなたにメリークリスマスとハッピーニューイヤー2014をお祈りしております。

당신에게 메리 크리스마스와 행복한 새해를 2,014을 기원합니다.

Ik wens jullie een zalig Kerstfeest en een gelukkig Nieuwjaar 2014.

from

Hermine van Asten-Wennekers

AMASC President (2006-2010)

Madeleine Sophie Barat: A Life by Phil Kilroy

Phil Kilroy is a full-time independent scholar
and a member of the Society of the Sacred Heart.
To order your copy of the book - click here

December 12th  marks the anniversary of our beloved St. Madeleine Sophie Barat's birth 

"Born in 1779 on the eve of the Revolution, Barat was caught up in the movement to restore and recreate a society devastated by violence and war.  Madeleine Sophie Barat: A Life tracks her development from her childhood in the Bourgogne, through her leadership of a community of women devoted to education both in France and abroad, to her death in Paris in 1865.  Several profound movements in eighteenth - and nineteenth-century France and Europe marked her life, including the Revolution with its consequent volatile political situations, as well as the tangled complexities of Gallicanism and Ultramontanism. This book also explores Sophie Barat's spiritual journey, from her dark Jansenistic roots to her belief in a loving, warm and tender God, as expressed in devotion to the Sacred Heart." 

 Taken from the book: Madeleine Sophie Barat: A Life by Phil Kilroy, R.S.C.J.