Come and draw from the well

Spiritual center operated by the religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

The Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Founded in 1800 by Sophie Barat, the Society of the Sacred Heart numbers about 2,000 religious today, present in about forty countries.

“To discover and reveal the Heart of Christ”

The vocation of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart is “to discover and reveal the love of the Heart of Jesus”.
They fulfil this mission by seeking to respond to the needs of men and women today.

Three pillars for a mission

The life of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart is shown through:

  • Prayer and the interior life

In daily meditation, sharing in the Eucharist, community prayer and adoration, Christ calls them to a personal encounter with Him. For the sisters of the Sacred Heart, the pierced and open Heart is what draws them into the mystery of His life wholly given, with everything that touches their life, and with the suffering and hopes of humanity. Jesus draws them into His unifying movement of adoration of the Father and love for all, especially the poorest.

  • Life in community

The sisters of the Sacred Heart live in small communities; they do not choose their companions. “From His Heart we draw the love which enables us to live in communion, with ourselves and with others.” (Constitutions no.30) Community life deepens, strengthens, supports and tests their desire to follow Christ. The sisters share their prayer, their resources, talents and weaknesses. Communities are also places in which they share with others, not only with their sisters.

  • Sending out to mission

The sisters of the Sacred Heart carry out their professional activities and their apostolic commitments in various fields, whether within a Christian milieu or not, especially in education and formation, the promotion of justice, announcing the Gospel and providing companioning in faith.
Compassion is an essential aspect of their charism. Compassion is inevitably related to justice. The compassion of Jesus is the most radical of criticisms, for it tells us that humanity’s wound has been taken seriously.

An international congregation

From its very beginning, the foundress wanted the congregation to have an international dimension. Five religious of the Sacred Heart, one of whom was Rose-Philippine Duchesne, set out in 1818 for Louisiana to establish the Society in America. (Philippine was canonised by Pope John-Paul II in 1988).

Today more than ever, internationality is a dimension essential to the Society.

It gives the sisters:

  • An opportunity to leave their comfort zone and be open to other cultures.
  • An encouragement to shed their outlook, their way of doing things, their thought-patterns.
  • An appeal to form a single international community, with the diversity to be found in each one.

The Society is present today on all 5 continents.