Sophie Barat had a natural charm and she easily won the affection of her colleagues. Yet combined with this capacity Sophie Barat had a reserve and reticence, which enabled her to retain a certain distance from her companions. She also had a sharp, often acerbic humour which disconcerted some of the membership and made them wary of her. Those who lived with her knew her best and recognised  the depth of her warmth and care. Others could see it expressed through her love for animals and in how she cared for land owned by the Society. With this rich combination of gifts and qualities Sophie Barat  exercised her leadership of the communities of the Society for sixty-three years, from 1802-1865.

Sophie Barat considered her personal contacts with the membership as central to her style of leadership. However, as the Society expanded both in numbers and geographically Sophie could not sustain such a personal form of government. Besides, strong, independent women joined the Society  and they challenged Sophie’s dominance and they questioned her methods of government.

Some favored Paris as the centre of the Society of the Sacred Heart; others saw Rome as the centre and gateway to a more universal, less chauvinistic bias in the congregation. Friendships too divided the Society of the Sacred Heart. Sophie Barat’s loyalty to her friends was both a source of  strength and of blindness in her life. In the complexity of being forced to face this dilemma Sophie endured long periods of emotional desolation.

Yet Sophie Barat did not lose her agenda and saw her work through to the end. Her loyalty to her project of founding and leading the communities was as tenacious as her fidelity to friendship. This ensured that Sophie would not be sidelined or removed from her office as leader.

By the time she died in 1865 she had moved through several stages of leadership: from companion to leader; from leader to founder; from founder to preserver, until 1851 when she had become the focus for the unity of the Society. By the time of her death in 1865 Sophie Barat had become a living legend. She had become the story, the storyteller and  the myth, all in one.
 

Signature of Sophie Barat in a letter to her nephew, Stanislas Dusaussoy, Paris, February 9th. 1863

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