Jules Chevalier

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Jules Chevalier
Man with a Mission
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• Jules Chevalier was born at Richelieu in France
  on March 15, 1824.

He was the third child of a low income family.
He had an older brother, Charles, and a sister
Louise. Jules father was a baker and his mother
helped add to their income by selling vegetables
at the local market place.
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During his early years, Jules desire to become a
priest grew strong. When he was 12 years old he
told his parents. However they were too poor to
send him to the seminary and he had to find work.
He became apprenticed to a shoemaker. This
lasted for 5 years. During this time, Jules
learnt Latin with the help of the parish priest.
Eventually someone was found to pay for his
studies, and Jules went to the minor seminary of
St. Gaultier in October 1842. He was 17, and
found life and study with the much younger boys
very difficult.
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In 1846, Jules was promoted to the major seminary
in the city of Bourges. In the gospels, Jules saw
Jesus as loving, kind and compassionate. It was
here whilst studying the theology of the
incarnation, that he felt called to spread the
love of Jesus, everywhere. He began to dream of
others joining him.
On June 14, 1851, Jules was ordained a priest. He
wished to begin his work in Issoudun, a city
about 2 hours south of Paris. Issoudun was known
to the diocese by the peoples indifference
towards God and the poverty of many in the
parish.
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Jules first two placements were not Issoudun,
but he kept alive in his heart, the call from God
he had felt so strongly during his studies. In
his 3rd year of ordination, he received a letter
which appointed him to Issoudun. His friend from
seminary days, Father Maugenest was also to be
there.
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The two young priests lost no time and began a
novena to Our Lady, to end on the 8th December.
Jules asked Mary for the resources he needed to
found a group of missionaries. In return he
promised to do something for Mary and to honour
her in a special way. On the last day of the
Novena, his prayer was granted. The donation was
just enough money to buy a piece of land that had
an old barn on it. So began the foundation of the
Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, and ever after
Jules considered Mary as the true foundress of
his congregation.
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In the following years, Fr. Chevalier was to
fulfull his promise to Mary in ways that were
reflective and lasting. His first effort was to
give her a new name Our Lady of the Sacred
Heart. He wrote much about this title, and its
theology. Nowadays there are Dioceses,
Cathedrals, Churches, Parishes and Schools all
around the world, bearing this name.
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His second effort to honour Mary, was to found
another congregation the Daughters of Our Lady
of the Sacred Heart. In this way, Fr. Chevalier
felt his new name and gratitude for Mary would
always continue. The beginnings however, were
difficult. After some years, a Marie Louise
Hartzer joined the group. She was a widow, had
been a wife and mother, and was just the person
Fr. Chevalier needed to guide his infant
congregation. For 26 years, until his death in
1907 and her own four months later, she was the
most direct channel and a faithful interpreter of
the original inspiration of Jules Chevalier. She
passed this on to successive generations of
Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.
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Jules founded his congregations with a
spirituality in mind - a spirituality of the
heart. Fr Chevalier wanted us to bring the
love of God to people everywhere, particularly
those who do not yet know Christ. We do this by
being truly human, acting with love and kindness,
and by taking on whatever work is necessary to
bring people to know Jesus unconditional love
for them. We try to be on earth the heart of
God.
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Jules Chevaliers mission can be summed up in our
motto, May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be
everywhere loved. It expresses our desire to put
Jesus at the centre of our lives, to be apostles
of his love and to dedicate to this mission our
whole life and strength. By our lived mission we
desire to present a God who is love, a love that
is patient, kind and compassionate.
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EUCHARIST
Central to our spirituality is the Eucharist. It
is in the Eucharist that Jesus says, This my
body is broken and given for you. Here we see
the example we are called to follow.
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Inspired by the life of Jesus, we are called to
mission. It is our desire that ALL people come to
know how much God loves us in Jesus.
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Encouraged by our founder we are sent on mission
to people who do not know Jesus - especially
those who are poor and marginalized and need to
experience human love and understanding. It is
Jesus life which inspires our life so that with
him we can be his heart in our world today.