INTRODUCTION

The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) are an international society of over 2,000 religious brothers and priests in 51 countries. Drawn together in an awareness of God’s great love for humanity, their common purpose is to bring the Good News of God’s love to people everywhere.

Fr. Jules Chevalier founded the MSC in 1854 in Issoudun, France, the day of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. He had witnessed the beginnings of the modern age. With uncanny foresight, he correctly identified the “mal moderne,” that is, the ills or evils that would prove to be endemic to this promising new era in human history. For the most part, the secular attitudes that he singled out -- egoism, atheism, materialism, Jansenism and indifference -- still afflict society today.

His astute appraisal of the times was not based on any skepticism with regard to science or on any special knowledge of the future. Fr. Chevalier thought as he did simply because he appreciated the radical human need for the redeeming power of God’s love. The human heart of Christ was for him an apt symbol of this creative, redeeming and unifying love. This heart likewise revealed the dignity of the human person, offered renewed hope to humanity and inspired attentive hearts to respond with love both for God and neighbor.

MSC IN WATERTOWN - HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The MSC from France first came to Watertown, New York, in December 1875, in response to a call from Bishop Wadhams of Ogdensburg to serve the French-speaking Catholics of the area. Father Jean-Baptiste Chappel, MSC, was named pastor of St. Mary’s Parish, then located on Factory Street, on January 1, 1876. In October of the same year, he also became pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in Evans Mills, NY, located nine miles north of Watertown.

On the feast of the Sacred Heart, June 23, 1876, the MSC purchased the residence Father Chappel had rented on Thompson Street and turned it into a base of operations for the community.
This was not only the first MSC foundation in the New World; actually it was the first of all foundations formally established after the original house in Issoudun.

Right from the outset and along with their pastoral involvement, the MSC began a seminary program for future priests in the attic of the original house. In 1885-86 St. Joseph’s Apostolic School was built to serve as a seminary as well as a business school.

The first MSC superior of the new MSC community, Father Joseph Fernand Durin, arrived in Watertown on May 6, 1876, in the company of two seminarians. In 1878 he founded the Parish of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and built a church next to the MSC residence to replace St. Mary’s on Factory Street as the French-speaking parish in Watertown. Thanks to him, the Sisters of St. Joseph came to the Diocese of Ogdensburg on December 28, 1880. They soon opened a school in their convent on West Main Street. In September of 1923, they staffed the new Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish School on West Lynde Street, which had been built under the leadership of the pastor, Father Amedee Lacasse, MSC.

Father Durin returned to France in 1881 to become the superior of a group of Missionaries of the Sacred Heart leaving for Oceania, the first MSC foreign mission. In 1899, a Watertown MSC, Father Daniel Lehane was appointed to Natick, R.I., to become pastor of St. Joseph Parish entrusted to the care of the young religious community. In August 1900 another group of MSC landed in Quebec City, Canada. But it was the Natick house that became, in 1912, headquarters for all MSC belonging to the “quasi-province” of Canada and the northeastern portion of the USA.

Meanwhile, back in Watertown, MSC priests on the seminary staff carried on the precedent set by Father Chappel by helping out in many area parishes. In 1903, they started a mission for Italian-speaking Catholics on the west side of the city.
It would later become St. Anthony Parish. And in 1906 a second Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church was completed on the MSC property at the corner of Thompson and Lynde Streets.

In 1905, St. Joseph’s Apostolic School closed its doors after having provided training for about 20 MSC priests, including the first American MSC, Fr. Pierre L’Esperance, who was ordained on December 8, 1888, and Fathers Lehane, Peloquin, and Royet.

After a dormant period, St. Joseph’s Apostolic School reopened in 1928 to provide college and theological formation to seminarians from the fast developing Canadian section of the MSC community. In July 1939, the MSC houses in Watertown, Rhode Island, and the Province of Quebec became the Canadian Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart with headquarters in Quebec City. Over 100 Canadian candidates for the priesthood received part of their training in Watertown between 1928 and 1960, when a new seminary was built in Quebec City. That year, St. Joseph’s Apostolic School became a high school seminary, later known as Sacred Heart Prep Seminary. It continued in operation until 1976.

The practice and promotion of devotion to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart had been characteristic of the Watertown community since its beginning. An association in honor of Our Lady was established in Watertown on December 8, 1876, and was given the status of an Archconfraternity by Pius IX on March 25, 1877. From then on, MSC priests and brothers in Watertown published a periodical that fostered that devotion. In 1987 the headquarters of the Archconfraternity was transferred to the provincial offices in Aurora, IL.

Another characteristic of the MSC communities in Watertown and Rhode Island was concern for the poor and needy. This included people who were institutionalized with health and/or behavioral problems. MSC priests have served at the Rhode Island Medical Center, the Watertown Correctional Facility at Dry Hill, and Mercy Hospital. They presently serve at the Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown and the Correctional Facility in Cape Vincent. For many years, the MSC ran a clothing store in the parish. Those in real need were never turned away from the rectory door. Since 1986 the MSC are again responsible for St. Mary’s Parish in Evans Mills, with its missions, St. Theresa of Avila, in Theresa, and St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia. In 1999 the MSC accepted All Saints Parish in Chaumont and three years later the parish of St. Vincent of Paul in Cape Vincent, and the parish of St. Vincent de Paul in Rosiere.

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, a landmark on the north side of Watertown, was destroyed by fire in 1969. A new church was dedicated on November 7, 1971. That same year, the Watertown and the Rhode Island communities became part of the US Province with headquarters in Aurora, Illinois.

MSC IN WATERTOWN TODAY

Missionaries of the Sacred Heart share certain characteristics wherever they are found around the globe. These can be traced to the Founder, Fr. Jules Chevalier, whose outlook on life was aptly summed up in these words: “The greatest human need, if people are to find meaning and happiness on earth, is to learn to believe in God’s love for them and to allow that love to transform their lives.” In light of this clear conviction, the MSC purpose or mission remains the same to this day:
to bring people everywhere to a deeper understanding and fuller acceptance of God’s love.

The most comprehensive expression of this worldwide MSC purpose in Watertown is found in the pastoral ministry carried out for and with the people of God in the local parishes with MSC pastors. As in other parishes, this ministry is rooted in the celebration of the Sacraments and includes traditional pastoral services such as religious instruction, Catholic education, care of the needy and family counseling. Naturally, these activities incorporate the evangelizing thrust of the Second Vatican Council towards fuller participation of the laity in the celebration of liturgy, and greater involvement by all the baptized in the ongoing mission of the Church. In many ways, today’s approach to pastoral ministry is an extension of the spirit first brought to the parish by the MSC in 1876, and not just an outgrowth of Vatican II with its radical appeal for compassion for a world in distress.

Indeed, the hallmark of all MSC ministries is to reflect the mercy of God by directing care to the “poorest of the poor” in body, mind, and spirit. This special concern for the disadvantaged and materially poor was shown most visibly in years past at the parish clothing store and Christian Care Center. It continues today in providing Catholic education and in helping to meet critical needs.

Perhaps the clearest example of lay involvement sponsored by the Watertown MSC is found in the Sacred Heart Foundation (SHF), a non-profit organization established June 1, 1967 by Father Pierre Aubin, MSC, with the help of Dr. John D. Callahan of Syracuse, NY. It is dedicated exclusively to the education of MSC seminarians, brothers and priests ministering in the United States and in less-industrialized countries around the globe. Managed and operated by 13 laypeople and two MSC, the Sacred Heart Foundation annually generates new funds to add to existing investments. In early 2004 the endowment fund had grown to $1,754,865. Since 1968, income from investments has been distributed yearly in the form of scholarships awarded to MSC students in the US and in MSC “foreign missions” for a total of $890,268.To enable the Foundation to meet growing needs, the board of directors hired a part-time executive director on February 1, 2001. At its roots, this is a lay commitment to the formation of spiritual leaders for a sick and secular world. In a word, the Sacred Heart Foundation is a model response to the expectations of the MSC Founder, Fr. Jules Chevalier, whose lifelong prayer was summed up in the words: “May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be loved everywhere!”

Another example is the Mission Project Service (MPS). Founded by Fr. George Cotter MM and Fr. Pierre Aubin, MSC, in the middle 1970s, it helps MSC and other Church people overseas obtain assistance from international aid organizations. Since 1982, MPS publishes Agencies For Development Assistance -- Sources of Support for Community-Based Socio-Economic and Religious Projects in Less-Industrialized Countries. The sixth and latest edition, also translated into Spanish and French, appeared at the end of 2002. At the request of Conferences of Bishops, Conferences of Religious, dioceses, religious communities and other groups, MPS staff also give workshops here and abroad.

HOPES FOR THE FUTURE

December 11, 1999, marked the establishment of a new entity called Lay MSC. Even though not necessarily involved in the ministries of MSC priests or brothers, they have committed to live their lives according to the spirit of our religious community. As originally envisaged by Father Chevalier, they are a source of support and hope within the MSC family.

The MSC community sees its future here in Watertown primarily in terms of parish-related ministries, the Sacred Heart Foundation, and the Mission Project Service. It is possible that Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish will become the focal point of apostolic activities carried out by members of the community.

Hospital and prison ministries, so expressive of the MSC charism of compassion and kindness, will be kept up as long as possible, both as a service to the wider community of the North Country and, increasingly, as a means of enlisting lay participation in these ministries.

MSC Brothers have worked for years in support of MSC ministry at the seminary, the parish and the hospital. They are a vital part of the Watertown community.

Retired MSC brothers and priests, by their participation in community life and prayer, will always play an important role through their spiritual support and personal witness as faithful religious who have devoted their lives to Christ and to his Church.

All MSC in Watertown want to continue to deepen and share an apostolic spirituality modeled after the Heart of Jesus - - the most unique, precious, and timely gift that the MSC have to offer the Church today. MSC members will employ all possible means suited to the realization of this goal.