The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary () abbreviated SS.CC., is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

clerical religious

congregation Congregation may refer to: Religion *Church (congregation), a religious organization that meets in a particular location *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administrative body of the Catholic Church *Religious congregation, a type of religious instit ...

Pontifical Right In Catholicism, "of pontifical right" is the term given to ecclesiastical institutions (religious and secular institutes, societies of apostolic life) either created by the Holy See, or approved by it with the formal decree known by the Latin na ...

for

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, ...

and

brothers A brother (: brothers or brethren) is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingl ...

. The congregation is also known as the Picpus because their first house was on the Rue de Picpus in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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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 The Civil Constitution of the Clergy () was a law passed on 12 July 1790 during the French Revolution, that sought the Caesaropapism, complete control over the Catholic Church in France by the National Constituent Assembly (France), French gove ...

. 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 Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...

, waiting for the opportunity to start his group.

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.

Establishing the Congregation

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in 1800, despite knowing they could face the

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for their actions, Father Coudrin and Henriette Aymer de Chevalerie officially established the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. In 1817, the Congregation was formally approved by the Pope as a single institute composed of a male and a female branch of

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

and a lay branch."History", ss.cc - Ireland-England province
/ref> 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 Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. 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). 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). The Congregation has been present in Ireland since 1948 and in the UK since 1956.

The Mission in the Pacific Islands

The religious institute set off on a new mission that would become their hallmark accomplishment.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 Teams of missionaries settled in the several

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

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 The Hawaiian Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ɛ ɐwˈpuni həˈvɐjʔi, was an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country from 1795 to 1893, which eventually encompassed all of the inhabited Hawaii ...

. They established what is now the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu The 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 Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisc ...

and built the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, the oldest Roman Catholic

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in continuous use in the

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. 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 Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of ...

. 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 The Passamaquoddy (Maliseet-Passamaquoddy language, Passamaquoddy: ''Peskotomuhkati'', Plural: ''Peskotomuhkatiyik'') are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American/First Nations in Canada, First Nations people who live in northea ...

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.

Saints, Blesseds, and other holy people

Saints * Jozef (Damien) de Veuster (3 January 1840 – 15 April 1889), missionary to Hawaii, canonized on 11 October 2009 Blesseds * Ladislas Radigue and 3 Companions (died 26 May 1871), Martyrs of the Paris Commune, beatified on 22 April 2023 * Teófilo Fernández de Legaria Goñi and 4 Companions (died 1936), Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War, beatified on 13 October 2013 * Hubertus (Eustáquio) van Lieshout (3 November 1890 – 30 August 1943), Dutch missionary to Brazil, beatified on 15 June 2006 Servants of God * Henriette Aymer de la Chevalerie (8 November 1767 – 23 November 1834), founder of the Congregation, declared Servant of God in 2010 * Pierre-Marie-Joseph Coudrin (1 March 1768 – 27 March 1837), founder of the Congregation, declared Servant of God on 3 April 1995 * Mateo Crawley-Boevey Murga (18 November 1875 - 4 May 1960), Peruvian priest * Esteban Gumucio Vives (3 September 1914 - 6 May 2001), Chilean priest * Rolf Reichenbach (15 October 1931 - 11 September 2004), German priest

Other notable members

* Henri Systermans * Joseph Hendricks"Brief history of the Congregation", ss.cc - Rome
/ref> * Honoré Laval * François Caret * Étienne Jérôme Rouchouze *

Louis Désiré Maigret Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also * ...

* Alexis Bachelot * Mateo Crawley-Boevey * Florentin-Étienne Jaussen

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Congregation Of The Sacred Hearts Of Jesus And Mary Religious organizations established in 1800 Catholic organizations established in the 18th century 1800 establishments in France