Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary

Last updated
Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
Latin: Congregatio Sacrorum Cordium Iesu et Mariae
AbbreviationSS.CC.
NicknamePicpus Fathers
Formation1800;224 years ago (1800)
FounderFr. Marie-Joseph Coudrin, SS.CC.
TypeClerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men
HeadquartersVia Rivarone 85, Rome, Italy
Membership
653 members (includes 502 priests) as of 2020
Fr. Alberto Manuel Toutin Cataldo, SS.CC.
Website ssccpicpus.com

The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (Latin : Congregatio Sacrorum Cordium Iesu et Mariae) abbreviated SS.CC., is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for priests and brothers. The congregation is also known as the Picpus because their first house was on the Rue de Picpus in Paris, France.

Contents

History

French Revolution beginnings

The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary arose amid the religious upheaval caused by the French Revolution. In March 1792, the Frenchman Pierre Coudrin was secretly ordained to the priesthood. The following May, Father Coudrin went into hiding in an attic of the granary of the Chateau d'Usseau and stayed confined there for six months to escape the government's persecution of the Catholic non-juring priests who refused to accept the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. One evening during his time in hiding, Coudrin had a vision of himself surrounded by a heavenly illuminated group of priests, brothers and sisters dressed in white robes, which he took as his calling to establish a religious institute that would be the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Coudrin left the granary and began his underground ministry in Poitiers, waiting for the opportunity to start his group. [1]

Servant of God Henriette Aymer de La Chevalerie Henriette Aymer de Chevalerie.jpg
Servant of God Henriette Aymer de La Chevalerie

During his underground ministry in 1794, Coudrin met Henriette Aymer de Chevalerie. She had been imprisoned for hiding a priest. Upon her release, she told Coudrin of a vision she had while in prison calling her to the service of God. Coudrin and Henriette Aymer de Chevalerie shared with each other their visions of creating a religious institute in the midst of danger for Roman Catholics in France. [1]

Establishing the Congregation

On Christmas Eve in 1800, despite knowing they could face the guillotine for their actions, Father Coudrin and Henriette Aymer de Chevalerie officially established the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. [1]

In 1817, the Congregation was formally approved by the Pope as a single institute composed of a male and a female branch of religious and a lay branch. [2]

The original members of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary founded new schools for poor children, seminaries to help grow the priesthood of their institute and parish missions throughout Europe. In 1825 the evangelization of the Sandwich Islands in the Pacific was entrusted by the Holy See to the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts, and the following year the first band of missionaries of the Sacred Hearts left France. At the time of Father Coudrin's death in 1837, the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary had 276 priests and brothers and 1125 sisters.

In 1840 the Brothers founded a house in Louvain, Belgium. The Brothers settled in Spain (1880), the Netherlands (1892), England (1894) and the United States (1905). [3]

The sisters, who concentrated their energies on education, went to Chile in 1838 and to Perú in 1848. They also started foundations in Honolulu in 1859 and Ecuador in 1862. Additional houses were founded in Spain (1881), Belgium (1894), England (1895), the Netherlands (1803) and the United States (1908). [3]

The Congregation has been present in Ireland since 1948 and in the UK since 1956. [2]

The Mission in the Pacific Islands

St. Michael's Cathedral in Rikitea before renovation in 2006 Cathedrale.Saint-Michel.de.Rikitea.2006.jpg
St. Michael's Cathedral in Rikitea before renovation in 2006
The grave of Saint Damien de Veuster in the crypt of the church of the Congregation of Sacred Hearts in Leuven Paterdamiaan graf.JPG
The grave of Saint Damien de Veuster in the crypt of the church of the Congregation of Sacred Hearts in Leuven

The religious institute set off on a new mission that would become their hallmark accomplishment. [4] Teams of missionaries settled in the several Pacific Ocean islands to spread the Gospel, build churches, and evangelize new faithful.

The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary was particularly successful in the Kingdom of Hawaii. They established what is now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu and built the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States. Hawaii's first six bishops, from 1833 to 1940, were members of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Other churches founded by the institute include Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Hilo and Maria Lanakila Catholic Church on Maui. Sacred Hearts Academy (K-12, girls) and St. Patrick's School (elementary, co-ed) in the Honolulu neighborhood of Kaimuki were both founded by the order.

Mission in the United States

In 1833 Reverends Edmundo Demellier, S.S.C.C. and Petithomme, S.S.C.C. began to minister to the Passamaquoddy people in Maine. The Congregation's first province in the United States was established 1846. In 1850 they established the Santa Inés Mission (Chumash), in Solvang, California. [5]

Notable members

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation of Holy Cross</span> Catholic religious congregation of missionary priests and brothers

The Congregation of Holy Cross, abbreviated CSC, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men founded in 1837 by Basil Moreau, in Le Mans, France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Our Lady of Peace</span> Title of Mary

Our Lady of Peace, Mother of Peace, Queen of Peace or Our Lady Queen of Peace is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic Church. She is represented in art holding a dove and an olive branch, symbols of peace. Her official memorial in the General Roman Calendar is on July 9 in the universal Church except for Hawaii and some churches in the United States, where it is kept on January 24.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu</span> Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Hawaii

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese for the state of Hawaii in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of San Francisco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Alencastre</span> Portuguese-American Catholic bishop in Hawaii

Bishop Stephen Peter Alencastre, SSCC was a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the fifth and last Vicar Apostolic of the Vicariate Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands. He was also an apparent titular bishop of Arabissus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gulstan Ropert</span> French bishop

Gulstan Ropert, SS.CC., of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary served as the third vicar apostolic of the Apostolic Vicariate of the Hawaiian Islands - now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, from 1892 to 1903.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Coudrin</span> French missionary (1768–1836)

Pierre Coudrin, SSCC was a French religious priest. He was the founder of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a religious institute in the Roman Catholic Church known for its missionary work in Hawaii, Africa, Europe, Central America and the Pacific Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eustáquio van Lieshout</span>

Eustáquiovan Lieshout was a Dutch missionary in Brazil, and a religious and priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Arsenius Walsh, SS.CC.,, was an Irish Catholic priest who was among the first Roman Catholic missionaries in the Kingdom of Hawaii. He was a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a religious institute based in Paris, better known as the "Picpus Fathers", which had been founded during the turmoil of the French Revolution. He is called the Apostle of Hawaii.

Columba Murphy, SS.CC. was French Catholic priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a religious institute of the Roman Catholic Church. He helped found the Roman Catholic mission in the Gambier Islands and was one of the first Catholic missionaries to arrive in the Kingdom of Hawaii during the persecution by Kaʻahumanu, Kamehameha III and their American Congregationalist advisors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church (Hawi, Hawaii)</span>

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Hāwī, North Kohala, is a historic parish in the West Hawaii Vicariate of the Catholic Diocese of Honolulu. The parish campus includes an architecturally remarkable historic church, a rectory, a church cemetery, and a parish hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Patrick Catholic Church, Honolulu</span> Roman Catholic parish in Kaimuki, Hawaii

Saint Patrick Catholic Church, Honolulu is a parish in the Kaimuki district, in the East Honolulu Vicariate of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, Hawaii. The church was consecrated under the title of St. Patrick, Bishop of Armagh. Its Romanesque architecture, as well as its fine ecclesiastical appointments such as stained glass windows and pipe organ, are attractive to prospective couples seeking nuptial rites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Society of Mary (Marists)</span> Roman Catholic religious institute

The Society of Mary, better known under the name Marist, is a religious congregation under pontifical right.

Lane K. Akiona is a Roman Catholic priest of the Hawaiian Province of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and a member of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre and the Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Taiohae</span> Catholic diocese in French Polynesia

The Diocese of Taiohae is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in French Polynesia. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the Archdiocese of Papeete, yet still depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

John M. Systermans was born Jean-Marie Systermans, but was better known as Father Henry Systermans or Pater Henri Systermans. He was a 20th-century Belgian-born missionary and priest with the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. He served for most of his life in Hawaii most notably during the 1950s at the leper colony at Kalaupapa on Molokai. His service there followed in the tradition of fellow Belgian priest, Saint Damien, and his contributions were part of the research gathered by Gavan Daws for the definitive biography Holy Man: Father Damien of Molokai.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henriette Aymer de La Chevalerie</span>

Henriette Aymer de La Chevalerie was a French religious sister, who along with Peter Coudrin founded the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Cyprien Liausu, SS.CC., was a French Catholic priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a religious institute of the Roman Catholic Church. He headed the Roman Catholic mission in the Gambier Islands from 1835 to 1855.

Chrysostome Liausu, SS.CC., was a French Catholic priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a religious institute of the Roman Catholic Church. He helped start the Roman Catholic mission in the Eastern Oceania and was the Prefect Apostolic of Southern Oceania.

Tiripone Mama Taira Putairi, SS.CC., (1846–1881) was educated by French missionaries from birth and became the first indigenous Roman Catholic priest ordained in Eastern Polynesia. He was part of the native royal family of Mangareva, and his father Bernardo Putairi was the island's last ruling regent.

Sergio Hernán Pérez de Arce Arraigada, SS.CC. is a Chilean Catholic prelate and a professed member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary or The Picpus Father. He has been Metropolitan Archbishop of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Concepción since May 2024. He was the Bishop of diocese of San Bartolomé de Chilián since 2020. He previously worked as apostolic administrator of the same diocese since 2018. He previously became delegate for receiving reports of abuse in the Chilean SS.CC. province secretary of the Episcopal Conference.

References

  1. 1 2 3 ""A Brief History of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (SSCC)", ss.cc - United States province". Archived from the original on 2017-05-17. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
  2. 1 2 "History", ss.cc - Ireland-England province
  3. 1 2 3 "Brief history of the Congregation", ss.cc - Rome
  4. De Boeck, William. "Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and of the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 5 January 2016
  5. "Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, Eastern Province Archives", Marquette University