History
The origin of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart is closely connected with the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the B. V. M. The means to lay their foundation being the outcome of special prayers addressed to the Mother of God during the nine days preceding event of 8 Dec., 1854. The founder had pledged himself to honour the Blessed Virgin in a special manner. Chevalier fulfilled his promise the following year by erecting a shrine dedicated to the honour of Mary under the title of "Our Lady of the Sacred Heart ".
In 1864 he founded the Archconfraternity of the Sacred Heart and sought to have it established in every parish as a means to develop devotion to, and appreciation of, the love that Christ bears all people. In 1867, the Congregation opened its first school in Chezal-Benoît in the Centre Region of France.
In September 1881, at the request of Pope Leo XIII the Congregation sent its first missionaries overseas. From Barcelona three missionaries set out for Papua New Guinea and founded the first overseas mission in 1882 near Rabaul on the island of New Britain.
In 1885, a supply base for the Papua New Guinea mission was founded in Sydney, Australia and the Australian Province was established in 1905. The Congregation continued to grow and established provinces in the Netherlands (1894), the United States (1939), Spain (1946), Ireland (1952), Indonesia (1971) and the Dominican Republic (1986).
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