A new rule for new times. The constitutions of The Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: reception and adaptation in Chile during the 19th century

recepción y adaptación en Chile durante el siglo XIX

Abstract

The new ideal of active life proposed by nineteenth-century religious congregations of French origin is soon transferred to the New World. During the second half of the nineteenth century, many institutes have crossed the ocean watching flourishing and expanding foundations in America. In some cases, Chile is the gateway to the continent. This model of consecrated life, so different from the already rooted one of the old contemplative orders, achieves an excellent response in young Chilean women. In this article we propose a revision of the Rule of the Society of the Sacred Heart, as an articulating element of the congregation, in order to understand the real differences from the old orders on one hand, and on the other, how the process of adaptation is developed in the Chilean case. Since these new congregations have generally been studied in relation to the role exercised by the nuns in the environment of education, hospitals and charity, we consider relevant the study within the Society of the Sacred Heart, specifically their constitutions, in order to assess its real novelty and the scope of its implementation in Chile, as well as its projection in the study of local religious history during the nineteenth century.