Joigny to San Francisco
In celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the founding of the community of the
Religious of the Sacred Heart
Preface by Doris Munstermann
Joigny to San Francisco
In celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the founding of the community of the
Religious of the Sacred Heart
Preface by Doris Munstermann
The year 2000 was an exciting year as we welcomed a new millennium. People from all over the world could watch television and see the first rays of the New Year's sunrise over the islands near the international date-line and follow the day's celebrations until the final sunset over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. There were joyous festivities of the different world cultures and the people on earth were united in a special bond on that day. At Schools of the Sacred Heart in San Francisco (and around the world) we were celebrating another event that meant a great deal to us. That event was the 200th anniversary of the foundation of the community we know as the Religious of the Sacred Heart.
Over the years, I taught children in our schools about St. Madeleine Sophie Barat who was the founder of that community. We talked about the places she lived and the things she did, but somehow everything seemed very far away. There was not too much written for the students about her life, except for various paper sheets that were used by students in the religion classes. I could see that middle school students were finding it fun to research material on the computer so, I began to think about creating a website that would help us all to better understand the life of this extraordinary woman. During the summer I set out to go to France and to Belgium and see the places first hand that were important in her life in order to get to know and understand Madeleine better. I wanted to bring back information that would be interesting to the students in 7th grade so that they would be inspired to create a website.
Before I left, I was given information from the Religious of the Sacred Heart community here in San Francisco that would help me on my journey. Our director and our principal encouraged me to go ahead with the project. With the help of my friends in Germany and in France, I was able to get to Brussels, Paris, and Joigny. My French was very limited so, I was grateful to all those in Europe who were so helpful to me. It was an exciting and peaceful journey. I felt that the spirit of the saint was guiding me.
When I returned to school the teachers in the computer lab and a parent volunteer helped us with the details and their expertise. We were able to use as resources the new books written about Madeleine's life story that were published within the bicentennial year (see the workcited pages). It was wonderful to see the students working away and combining so many various aspects of the saint's life. The students realized that what they were learning in social studies, the computer lab, art, language arts, and religion all blended together to create the story of her life. Working on the project brought us closer to St. Madeleine Sophie Barat and gave us a sense of her courage.When you visit this web site you will come to find in this woman a source of inspiration, and you will see what one woman could do, in spite of many obstacles, to live her dream and help others to fulfill theirs. Enjoy your visit with this truly great woman through the eyes of our seventh grade students.
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Watercolor by Doris Munstermann Schools of the Sacred Heart |
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 HOME |
 TEACHER |
PARENT |
 MOVIE |
 CHILDHOOD |
JOIGNY |
NEIGHBORS |
REVOLUTION |
 VOCATION |
FASHION |
PLACES |
 DEATH |