Jules Chevalier, MSC (15 March 1824 – 21 October 1907) was a French Catholic priest and founder of the

Missionaries of the Sacred Heart The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC; ; ) are a missionary congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1854 by Jules Chevalier at Issoudun, France, in the Diocese of Bourges. The motto of the Missionaries of the S ...

, the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, along with their lay associates, known collectively as the Chevalier Family.

Biography

Born in Richelieu, France, Chevalier was initially apprenticed as a shoemaker at age 12 after he was told his parents could not afford to send him to the seminary. He was later able to join the seminary, after his father's boss sponsored him and at the age of 30 was sent to the parish of

Issoudun Issoudun () is a commune in the Indre department, administrative region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is also referred to as ''Issoundun'', which is the ancient name. Geography Location Issoudun is a sub-prefecture, located in the eas ...

. In 1854 he founded the religious institute of the

, and in 1874 the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Australia
/ref> Later came the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, along with their lay associates. Together with the other orders, they are known collectively as the Chevalier Family. Chevalier claimed a

Marian apparition A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance of Mary, the mother of Jesus. While sometimes described as a type of vision, apparitions are generally regarded as external manifestations, whereas visions are more often understood as ...

and titled it as Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. The image was crowned by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

in 1869 and her sanctuary raised to the status of

minor basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

in 1874. He died in 1907 and later became an official candidate for sainthood, gaining the title

Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

References

1854 births 1907 deaths 19th-century French Roman Catholic priests Missionaries of the Sacred Heart {{RC-clergy-stub