SOCIETY OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS (LADIES OF THE SACRED HEART [ROME]). - It arose at Amiens at the beginning of the eighteenth century, but the General House, now in Rome, was soon established in Paris. Its foundress and first superior general was Saint Maddalena Sofia Barat.
Approved by Leo XII on 22 Dec. 1826 by the bull In supremo, it received somewhat modified Constitutions on 23 May 1851; these, brought into conformity with the Code, were definitively approved in 1926. The purpose of the institution is to educate young girls of affluent condition and to promote free elementary education for girls of the common people. The sisters also devote themselves to the Work of retreats for persons in the world and to other works of spiritual and material charity. At present they number 6,519, with 192 houses.