Madeleine Sophie Barat Centenary Mass

All students and staff together with governors and the Provincial Superior from the Society of the Sacred Heart (Sr Cath Lloyd), joined together for a Mass to celebrate the centenary of the canonisation of the founder of the Society, Madeleine Sophie Barat.  She was made a saint on 25 May 1925 and a piece of cloth from her habit now rests within the altar of the newly restored Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.

At the Mass, the Society gifted to the school another piece of cloth from Sophie's habit.  This had been donated recently from one of our alumnae and we felt obliged to pass it on to the Society, but are thrilled that they would like this now to be held by the school.  We will look for a suitable display case so that it is accessible to view by students and other members of our community.

A picture was created for the Mass, made up of the finger prints of all students and staff and the society within a golden version of the school and Society logo. This can be seen within the gallery photos below, accesible to online members of our Sacred Heart Community.

The choir who had been practising hard, performed beautifully and our new headgirls (Julianna, Milan, Mar and Francoise) were blessed.

Both Sr Cath and the headteacher spoke to students about Madeleine Sophie.  She was of course a human being with her own frailties and insecurities. She was in her early 20s when she set up the religious congregation that was to become the Society of the Sacred Heart. She was determined to make a difference in the world, building community, and would probably have been amazed at how her legacy has endured; how strongly we all cherish her mission and her philosophy of education.

All the students in our school and others across our community, have the capacity to contribute meaningfully to society and we look to her as our role model for this.