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VISIT
You are welcome to visit this exhibition by appointment on Thursdays between 11 am and 4 pm. In the entrance hall you will see listed the countries to which the Society of the Sacred Heart spread in two centuries from its foundation by Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat in France in 1800 to Haiti in 2000.
Having started in Joigny, Sophie’s birthplace in France, you will be able to trace the Irish schools from the arrival of Mother Eliza Croft in Roscrea in 1842 to the opening of Monkstown in 1945.
"Your life is a sacred journey. It is about change, growth, discovery, movement and transformation." - Janet Erskine Stuart rscj
The exhibition also demonstrates the important contribution of Irish-born sisters to the work of Saint Philippine Duchesne in North America from 1818.
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THE DUCHESNE PRAYER ROOM
The Duchesne Prayer Room in Mount Anville House honours the life and legacy of St Rose Philippine Duchesne (1769-1852) and celebrates her journey across the Atlantic to America in 1818. Philippine brought the Society of the Sacred Heart beyond the borders of France and laid the foundations for the Network of Sacred Heart Schools that continues to thrive in the USA and Canada today.
The Duchesne Prayer Room provides the opportunity to learn more about Philippine through a variety of experiences including audio accounts that explore significant events in her life and that of the Society of the Sacred Heart. A display of objects associated with Philippine, as well as encouraging words attributed to her, reinforce her presence in the room. The room offers a modern contemplative space where the Mount Anville community can imitate Philippine’s example through prayer and reflection.
As a place where visitors are encouraged to embrace silence and cross the frontier to the limitless land of prayer and contemplation, the Duchesne Prayer Room is a fitting tribute to St Rose Philippine Duchesne, the ‘Woman Who Prays Always’.
