Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
Encyclopedia
The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
and Mary and of the Perpetual Adoration
Eucharistic adoration
Eucharistic adoration is a practice in the Roman Catholic Church, and in a few Anglican and Lutheran churches, in which the Blessed Sacrament is exposed to and adored by the faithful....
of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar
Eucharist (Catholic Church)
"At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood."...
is a Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
religious order of brothers
Brother (Catholic)
A religious brother is a member of a Roman Catholic religious order who commits himself to following Christ in consecrated life of the church by the vows of poverty, celibacy, and obedience. A layman , he usually lives in a religious community and works in a ministry that suits his talents and gifts...
, priests
Priesthood (Catholic Church)
The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. The ordained priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....
, and nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
s. The priests of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, are also known as the Picpus Fathers, because Rue de Picpus is the street in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
where they had their first house. Their post-nominal letters
Post-nominal letters
Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles or designatory letters, are letters placed after the name of a person to indicate that the individual holds a position, educational degree, accreditation, office, or honour. An individual may use several different sets of...
, SS.CC., are the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
initials for Sacrorum Cordium, "of the Sacred Hearts". (The letters are doubled to indicate that both words are plural, a convention of Latin abbreviations).
French Revolution beginnings
The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary arose amid the religious upheaval caused by the French RevolutionFrench Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. In March of 1792, the Frenchman Piere Coudrin
Peter Coudrin
Peter Coudrin or Pierre Coudrin of France was the founder of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a religious order of the Roman Catholic Church famous for its missionary work in Hawaii...
was secretly ordained to the priesthood. The following May, under the oppression of a government persecuting Catholic religious leaders, Father Coudrin went into hiding in an attic of the granary of the Chateau d'Usseau where he was confined for six months. One evening during his time in hiding, Coudrin saw a vision of being surrounded by a heavenly illuminated group of priests, brothers and sisters dressed in white robes. It was his calling to establish a religious order that would be the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Coudrin left the granary and began his underground ministry in Poitiers
Poitiers
Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...
, waiting for the right moment to start his group.
During his underground ministry in 1794, Coudrin met Henriette Aymer de Chevalerie
Henriette Aymer de Chevalerie
Henriette Aymer de Chevalerie was a Roman Catholic nun, who along with Peter Coudrin founded the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary....
. She had been released from a revolutionary prison, accused of hiding a priest. She told Coudrin of a vision she had while in prison calling her to service of God. Coudrin and Henriette Aymer de Chevalerie shared with each other their visions of creating a religious order in the midst of danger for Roman Catholics in France.
Establishing the Congregation
On Christmas EveChristmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
in 1800, knowing they could face the guillotine
Guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
for their actions, Father Coudrin and Henriette Aymer de Chevalerie officially established the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary with a mission to spread the message of God's unconditional love as manifested through the Hearts of Jesus and Mary and finding God's mercy through the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
Blessed Sacrament
The Blessed Sacrament, or the Body and Blood of Christ, is a devotional name used in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic Churches, Old Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches, to refer to the Host after it has been consecrated in the sacrament of the Eucharist...
.
The original members of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary founded new schools for poor children, seminaries to help grow the priesthood of their order and parish missions throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. At the time of Father Coudrin's death in 1837, the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary had 276 priests and brothers and 1125 sisters.
The Mission in the Hawaiian Islands
In 1827 the order set off on a new mission that would become their hallmark accomplishment. Teams of missionaries settled in the several Pacific OceanPacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
islands to spread the Gospel, build churches, and evangelize new faithful.
Nowhere in the Pacific Islands did the presence of Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary more inspire its people than in the Kingdom of Hawaii
Kingdom of Hawaii
The Kingdom of Hawaii was established during the years 1795 to 1810 with the subjugation of the smaller independent chiefdoms of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lānai, Kauai and Niihau by the chiefdom of Hawaii into one unified government...
. They established what is now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu
Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu
The Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, officially in Latin Dioecesis Honoluluensis, is an ecclesiastical territory or particular church of the Catholic Church in the United States...
and built the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace
Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace
The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace — also known by its original French name Cathédrale de Notre Dame de la Paix, its Portuguese variant Catedral de Nossa Senhora da Paz and its Hawaiian derivative Malia o ka Malu Hale Pule Nui — is the Mother Church of the Diocese of Honolulu and houses...
, the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
in continuous use in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Hawaii's first six bishops, from 1833 to 1940, were members of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Other churches founded by the order include Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Hilo
Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Hilo
Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Hilo is a parish of the Roman Catholic Church of Hawaii in the United States. Located at 43 Kapiolani Sreet, , in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii, the church falls under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Honolulu and its bishop. It is named after Saint Joseph,...
and Maria Lanakila Catholic Church
Maria Lanakila Catholic Church
Maria Lanakila Catholic Church is a parish of the Roman Catholic Church of Hawaii in the United States. Located in Lahaina on the island of Maui, the church falls under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Honolulu and its bishop. The parish has a mission in Kapalua under the title of the Sacred...
on Maui
Maui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
.
Notable members
- Peter CoudrinPeter CoudrinPeter Coudrin or Pierre Coudrin of France was the founder of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a religious order of the Roman Catholic Church famous for its missionary work in Hawaii...
- Saint Damien de VeusterFather DamienFather Damien or Saint Damien of Molokai, SS.CC. , born Jozef De Veuster, was a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium and member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a missionary religious order...
- Blessed Eustaquio van LieshoutEustaquio van LieshoutBlessed Eustáquio van Lieshout was a Dutch missionary in Brazil, and a religious and priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary....
- Henri SystermansJohn M. SystermansJohn M. Systermans was born Jean-Marie Systermans, but was better known as Father Henry Systermans or Pater Henri Systermans. He was a 20th century Belgian-born missionary and priest with the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.He served for most of his life in Hawaii most notably...
- Fr Joseph Hendricks
- Fr Francis Schellemans