Historedia
EuropeEvent

Founding of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary

When
1794–1817
Where
place of Coudrin's hiding; France, during underground ministry; Paris, France; papal authority
Episodes
4

The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary was officially established in Paris on Christmas Eve 1800 by Father Pierre Coudrin and Henriette Aymer de la Chevalerie, who had met during underground ministry amid the French Revolution's religious upheaval. The Pope formally approved the institute in 1817.

Episodes

  1. 1794 · place of Coudrin's hidingCoudrin's vision during hiding

    While in hiding, Coudrin saw a heavenly illuminated group of priests, brothers and sisters in white robes, which he took as a calling to found the institute.

  2. 1794 · France, during underground ministryCoudrin meets Henriette Aymer de la Chevalerie

    During his underground ministry in 1794, Coudrin met Henriette Aymer de la Chevalerie; the two later shared visions of founding a religious institute.

  3. 24 December 1800 · Paris, FranceOfficial establishment of the Congregation

    On Christmas Eve 1800, despite risk of the guillotine, Father Coudrin and Henriette Aymer de la Chevalerie officially established the Congregation in Paris.

  4. 1817 · papal authorityFormal papal approval

    In 1817 the Pope formally approved the Congregation as a single institute with a male and a female branch of religious and a lay branch.

Background and detail

Background. The congregation arose amid the religious upheaval caused by the French Revolution. During his underground ministry in 1794, Pierre Coudrin met Henriette Aymer de la Chevalerie, and the two shared visions of creating a religious institute at a time when Roman Catholics in France faced danger. Coudrin, while in hiding, had a vision of a heavenly illuminated group of priests, brothers and sisters in white robes, which he took as his calling to found the institute.

Founding in Paris. On Christmas Eve in 1800, knowing they could face the guillotine for their actions, Father Coudrin and Henriette Aymer de la Chevalerie officially established the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. The congregation is also known as the Picpus because its first house stood on the Rue de Picpus in Paris. It is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for sisters, priests and brothers.

Papal Approval. In 1817 the Congregation was formally approved by the Pope as a single institute composed of a male and a female branch of religious and a lay branch. This approval came seventeen years after the founding, correcting any impression that the congregation received papal recognition at its establishment in 1800.

People involved

Sources

  1. Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-12

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.