Life at the Sacred Heart

From the earliest days of Sacred Heart education in France under the direction of St. Madeleine Sophie, there must have been a School Rule. At first, the way of life was learned no doubt from oral traditions and the observation of role models, but later, at least as early as 1833, a written School Rule was promulgated in the Society at the same time as the Plan of Studies. In 1852, however, a new draft of the inspired prologue of the School Rule was printed, together with a new Plan of Studies. The English transition of this prologue, together with some of the more meaningful portions of the more practical part of the Rule, was read to children by Reverend Mother at the beginning of each school year.

This custom was held from 1852 until about 1954 when Reverend Mother de Lescure sponsored a revision more in tune with modern times, also more inspirational and less prescriptive. This was known, in the English version, as LIFE AT THE SACRED HEART and was largely her own work. LIFE AT THE SACRED HEART was updated in l969 by a group of Religious of the Sacred Heart at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans. The writing of the edition from l985 was sponsored by the Network of Sacred Heart Schools in the United States and was the result of the brainstorming of several Network educators over a period of years.

Much gratitude is owed to Sr. Jan Dunn, RSCJ, for the writing and editing of the 1985 edition. In light of the 2020 Goals and Criteria, this most recent edition has been revised and edited by Sr. Meg Causey, RSCJ, Amanda Codina and Sr. Suzanne Cooke, RSCJ, in 2021.