MISSIONARIES OF THE SACRED HEART. - Religious congregation founded at Issoudun, in France, in 1854 by Fr. Jules Chevalier, with the specific purpose of evangelizing the areas most affected by materialism and indifferentism, calling men back to the love of the Heart of Jesus. Various factors contributed to giving it notable growth, after the difficulties and privations of the beginnings: the devotion to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, introduced by Fr. Chevalier in 1859; the founding of the first apostolic school, called the "Little Work of the Sacred Heart," due to Fr. Jean Vandel, in 1868; the expulsion of the religious from France, which had the effect of spreading them into many regions of Europe and America; finally the missions among the infidels, begun in 1881. From then on the rise has been continuous and the works have multiplied.

At present the M. of the S. H. are present on all five continents: they have 12 regular provinces, some of which are most flourishing, while others are in formation: more than a quarter of them work in mission lands, especially in Oceania. Two women's congregations collaborate with them, the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Hiltrup, and three lay Archconfraternities, dedicated to the Sacred Heart, to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and to St. Joseph. They publish an official monthly bulletin, entitled The Annals of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, in three languages and in 12 editions, with a monthly circulation that exceeds half a million copies.

Among the religious who have distinguished themselves in science and holiness, besides Frr. Chevalier and Vandel, are remembered: Fr. Charles Piperon, who died in the odor of sanctity; Msgr. André Navarre, first bishop of New Guinea; Msgr. Stanislao Enrico Verius, apostle of Papua, whose cause of beatification has been introduced; Fr. Edouard Bontemps, apostle of the Gilbert Islands; Fr. Matteo Rascher and companions, martyred for the faith at Rabaul in 1904, whose cause of beatification is likewise in progress; Fr. Giovanni Genocchi, Fr. Giuseppe Bonaccorsi, illustrious biblical scholars; Fr. Léon Bourjade, first ace of French aviation and then a valiant missionary pilot; Msgr. Pietro Benedetti, apostolic nuncio to Cuba; Fr. Giuseppe Vitali, missionary in Papua for more than 60 years.

As of Jan. 1, 1945 the M. of the S. H., in 118 houses, numbered about 2,525, among them 16 bishops; more than 800 among priests and laymen work in 19 missionary circumscriptions.

Bibliography5 works

BIBL.: J. Carrière, Le p. J. Vandel, Issoudun 1908; C. Piperon, Le p. J. Chevalier, Lille 1912; Fr. Boudin, La Congrégation des Missionnaires du Sacré Cœur, in Almanach de l'Action catholique, Québec 1920, pp. 64-67; I. Greifenberg, The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in the U. S. A., Aurora 1948; S. Schmidt, Die Hiltruper Erzbuderschaft, Hiltrup 1948.

Francesco Russo

@incollection{ec8_missionari_del_sacro_cuore, author = {Russo, Francesco}, title = {Missionari del Sacro Cuore}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VIII}, pages = {1096--1097}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/missionari-del-sacro-cuore} }

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