Brothers of the Sacred Heart Celebrates Its Bicentennial

September 30 is a memorable day of our congregation, BROTHERS OF THE SACRED HEART, because it is the day when we were founded by a diocesan priest, Father Andre Coindre, in 1821 at Lyons, France.

When French Revolution came to an end, our founder saw the need of the times. Many children were loitering around the streets, homeless and hungry for food and attention, and no one seemed to care for them. It was then that he realized that these children were the hope of France and the future of the Church.

To rescue young people from ignorance, to prepare them for life and to give them knowledge and love of God are the core reasons why Fr. Coindre organized a group of dedicated and faithful men and women of France. He first entrusted the young girls to Claudine Thevenet (later foundress of the Religious of Jesus and Mary [RJM]) in 1818; then he gathered ten young men to take care of the boys and let them make their profession in the institute on September 30, 1821.

Fr. Coindre wanted the brothers to maintain their identity as Lay Religious Brothers like Jesus of Jesus of Nazareth, who came as a Brother to all. Because of his great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, he wanted that the congregation he founded be named after the heart of our Lord, focused on the pierced heart of Jesus. He wished the brothers to live in community witnessing to a life of poverty, chastity and obedience; and to contribute as religious educators to the education and formation of the youth.

Upon our founder’s death five years later, Fr. Francois (our founder’s brother) succeeded him as head of the congregation. He was later replaced in 1841 by Venerable Br. Polycarp whom we consider as the second founder because of his many valuable contributions to the institute. It was Br. Polycarp who started sending his brothers to go for mission outside the country. Today, the Brothers of the Sacred Heart is present in 32 countries.

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In the Philippines, the Brothers from Canada came in 1959 upon the invitation of the late bishop, Clovis Thibault, PME and started their mission in Digos, Davao del Sur. (Br. Erwin J. Sayson, SC)