On 23 September 1826, Jean Gailhac, aged 23, was ordained a priest in Montpellier. It was the fulfilment of a desire he had carried since childhood, to be a holy and good priest. Two hundred years later, we his daughters, the Religious of the Sacred heart of Mary continue to live from the grace of that day.
That single ordination became a source of life for thousands. Fr. Gailhac understood priesthood not as status, but as total gift of self. His heart, moved by compassion in the hospital of Béziers, saw the women and children whom society had abandoned. From that compassion was born the Good Shepherd Refuge in 1834 and in 1849, our Institute.
Fr. Gailhac left us two pillars for our life and mission: Faith and Zeal. Faith made him see the reality or needs of his own time. Zeal made him act. His priesthood teaches us that true faith must become visible in life, in work, in action. “May a living faith direct you; may a boundless love inflame you in a holy zeal,” he wrote.
As Novice Directress, I see this legacy alive today as I accompany our novices toward First Vows, they are learning the same lessons his priesthood taught us: To see with compassion, to remain faithful through discernment of God’s will. Fr. Gailhac’s priesthood was never understood by him as a privilege, but as a total gift for others
First Vows, like priestly ordination, is a passage from self to mission – from “What will I receive?” to “How can I give life?” Ut Vitam Habeant – That They May Have Life.” Two hundred years later, the same priestly grace that called Fr. Gailhac in France is today calling young women at the Sacred Heart of Mary Novitiate in Zambia to say “yes” so that all may have life in abundance.
May this bicentenary renew in all of us the grace of our own first yes.
Venerable Fr. Gailhac, Pray for us.
By Sr. Florence Muuka, RSHM Novice Directress
September 2026
