Saint Madeleine Sophie grew up during a time when some people in the church believed in Jansenism. Jansenism is a belief in a strict God. Jansenists thought of God as a judge. With this image of God people often thought it would be very difficult to get into Heaven. When you went to church, you would not be able to get communion without going to confession. If you did something bad, you might not even be able to get communion at all!

Madeleine Sophie did not believe that God was mean and unforgiving. She believed that God loved everyone. Because of this belief (that she probably gained from her mother and prayer), she had the strength to stand up to Jansenism and change the way people saw God. She was convinced that the way to change was to work with young people and educate them in an environment of love and forgiveness. She spent her entire life working to bring people closer to God.

This is the picture that inspired Saint Madeleine Sophie.

 

Saint Madeleine Sophie had many reasons for wanting to become a nun. Her image of God was much different from Jansenism. She viewed God as loving. She had a picture in her room that she sat in front of while she was praying. The picture showed Mary as a caring mother with the child Jesus looking lovingly at her. She saw God's unconditional love of human beings.

This is an embroidery that Saint Madeleine Sophie made as a child of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

 

Her prayers helped her to be thoughtful of others. She did not like the fact that girls weren't given the same chance for education as boys were. Because of the education she got from her brother, she wanted to help other girls to be educated. During the time women were thought of as "lesser beings" and not worthy of education. Saint Madeleine Sophie was also aware of the suffering around her from the French Revolution. Poor children also were not given a chance to get an education. She decided to create a place for girls and poorer children to learn. She taught them that they could be important. Saint Madeleine Sophie found other women who had the same thoughts and faith as she had.

She wanted to become a Carmelite nun, but there were no Carmelite convents left in France. She was introduced to a young priest, Father Joseph Varin. He previously had been missioned to form a society devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He helped Madeline Sophie Barat start the Schools of the Sacred Heart.

Saint Madeleine Sophie will always be remembered as the "Child of God."

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