RSCJ and Alums Celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart

Photo taken in England at the July 22-26, 2013 Opening Conference
Celebrating the Centenary of Janet Erskine Stuart 

One heart and one mind in the heart of Jesus!

The Society of the Sacred Heart and Sacred Heart alums all over the world (AMASC)  celebrate the Feast Day of the Sacred Heart of Jesus today.  Some of our young students still in school, as well as, many alums from all over the world will gather today with members of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (RSCJ) to celebrate mass and participate as the RSCJ renew their vows with the following prayer:  

CELEBRANT:  I now invite the Religious of the Sacred Heart to renew their vows.

RELIGIOUS: Trusting in the fidelity of God and the love of my sisters, I renew with all my heart the vows that I have made to follow Jesus Christ until death by obedience, poverty and chastity in the Society of the Sacred Heart, and I commit anew to its mission of manifesting the love of Christ by the service of education, according to our Constitutions.

RESPONSE OF THE CONGREGATION: May God who is the source of all good intentions enlighten your minds and strengthen your hearts.  May God help you to fulfill with steadfast faith all you have promised.  Amen.

I will celebrate with RSCJ, Alums and Sacred Heart Educators in England, and many others who like myself have come from all over the world this week to participate in the Janet Erskine Stuart Centenary Celebrations.  I look forward to seeing many familiar faces such as: Superior General Kathleen Conan, RSCJ, as well as members of her General Council; Provincial Jane Maltby, RSCJ for England Wales Province; and Pam Snyder, President of AMASC.  The Feast of the Sacred Heart mass will be hosted in the Digby Stuart Chapel here in Roehampton, England.

Our group will stay here on the beautiful campus until Sunday when we depart for High Leigh Conference Centre in Hertfordshire.  

So stay tuned as the #JES celebrations unfold and watch for postings to my Sacred Heart photo album which can be accessed on the right of this blog post.

United States and Canadian Provinces of the Society of the Sacred Heart join today in Cor Unum

Photo taken October 21, 2007 at CASHA  hosted at Sacred Heart School
in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

In her Provincial Report given at the 39th AASH Biennial Conference hosted last April in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. Provincial, Sr. Barbara Dawson, RSCJ reported that on July 8, 2013 the Society of the Sacred Heart in Canada and the United States will become one province.

So today was a special day for our RSCJ in Canada as they hosted their final assembly as a Province and have officially joined the United States province to become one new entity. The Province of the United States - Canada will have 330 members and will be based in St. Louis, Missouri.

"A province does not 'become' a province only on the day it officially begins, said Superior General Kathleen Conan, RSCJ.  "We look forward to how we grow into that reality, live the vision, adapt it where needed and continue to let it be created by the Spirit and by the hearts and hopes of those on the journey."  

I took the above photo in 2007 when Srs. Clare Pratt, RSCJ, Superior General of the Society of the Sacred Heart (2000-2008) and Jane Maltby, RSCJ of England (one of the five members of the International Leadership team) were in Canada attending the CASHA Conference.

To read more about the significance of today's merger and the history of the Religious of the Sacred Heart go to www.rscj.org or click here.