On the 150th anniversary of the birth of Father Mateo Crawley-Boevey sscc (1875–1960), the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts has just published a book that is not merely a tribute: it is an urgent and timely invitation to rediscover the charism that founded us. "The Heart that Transforms Homes" is number 12 in the Études Picpuciennes collection, edited by the Commission for Spiritual and Historical Heritage. It gathers the contributions of the international colloquium held in Paray-le-Monial on 15 and 16 November 2025, in the very place where, in 1907, Father Mateo received confirmation of his mission: to renew families, communities and entire societies through the love of the Heart of Christ.
What is the book about?
In its 200 pages, the volume brings together theologians, historians, religious and laypeople from different countries around a shared question: what does Father Mateo have to say to us today? The answer, articulated in nine papers and the message of the Superior General, is surprisingly fresh and direct.
Why it is worth reading
The book is not an exercise in nostalgia. Each paper connects Father Mateo's legacy to very concrete questions of the present: how do we accompany families in a time of fragile bonds? How do we make enthronement a gesture that truly transforms, and not merely a surface-level devotion?
It establishes a dialogue between Father Mateo and Pope Francis's encyclical Dilexit nos. Without explicitly naming enthronement, Francis recovers the same underlying intuition: "To enthrone today would be to travel to Bethany — that small home where Jesus was welcomed, listened to, loved. Homes where love has priority. Communities that listen. Churches that accompany." As Bishop Benoît Rivière of Autun said in the closing homily of the Colloquium: "It is not a matter of the Christian setting himself up as saviour of the world, but of allowing the love of the Heart of Christ to transform homes, families and society as a whole."
The book also invites us to know the Founders better: Father Coudrin, who consecrated himself on his knees at the foot of an oak tree while fleeing the French Revolution, and Henriette Aymer, the "Good Mother," who discovered her vocation in prison and whose theology was, in the words of the book, simply to love.
The volume reports that the 40th General Chapter, held in Rome in September 2024, authorised the Postulator General to initiate the beatification process of Father Mateo. The founder of the Work of Enthronement thus ceases to be only a memory and becomes a living cause in the Church.
Link to the book in pdf: https://acortar.link/5C9Cid
Contents of the book:
I. Consecration to the Sacred Hearts according to Fr. Coudrin, founder.
II. Henriette Aymer, the "Good Mother": consecration lived in daily life.
III. Biographical summary of Father Mateo (1875–1960).
IV. Biblical and theological foundations of consecration.
V. The "publishing phenomenon": Jesus, King of Love and his writings.
VI. Enthronement as a life mission.
VII. The consecration of Spain to the Sacred Heart in 1919.
VIII. A renewed spiritual perspective for today.
IX. Father Mateo's message in the light of Francis's Dilexit nos.
06/07/2026