Our Tradition as Brothers of the Sacred Heart
Father Andre Coindre, the founder of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, was born in Lyon, France, in 1787. Devoting his life to the restoration of the Church following the Reign of Terror at the end of the French Revolution, his chief mission became the moral, intellectual, and religious development of young orphan boys left in distress by the consequent disintegration of family life.
Father Coindre had envisioned a community of Brothers trained to work with the poor through the establishment of schools; in 1821 that dream became a reality with the formation of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. After Father Coindre’s death in 1826 and at the end of Father Francis Coindre’s administration, Brother Polycarp, our first Brother Superior General, assumed leadership of the struggling community. His tenure was marked by a period of tremendous growth. By the time of his death in 1859, the Institute had grown to over 400 Brothers in 70 schools.
In January of 1847 at the request of Bishop Portier, five missionary Brothers of the Sacred Heart arrived in Mobile, Alabama, to begin charitable and educational work. With a presence in the United States, the congregation began its transformation into a worldwide institute, spreading throughout North America in the South, New York, and New England areas and into Canada.
Tradition Becomes the Future
As a privileged expression of the Christian vocation received at Baptism, the religious life is very precious to today’s Church because the Lord’s own holiness shines upon it and reflects out to others. Religious, in their desire to follow Christ, the source of true happiness, fix their gaze on the world to come. Father Coindre, whose motto was “courage and confidence,” gave of himself to a point of exhaustion to the service of the Church. He continues to be a model for the members of your Institute, so I want to encourage the Brothers to be faithful to their religious commitment “in the spirit of total self-giving to Christ and the Church.” I urge them to accomplish lovingly what has been confided to them in their diverse services, “true ecclesial ministries.”– Letter from Pope John Paul II to Rev. Brother Bernard Couvillion, on the occasion of the 175th anniversary of our foundation.
Schools of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart
Many schools have evolved from the first 5 Missionaries sent by Br. Polycarp to Mobile, Alabama in 1847. Listed below are the present schools who can trace their roots back to these five brave religious.
To find out more about the Brothers of the Sacred Heart and their mission in the ever-changing world, visit brothersofthesacredheart.org.
BSH Schools in the USA
Bishop Guertin High School
Nashua, NH
Brother Martin High School
New Orleans, LA
Catholic High School
Baton Rouge, LA
E.D. White Catholic High School
Thibodeaux, LA
Mount St. Charles Academy
Woonsocket, RI
Msgr. McClancy Memorial High School
East Elmhurst, NY
St. Columba’s College
St. Albans, UK
St. Joseph High School
Metuchen, NJ
St. Michael Indian School
St. Michael’s, AZ
St. Stanislaus College
Bay St. Louis, MS
Vandebilt Catholic High School
Houma, LA
BSH Non-USA Schools
Christ the King High School
Roma, Lesotho
Cor Jesu College
Digos City, Philippines
Loreto Secondary School
Gweru, Zimbabwe
Materi Girls’Centre
Meru, Kenya
Rutenga Secondary School
Mwenzi, Zimbabwe
Sacred Heart High School
Maputsoe, Lestho
St. Francis Secondary School
Malole, Zambia
Shitima House School for Street Kids
Kabwe, Zambia