Within the framework of the Colloquium of Paray-le-Monial, Fr. Bernard Couronne sscc offered a deep and luminous reflection on “The Consecration to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary according to Fr. Marie-Joseph Coudrin, founder of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts.” His presentation, delivered on Saturday, November 15, explored the biblical, spiritual and historical foundations of consecration as the heart of the SSCC charism, underlining its relevance for the Church and the world today.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has consecrated me…” (Lk 4:18) With these words of Jesus in the synagogue of Nazareth, Fr. Couronne opened his talk, reminding that every consecration begins with a call — a response to God’s love that sends us forth to proclaim the Good News to the poor.
In this light, he situated the founding experience of Fr. Marie-Joseph Coudrin, “the maquis of God,” whose encounter with divine Love in the silence of the barn at La Motte d’Usseau became the root of a life wholly offered to the service of the Gospel.
A consecration born of love and carried to sacrifice
Fr. Couronne movingly evoked the night when the young priest Coudrin, after months in hiding during the French Revolution, left his refuge and knelt beneath an oak tree to consecrate himself “unto death.” “That act,” he noted, “was not a strategic choice but a total act of faith, a complete trust in the God who calls and sustains.”
His life would become a testimony of radical consecration: “Not halfway, but even unto martyrdom if necessary.” That fidelity “to the end” (Jn 13:1) forever marked the missionary spirit of the Congregation — to serve, to love, and to give one’s life for the salvation of the world.
A few years later, on Christmas Eve 1800, together with Henriette Aymer de la Chevalerie, Fr. Coudrin pronounced his vows of poverty, chastity and obedience “as a zealous servant of the Love of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, at whose service I wish to live and die.” “These words,” Fr. Couronne recalled, “still echo today on the lips of every ss.cc. brother and sister when they renew their consecration.”
Faith, reparation and love: three faces of one same gift
Consecration, explained Fr. Couronne, is rooted in faith — a confession of love in a God who has a Heart.
“Fr. Coudrin believed in a God who loves despite sin, who never tires of forgiving. In the wounded Heart of Jesus, we discover a love that suffers and saves; in the Heart of Mary, a love that accompanies and consoles.”
This faith, he emphasized, becomes reparation.
In times of de-Christianization, the Founder saw consecration as a reparative response to the forgetfulness of God: “We are destined to adore the Heart of Jesus and to repair the offenses He receives each day.” Reparation, said Fr. Couronne, “is not an attitude of guilt but a call to reconciliation — to restore the bonds broken by sin by uniting oneself to the Cross of Christ as sons and daughters of the Cross.”
Finally, consecration is love — an act of friendship and communion.
“To respond to the Father’s love revealed in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary,” he said, “is to enter into God’s dialogue with humanity. It is born not of an idea, but of a heart-to-Heart encounter.” Love, in this spirituality, does not remain a feeling; it becomes apostolic zeal and missionary fire. “Whoever allows themselves to be filled with the tenderness of the Heart of Jesus cannot remain passive,” he affirmed. “Like Mary, the servant of the divine plan, consecration makes us co-workers in God’s Kingdom.”
A mission lived each day
Fr. Couronne stressed that consecration is not merely an inner gesture, but a concrete path of discipleship.
“It must be lived daily — in prayer, in service, in silent offering.” For the Founder, the religious vows are the visible form of that consecration, the daily way of belonging to Christ. “To be free to love — that is the purpose of the vows,” he quoted.
Thus, consecration becomes a permanent mission: to adore, praise, give thanks, repair, and serve. “Zeal,” he added, citing Coudrin, “is our vocation — a burning zeal, born of the Heart of Jesus and translated into action.” “This consecration,” he affirmed with conviction, “is not a pious gesture but a mission. The burning bush still burns: we are called to enter, with Jesus and like Mary, into the Father’s design — to save the world through love.”
A living heritage
Fr. Couronne concluded by recalling that consecration to the Sacred Hearts remains today the foundation of SSCC life and mission. He quoted the first number of the Congregation’s Constitutions:
“We live the consecration inherent in every religious profession as a consecration to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. From this consecration flows our mission: to contemplate, live and announce to the world the love of God made flesh in Jesus.”
“The work is underway,” he said in closing. “The garden of the Beloved from the Song of Songs remains open for all who let themselves be guided by the Spirit. Let Him speak to our hearts.”
Fr. Bernard Couronne ended with an invitation to rekindle the flame of love in each heart, praying:
“Heart of Jesus, burning with love for us,
set our hearts on fire with love for you.”
11/15/2025