Madeleine Sophie Barat

St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, R.S.C.J.
Statue of Sophie Barat at St. Peter's Basilica
Born	(1779-12-12)12 December 1779 Joigny, Burgundy, France
Died	25 May 1865(1865-05-25) (aged 85) Paris, France
Venerated in	Roman Catholicism
Beatified	24 May 1908 by Pope Pius X
Canonized	24 May 1925 by Pope Pius XI
Major shrine	St Francis Xavier's Church, Paris
Feast	May 25

Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat, R.S.C.J., (December 12, 1779 – May 25, 1865) is a French saint of the Catholic Church and was the founder of the Society of the Sacred Heart.

Madeleine Sophie was born on the night of December 12, 1779, in Joigny, France, next door to a house fire at a neighbors. The stress and terror of the fire caused Sophie’s mother, Madame Madeleine Fouffé Barat (1740–1822), then pregnant with her third child, to go into labour. Born two months premature, Madeleine Sophie was considered so fragile that she was baptised early the next morning in St. Thibault Church, just a few yards from the Barat family home. Although her parents had arranged godparents in advance, there was no time to call them to the church and so, at five o'clock on the morning of 13 December 1779, Louise-Sophie Cédor, a local woman on her way to early Mass, and Sophie’s older brother, Louis, stood in as her godparents.

Madeleine Sophie was born into a financially comfortable family whose ancestors had lived in Joigny for generations and were proud of their roots in Burgundy. Her father, Jacques Barat (1742–1809), was a cooper and vine-grower. Both professions were respected trades, with centuries of French culture and spirituality behind them. The Barats were Jansenist Catholics, and Jansenism is often said to have shaped Sophie’s spirituality profoundly.

Sophie’s older brother Louis was a serious boy and a brilliant student. His parents encouraged his interest in studies and employed a tutor for him at home. Shortly after entering the Collège Saint-Jacques in Joigny at the age of nine, Louis decided to become a Catholic priest. In 1784, at the age of 16, Louis left Joigny to begin his studies for the priesthood at the seminary at Sens. Louis was ordained a deacon, but, because he was too young to be ordained, he was obliged to return home until he was 21. Louis became a teacher of mathematics at his old school and decided to take on Sophie’s education. He taught her Latin, Greek, history, natural science, Spanish, and Italian providing Sophie with an education rarely available to young women and girls at that time.

In 1789, her older brother, Louis, became involved in the debate surrounding the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, passed in July 1790 which required all priests to swear allegiance to the new revolutionary state. Louis took this oath of loyalty in January 1791 but, on learning the Pope had condemned the Constitution, he renounced his oath in May 1792. This renunciation had immediate consequences. Louis first tried to hide in his family’s attic but soon fled to Paris, for the danger had become too great both for himself and his family. In Paris, he was arrested in May 1793, imprisoned for two years, and only escaped the guillotine through the brave intervention of a friend.