BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE OF THE SERVANT OF GOD, JULES CHEVALIER
1. His birth and family.
Jules Chevalier was the third child of the
baker Jean-Charles Chevalier and of Luise Ory. The parents had been married on
His Christian parents, especially his mother,
initiated the young Jules into the practices of a religious life. The mother
had been brought up by her maternal aunt, Mrs. Agnès Taffonneau. During the turbulent years of the revolution,
the latter had given shelter in her house to priests and noble people condemned
to exile or death.
Not long after his baptism, Mme. Chevalier
brought the young Jules to the church and consecrated him to the Virgin Mary
and to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Unwaveringly she looked after the education
of her son and when needed corrected his faults. Nearly every evening she
brought him with her to the church where the custom of communal prayer has been
maintained since the foundation of the village by Cardinal Richelieu.
2.
Jules as an adolescent.
At the age of seven or eight years, Jules was
overjoyed when the parish priest considered him wise enough to serve at Mass
and admitted him into the group of choir-boys. On
After finishing his primary education, Jules
told his parents that he wished to enter the minor seminary. However, they told
him that because of their financial situation they could not grant his request
but added that, if God would call him to His service, He would be able to find
the necessary means to realise his plan. Meanwhile, he should learn some trade.
After that answer, Jules burst into tears, but started nevertheless with great
courage to begin a cobbler’s apprenticeship with a neighbouring workman.
Without abandoning his intention to enter the minor seminary as soon as
possible, he worked for three and a half years.
In 1843, when his father was sworn-in as a mounted
forest-guard at Vatan (Indre),
a benefactor undertook to enable him to enter the minor seminary. The Chevalier
family went to live in
3.
Jules as a seminarian at
In October 1846, Jules presented himself at the
major seminary of
· the retreat on entering the seminary
· his desire for the missions
· during the teaching of the treatise on the
Incarnation, a special course on the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
We shall return to these three points when
studying the spirituality and the works of Father Chevalier. Form here on, let us take note of the influence of his study of the
Sacred Heart on the life of our seminarian.
In 1848, Monsieur L. Pelissier,
professor at the seminary of
Meanwhile, Jules Chevalier continued his course
toward priesthood. After his tonsure on
4.
The first years of his priesthood.
Three days after his ordination he received the
assignment as assistant priest in Yvoy-le Pré, but only for a few months (June 1851 till January
1852). After that, the archbishop appointed him to Châtillon-sur-Indre
(from January 1852 till October 1853). For one year he replaced the sick parish
priest of Aubigny-sur-Nère (
When his companion had agreed, both decided to
talk it over with their parish priest, Canon Crozat.
The latter promised them to help them as much as possible. Because they were
poor and without means to start such a work, they decided to make a novena to
the Blessed Virgin. They asked her that as the first fruit of the proclamation
of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, she would obtain from the Heart of
her divine Son a concrete sign. The Sacred Heart would thereby show His
agreement with their project and would provide them with the means to realize
it. They promised Mary that if they met with her approval, they would take the
title of Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and honour her in a very special way.
Their novena ended on
But alas! All the members of the council were
against the project. The two curates started to pray again. When the archbishop
tabled the question a second time, he met with the same opposition from the Episcopal
Council and declared: "Gentlemen, I
have been thinking... and prayed about it... and I never go against your
advice. However, for this one time I will act differently because I believe
that I would go against the designs of
The following day, the two curates received a
letter from the archbishop informing them of the decision.
In the life of Father Chevalier these facts, i.e.
his discovery of devotion to the Sacred Heart during his theological studies,
his assignment to Issoudun and how the Virgin had answered his prayers, are
fundamental. They explain the development of his spirituality and of his works
during the many years of religious life. The Servant of God has always
considered the 8th December 1854 as the foundation day of the congregation of
the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, and the Blessed Virgin as its foundress.
5.
The first community.
On
The first pastoral initiative of Father
Chevalier would be a Mass for the men. A goodly number of family women and
pious souls took part in the parish activities. It was very different however with
the men: only one attended Sunday Mass and performed his "Easter
duty". The apostolic zeal of Father Chevalier kept pushing him to find a solution
to this bad situation. Toward the end of 1856, he and his companion decided to
begin an evangelisation of the men of Issoudun and they started a campaign to
find men of goodwill. After several weeks of house-visitations, with attempts
and refusals, they could count on thirty promises. The following Sunday, thirty
brave men took part in the holy Eucharist. In spite of much unpleasant talk and
numerous derisive remarks, the two priests persevered. "The men’s apostolate"
which had been started amidst much suffering, became a real success.
On Christmas Day 1856, after first making a
retreat, Fathers Chevalier and Maugenest made their
first religious profession. Now they really became Missionaries of the Sacred
Heart, and continued with their life of prayer, of work and of poverty. The
furniture of their house was like that of most poor people. Because they had
no-one in service in their house, they had to do everything for themselves,
even the cooking.
There were a few priests willing to share their
life, but they did not stay long. In June 1856 Father Charles Piperon arrived. Already during their theological studies,
Jules Chevalier had thought of him as a possible companion for starting his
missionary work. In January 1858, the cardinal of
Because they felt the need for spiritual and
human comfort, the two priests started a retreat together at the Trappists in Fontgombault (Indre). Here they took the decision to build a beautiful
church in honour of the Sacred Heart and of Our Lady. While Father Piperon started visiting the principal dioceses of
Toward 1865, two other priests came to share
the life of the little community. Each of them would - in very different ways -
contribute his share to the fledgling apostolate. The first was father Victor Jouet (1864), who would commence publication of the Annals of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.
The second, Father Jean-Marie Vandel, would become
the founder and first director of the Petite-Oeuvre,
the minor seminary or apostolic school which was going to be a fruitful nursery
of vocations for the Congregation.
6.
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.
All the outward work and the ongoing building
activity, although important, were not the only things that occupied the
attention and efforts of Father Chevalier. During his novitiate he had been
doing much thinking about the kind of life which the Lord expected of him.
Already in 1855 he had composed the first "Rules for the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart - First Draft."
For several years he would continue perfecting this document. Because of his
deep gratitude to Mary, he did not forget his promise to promote her honour in
his congregation under a special form of worship. But how to
keep that promise? Little by little his ideas began to take shape.
Probably in 1859, when the walls of the new church of the Sacred Heart were
beginning to rise, he put a question before the little community while they
were sitting together under the shade of the linden-trees during the recreation
after lunch: "What title shall we
put above the altar of our Lady in our new sanctuary?" Each of them
started to respond in accordance with his personal preference and a little
haphazardly, but father Chevalier answered: No,
no, you don't really get it: in our church Mary's altar shall be dedicated to
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart."
After several objections and questions, Father
Chevalier explained his idea:
"We
owe her everything. Moreover, we have promised to honour her and make her honoured
in a special way. Well, it seems to me that the title: Our Lady of the Sacred
Heart is a perfect response to that desire. By pronouncing it, we will thank
God for having chosen Mary to form the adorable Heart of Jesus in her virginal
womb. We will honour in a special way the feelings of love, humble submission
and filial respect which Jesus has nourished in His Heart towards His most
saintly mother. With a special title we will acknowledge the ineffable power
which the dear Redeemer has granted her over His adorable Heart. We will
supplicate that loving Virgin to lead us personally to the Heart of Jesus, and
to reveal to us the mysteries of compassion and love which it contains. Also,
to open for us the treasures of grace of which He is the source, and to spread
these personally from her maternal hands to all those who invoke her or whom we
will recommend to her powerful intercession. Through Mary his mother we will go
to the Heart of Jesus: Ad Jesum per Mariam".
Sometime after July 1860, Father Chevalier had
ordered three stained glass windows for the new church of the Sacred Heart. The
central one should show the apparition of Our Lord to the venerable Margaret
Mary. Two smaller ones, to be placed in the side-chapels, should decorate the
altar of our Lady and that of
The first part of the church was blessed on
Now the Fathers began seeing the urgency to
explain the meaning of this new title. In his magazine The Messenger of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Father Ramière SJ published the first article of Father Chevalier
explaining the origin, the theological justification and the expediency of the
devotion. This first publication would become a much reprinted brochure. It was
being sent to the Bishops, and for seven years a great amount of approvals and
praise started to arrive in Issoudun. The response of the faithful displayed
their great enthusiasm to pray to Mary under the title of Our Lady of the
Sacred Heart. Things then developed very quickly; the prayer "Remember,
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart…", a publication of songs, the foundation of the
Confraternity of Our Lady of the Sacred
Heart which was started with the approval of the archbishop of Bourges. In
1868 this confraternity numbered 2 million members; 4 years later there were
14,690.000, followed by 18 million in 1891. People had a great liking for the
title which during those first years was also named "Queen of the Heart of Jesus", especially in the songs to that
Queen who obtained so many graces.
With such a patroness and protectress,
the church of the Sacred Heart was soon finished. On
From the very beginning of his pastoral
ministry he would often preach about all the mysteries of Mary's life. Having
found his spirituality in the devotion to the Heart of God's Son, he loved to
contemplate Mary in her relations with the Heart of her Son. He wrote several
books, the most important of which bears the title: "The Sacred Heart of Jesus in its relation with Mary, or Our Lady of the
Sacred Heart", a thick book of 814 pages. While the French School of
spirituality liked to contemplate the mysteries of Jesus' life, the servant of
God preferred to contemplate the mystery of Mary's relations with the Heart of
her Son.
7.
First audience with Pope Pius IX (September 1860)
Sixteen times during his life Father Chevalier
would pay a visit to the Holy Father. The first time, 5 years after the
beginning of the Congregation, he came to ask the Pope's blessing over his
Little Society. Having been informed about of the letter of Mgr. Menjaud, the archbishop of Bourges, Pius IX spoke to Father
Chevalier: "This is good, my child.
I see who you are: you work for the establishment of the Congregation of
Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. Oh, what a beautiful work! Church and society
have no hope other than in the Heart of Jesus. He will cure all our evils. May
you increase and multiply and preach everywhere about this salvific
devotion to the Heart of the Divine Master. Before I die, it is my wish to give
your Congregation its canonical approval.”
Then the young founder presented the Holy
Father with the motto of his Congregation, asking his approval to grant 100
days indulgence for its invocation. The Holy Father said the words: "May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved”, and he added: "Very good, I wish to grant the indulgences
which you ask". Then he took his pen and signed his name with these
words: "Pro gratia".
Ever since that day this formulation has remained the motto of the
Congregation.
8.
The Crowning of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.
Because the number of associates of the
confraternity of Our Lady increased rapidly and the pilgrimages to the feet of
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart kept expanding, Father Chevalier was obliged to
reconsider the physical representation of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. It was
then that he decided to have a statue made.
In 1867 he decided upon the construction of a chapel "in a style that is more pure and rich"
as the archbishop of
At the same time Father Chevalier put the
finishing touch to the Constitutions on which the future of his work was going
to depend. He wished to put them in the hands of the Holy Father and ask him
for their first approval.
This other trip to
To prepare the faithful for the feast of the
coronation which was scheduled for 8 September 1869, the Archbishop wrote a
pastoral letter, the "Mandamentum" wherein he explained and defended the
devotion to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. For Issoudun, that day was going to
be an incomparable one. Thirteen Archbishops and Bishops, more than seven
hundred priests and countless pilgrims attended the great display of faith and
love for Mary.
9. Consecration
of the human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
On
During his audience of 3 June1874, he had
mentioned to the Holy Father that three years earlier he had sent him 50.000
signatures asking for the consecration of the whole world to the Sacred Heart
of Jesus. Pius IX answered: "Yes, I
have already been asked to consecrate all peoples to the Sacred Heart. At that
time I felt not yet wholly inclined to do so, because it was not yet the proper
moment. But today, if the good Catholics ask me, I will gladly do so".
So Father Chevalier asked the Pope to allow him to collect still more requests
for such a consecration. The Pope answered him: "Yes, Yes, because your are the
Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, this is your business". Father
Chevalier wrote about this: "Those
words of the Vicar of Jesus Christ fell on our hearts like oil on fire".
During the audience of
10.
The Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
From the moment when Father Chevalier gave to
Mary the title of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, he started thinking about
founding a Congregation of Sisters who would dedicate themselves to the service
of the Heart of Jesus. His idea for that Congregation came into existence on
However, that first attempt resulted in a failure.
Only seven years later providence would choose Marie-Louise Hartzer
for that purpose. She was a young widow whose two sons were studying for the
M.S.C. priesthood. Not only did she accept the task and imbue herself with the
spirituality of Issoudun, but she also proved herself capable of passing that
spirituality on to her new spiritual family. Her nomination as superior would
become the real moment of the foundation of the Congregation. Thanks to Mother
Marie-Louise, the spirituality and the zeal which Father Chevalier wished to
impart to that new young community, became a reality.
Father Chevalier spent much time and effort on
the formation of this new work, sharing generously his advice and giving a
great number of spiritual conferences. Mother Hartzer
trained her Sisters in the spiritual life, and she would become their mother
and superior for many years. The Sisters took part in the apostolate of the
Fathers. In 1884, the first five of them departed for
11.
Parish priest of Issoudun (1872-1907)
In 1872, when the parish of Issoudun became
vacant, Mgr. de La Tour d'Auvergne, who was deeply
interested in the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, suggested that the
Congregation take charge of the parish. Father Chevalier hesitated for a long
time before accepting the assignment, but the Archbishop insisted: "I don't wish to force you, but remember that
we are going to become a Republic, and in
Because Father Piperon
refused to accept such a heavy responsibility, the Archbishop advised Father
Chevalier to take it upon himself. He agreed and so became the archpriest of
Issoudun. Consequently, his work that was already so intensive,
became now even considerably heavier. With great energy he devoted himself to
the pastoral tasks of his ministry with no more than two confreres as
assistants in the large parish.
His first undertaking was going to be the
reconstruction of a part of the parish church which the ecclesiastical
authorities had already deemed necessary for many long years. He was not able
to completely finish the project and omitted the two towers of the facade. The
church of Saint-Cyr, although unfinished, remains an imposing religious
building.
He also reorganized the religious instruction
of the children, erected the confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, the
Conferences of Saint-Vincent de Paul, the work of the Ladies of Charity, a
Sewing Circle, a clothing centre for the poor and an association of servant-girls
under the name of Saint Blandine. Every year he also held
a retreat for each group and in 1887 a general mission for the whole parish.
12. His last years and his death
During the last seven years of his life, Father
Chevalier loses everything he had accomplished. It all started with the law of Waldeck-Rousseau of
When the General Council had
to leave France, Chevalier decided to remain in Issoudun. To save the properties of the congregation, he
asked
With several confreres, now seculars like
himself and priests of the diocese of
Mother Hartzer
herself did not wish to leave
When Mgr. de La Tour d'Auvergne
advised Father Chevalier to accept the parish of Issoudun, he did not foresee
how far the hatred of the freemasons would go. On 21 January Jules Chevalier - then
83 - and his assistants saw themselves brutally expelled from the parish presbytery.
He went to live in the house of a friend, the Viscount of Bonneval.
But that was not yet the end of the pillage.
Three months later, on 30 April, the Basilica and all the dependencies of the
pilgrimage of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart were sold by auction. Father Chevalier who had stayed behind in Issoudun, started working
to save the properties of the congregation. During the last years he had been
able to obtain a sum of money sufficient for buying back the buildings of the
Sacred Heart. Thus Bernard de Bonneval, the son of
the viscount presented himself at he auction (with permission of the Holy See)
to buy in his own name the Basilica and the house of the Sacred Heart. Ten
minutes later, Mrs. de Lapparant bought the house of
the Sisters. In this way the properties were preserved for the real owners.
The deed of sale was not even signed when Mr. Bonneval started thinking about preparing a tomb for Father
Chevalier worthy to receive his mortal remains. In his opinion, for such a
pious plan no place would be more suited than the Basilica. His remains would
be placed in the crypt at the feet of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.
Jules Chevalier received the sacrament of the
sick on
13.
Some particular questions regarding the life of the servant of God.
Father Chevalier knew much satisfaction in his
life but also deep suffering. Before ending this short biography, we would like
to come back to three particular questions concerning the life of the founder;
they are dealing with three trials and give clear evidence of his virtue.
1) Difficulties with the Holy
Office
a-
The first intervention (1869)
The year 1869 was that of the crowning of the
statue of Our Lady. The congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart
becomes an institute of pontifical right. Immediately after these events,
Father Chevalier has to present himself before the Holy Office with his
publications. He arrived in
b-
The decree of 1875.
The second difficulty could be called "The
Polish problem". One Bishop of that country, Mgr. Hirschler,
wrote a letter to the Holy Father wherein he mentioned two different Polish
translations of the title "Our Lady of the Sacred Heart". In the
first one it meant "Queen of the Sacred Heart", and in the second
"Mother of the Sacred Heart". He could not accept the first
translation and asked that the indulgences attached to the title of Our Lady of
the Sacred Heart should only be granted to the second translation.
In his answer of
The document added that the Holy Father had
ordered "that the statues or images
to be consecrated for use in the cult must represent the Virgin holding the
Infant Jesus in her arms and not standing before her knees." Would
that mean that the statue of Issoudun had to be rejected? Mgr. de la Tour d'Auvergne consulted the Pope and was informed that the
statue of Issoudun may remain in its place. Father Chevalier had a new image
made which from then on would be spread.
c-
Change in the prayer "Remember Our Lady of the Sacred Heart..."
(Sept. 1883).
The Holy Office called Father Jouet, the procurator of the Congregation, then on vacation
in Issoudun, urgently back to
d-
The Decree of 1895.
On
Two days later, Father Chevalier composes two
letters: one for Cardinal Monaco de La Valetta and the other for Mgr. Boyer. He
expresses his sadness because of such an accusation of disobedience and defends
his procedure. Since the defence of 1875, the Fathers had completely abstained
from further spreading (for public veneration) the statues and images
representing the Child Jesus standing before His Mother. All they did was offer
reproductions of the old model for the private devotion of the faithful.
They did so on the instigation and with the full approval of Mgr. de La Tour d'Auvergne who had consulted the Holy See. Father Chevalier
now concluded "If we were in error,
then it was wholly involuntarily, because we were acting completely in good
faith."
Archbishop Boyer suggested to Father Chevalier that
he go personally to
2) The expulsion from
In virtue of the Decree of Jules Ferry on
The Holy See granted all the exemptions which
the Fathers needed; they were allowed to temporarily take off their religious habit
and to keep only the image of the Sacred Heart under their cassock.
How did Father Chevalier cope with all these
afflictions? He himself wrote: "In
the midst of those cruel trials, God kept supporting me with His grace. I gave
myself to divine
Such abandonment and confidence in divine mercy
would draw heavenly blessings on the Congregation. The persecution did not
damage him at all but accelerated his spiritual growth. The Superior General
had foreseen it all, and on the fatal day of the exile each one of them knew
what place of exile had been prepared for him.
In the midst of that situation, the Holy
Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith offered the two large vicariates
of
3) The years of internal crisis in the
congregation (1888-1895)
In order to limit the tensions that come with
the foundation of an international congregation, the Canon Law had foreseen two
kinds of structure: the General Council and the General Chapter. For the little
Society of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, the political situation would
change the normal course of its development. The expulsion of the religious from
One should also add the question of the
practice of religious life outside of
Because Father Chevalier was so much occupied
with the future of the congregation which was now rapidly developing outside
This was done, but the appearance of the new
Directory caused discontent in the houses of northern
That Chapter opened on
In answer to that objection Father Jouët replied that in his request to
On the following 15 April, the Prefect of the
Congregation for Bishops and Religious Superiors invited Father Chevalier to
Rome in the hope to put an end to all the problems. He was received very warmly
and on
But one practical question remained: was it
necessary to convoke a new Chapter? Three times Father Chevalier asked
Then the Servant of God could pray as follows:
"Thank you, divine heart of Jesus!
Oh, Our Lady, on the moment when we believed that all was lost, you have saved
us. You have proven once more to us that our little Congregation is definitely
your own. Please, continue to protect it for ever".