The year 2025 is a time of deep gratitude and meaning for the entire Congregation of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: we are celebrating 100 years of the Chapel of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, in the Generalate in Rome.
More than a historical commemoration, this centennial is an invitation to renew our gratitude and the faith which inspired its foundation – a space which, since 1925, has welcomed the prayer, work, and life of our Congregation in the heart of the Church.
The dream of having a presence in Rome was born in the heart of Mother Clelia Merloni. She desired to see her missionary daughters close to the center of Christianity, in order to radiate reparative love of the Heart of Jesus. In 1913, the first Apostles arrived in the city and, with simplicity and courage, began their educational and apostolic works. A few years later, in 1922, this dream took on concrete form: the first stone of the new Generalate in Via Germano Sommeiller, was laid. It would house the Generalate headquarters, the school and a chapel dedicated to the Sacred Heart.
Participating in the opening ceremony was Cardinal Basilio Pompilj, the Vicar General of the Pope, as well as religious, students and families of the parish of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. According to the chronicles, it was a feast of hope: the entire community felt the excitement, perceiving that a great work was being born through Providence.
Three years later, in 1925, it was open for worship, and Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, apostle of devotion to the Sacred Heart became its patron saint. Since then, this temple has become the spiritual heart of the Congregation. Here generations of Apostles have found strength in prayer, enlightenment in decisions, and comfort in difficulties.
Over the course of a century, the Chapel has accompanied the life of the Congregation and the Church, bearing witness to
notable events: in 1950, it was solemnly consecrated during the Holy Year; in 1972, it underwent a liturgical renovation in accordance with the guidelines of the Second Vatican Council; and, on several occasions, it received distinguished visitors, such as St. John XXIII and St. John Paul II, both deeply connected to the spirituality of the Heart of Jesus and to our mission of love and reparation.
Another grace-filled event was the Beatification of Mother Clelia Merloni in 2018. The urn that preserves the body of the Foundress was built in the chapel — a visible sign of the communion between Mother Clelia and her daughters, who continue to witness, with humility and charity, to the charism of the Heart of Christ throughout the world.
December 9, 2025, the date of the feast of the dedication of the Chapel, a Holy Mass was celebrated in gratitude for the centennial. The celebration was presided over by Cardinal Baldassare Reina, Vicar of the Pope for the Diocese of Rome. In a climate of joy and gratitude, the community of the Generalate, together with many sisters and lay persons, raised a hymn of praise to the Lord for a century of graces, prayer and the living presence of the Heart of Jesus in this blessed place.
Celebrating this centennial means reliving a century of fidelity, prayerful and silent presence, and of generous service and reparative love. It is a look back at our history with gratitude and look to the future with hope. We pray that this Chapel continues to be, as it has been from its very beginning, a house of prayer, communion and love for the Heart of Jesus.
