The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
(MSC; Latin: Missionarii Sacratissimi Cordis;
French: Missionnaires du Sacré-Coeur) are
a missionary congregation in the Catholic
Church.
It was founded in 1854 by Jules Chevalier
at Issoudun, France, in the Diocese of Bourges.
Jules Chevalier, the founder of the Chevalier
Family, had a vision of a new world emerging
and he wanted to make known the Gospel message
of God's love and care for all men and women
and to evoke a response in every human heart.
He especially valued love, concern, compassion,
understanding, respect and acceptance of every
individual.
His vision was based on the words of Jesus:
I give you a new commandment, love one another.
Just as I have loved you, you also must love
one another.
By this love you have for one another, everyone
will know that you are my disciples.
[John 13:34 ff]
The motto of the Missionaries of the Sacred
Heart is: May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be
loved everywhere!
The priests, deacons and brothers of the Missionaries
of the Sacred Heart are known as MSCs (from
the Latin, Missionarii Sacratissimi Cordis).
As with most religious congregations in the
Catholic Church there is significant involvement
on the part of the laity, who may also serve
on the missions.
The international headquarters is in Rome
with numerous communities throughout the world.
== History ==
The origin of the Missionaries of the Sacred
Heart is closely connected with the definition
of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception
of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The means to lay their foundation being the
outcome of special prayers addressed to the
Mother of God during the nine days preceding
event of 8 December 1854.
The founder had pledged himself to honour
the Blessed Virgin in a special manner.
Chevalier fulfilled his promise the following
year by erecting a shrine dedicated to the
honour of Mary under the title of "Our Lady
of the Sacred Heart ".In 1864 he founded the
Archconfraternity of the Sacred Heart and
sought to have it established in every parish
as a means to develop devotion to, and appreciation
of, the love that Christ bears all people.
In 1867, the Congregation opened its first
school in Chezal-Benoît in the Centre Region
of France.
In September 1881, at the request of Pope
Leo XIII the Congregation sent its first missionaries
overseas.
From Barcelona three missionaries set out
for Papua New Guinea and founded the first
overseas mission in 1882 near Rabaul on the
island of New Britain.
In 1885, a supply base for the Papua New Guinea
mission was founded in Sydney, Australia and
the Australian Province was established in
1905.
The Australian province was active in missionary
work to Australian Aborigines and published
the long-running magazine of Catholic culture
Annals Australasia.
The Congregation continued to grow and established
provinces in the Netherlands (1894), the United
States (1939), Spain (1946), Ireland (1952),
Indonesia (1971) and the Dominican Republic
(1986).
== Vows ==
As members of a religious congregation, Missionaries
of the Sacred Heart embrace the evangelical
counsels, taking the three traditional religious
vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
Poverty means that all possessions are held
in common and that no member may accumulate
wealth.
Chastity means more than abstaining from sexual
activity and its purpose is to make the religious
totally available for service; it is also
a sign that only God can completely fill the
human heart.
For a member of a religious congregation,
obedience is not slavishly doing what one
is told by the superior but being attentive
to God’s will by prayerfully listening to
the voice of the person in charge.
Ultimately, these vows are lived out within
a community and bolstered by a relationship
with God.
Consequently:
Becoming a Missionary of the Sacred Heart
doesn’t happen over night.
Plenty of time and help is given to preparing
us for a way of life that is certainly not
ordinary!
People interested in exploring if this way
is for them usually journey with us for a
time of Accompaniment.
This is an opportunity to carefully and prayerfully
get more of a sense of what we are about and
come to know yourself better.
If a person decides to join us he is helped
along the many steps of prayer, study, reflection,
living and working in our pastoral and missionary
settings and sharing our way of life to try
it out for size.
All this happens before any commitment is
made.
The actual process of discernment and formation
differs slightly with each province, but the
overall scheme is the same.
== Religious formation ==
=== Discernment ===
Young adults aged 18 and over, meet regularly
to share their experiences of God and what
He may be calling them to become.
During this time the members of the Congregation
share what it is like to be a priest, religious
brother or sister.
The young people are also strongly encouraged
to attend Mass as often as possible and to
regularly spend time in prayer in order to
better discern their vocation.
=== Live in experience ===
In the US this is normally a series of weekends
or whole week experiences, designed to help
young men who are interested in religious
life.
Whilst on these live-in experiences, young
people have the opportunity to live in community,
to share their faith more deeply and to share
with those who are missionaries, both lay
and ordained.
In other provinces, this experience is full-time
e.g. in the United Kingdom where during this
stage a candidate may take classes in philosophy
or theology.
This is especially so if the person does not
possess a university degree.
In the Philippines Province, candidates (called
‘Formands’) who have graduated from high
school go to live the MSA Formation Centre
in Cebu from where they take university classes,
a process which lasts some five years.
The Filipinos refer to this as the Collegiate.
=== Aspirancy, postulancy, pre-novitiate ===
It is normal for a person to have a degree
before entering this year.
In the US the aspirant goes to live full-time
in an MSC formation house with peers and under
the guidance of a formation director.
This period devoted to learning more deeply
about what it means to follow Christ as a
future member of the Congregation.
In provinces with few postulants the aspirant
will normally live in one of the various communities.
In the Philippines there are enough postulants
to have a designated house, situated in Valenzuela.
=== Novitiate ===
Once the candidate knows the MSC way of life,
he is admitted into the novitiate preparing
himself to take the vows of poverty, chastity
and obedience.
The novitiate year is crucial, for it is then
“…that the novices better understand their
divine vocation, and indeed one which is proper
to the institute, experience the manner of
living of the institute, and form their mind
and heart in its spirit, and so that their
intention and suitability are tested.”
Thus, the novices are given the opportunity
for longer periods of prayer and spiritual
reading as well as silence in order to reflect
on the vocation God is offering and nature
of their response.
The spiritual development of the novice is
of particular focus, especially through spiritual
direction.
During the novitiate the history and Constitutions
of the Congregation are studied in depth.
A simple profession is made at the end of
the novitiate and the person officially becomes
a member of the Congregation for “By religious
profession, members assume the observance
of the three evangelical counsels by public
vow, are consecrated to God through the ministry
of the Church, and are incorporated into the
institute with the rights and duties defined
by law.”
=== Post novitiate ===
Post novitiate is where the newly professed
religious deepens his commitment as a member
of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and
decides whether or not to make a lifelong
commitment to vowed life.
During this period it is normal to pursue
a degree in theology; in the US this would
be done at Catholic Theological Union, in
the Philippines at the MSC’s own theologate
in Quezon City, Manila and in the UK at Heythrop
College.
At the end of this period of formation, which,
according to Canon Law, may last no more than
six years perpetual profession (final vows)
is made and ordination to the diaconate and
presbyterate follows for those called to Holy
Orders.
== Spirit and charism ==
The Constitutions of the Congregation state:
The spirit of our Congregation is made of
love and kindness, humility and simplicity;
but above all, it is a spirit of love for
justice and concern for the welfare of all,
specially the poorest ones.
For the Congregation the motto ‘May the
Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved’
goes beyond placing statues of the Sacred
Heart in churches, First Friday devotions
and novenas, important as they are.
It means believing that Christ’s love for
His people is empowering, healing, all-embracing,
liberating and challenging.
In practical terms, this means that the Missionaries
of the Sacred Heart:
Are committed to spreading the Gospel of Christ.
Respond to the needs of all, particularly
those who are poor, isolated or marginalised.
Promote human development and compassion,
build and model healthy relationships in the
light of Catholic social teachings.
Encourage, foster and sustain lay leadership
in the Church and involvement in their missions
and spirituality.This means that the Missionaries
of the Sacred Heart are engaged in a variety
of ministries as they respond to the "signs
of the times", ever seeking ways in which
to bring people to a deeper appreciation of
the love that God has for his children, and
to do so in "concrete circumstances".
== Missions and ministries ==
Australia: Education, parishes, chaplaincies,
retreats, justice and peace.
Britain and Ireland: Parishes, schools, retreats,
hospital chaplaincy, counselling, migrants
and refugees.
Missionaries have been sent to Russia, South
Africa and Venezuela.
Philippines: 24 parishes, schools, indigenous
people, justice and peace, the urban poor,
care for the environment and organising small
ecclesial communities.
Missionaries have been sent to Brazil, Japan,
the Marshall Islands and South Korea.
South Africa: Parishes, charismatic renewal,
healing and deliverance, people with HIV and
HIV education, human and spiritual growth
and retreats.
United States: Parishes, Native Americans,
those who have fallen away from the Church
as well as justice and peace issues.
Missionaries have been sent to Colombia, the
Congo, Fiji, India, Papua New Guinea and Senegal.
== References ==
== 
External links ==
MSC Generalate, Rome
MSC Austria
MSC Australia
MSC Brazil
MSC Britain
MSC Germany
MSC Ireland
MSC Philippines
South Africa
MSC United States
MSC Various Links
