Janet Erskine Stuart, RSCJ

Biography

Janet was the youngest of thirteen children born in 1857 to the Anglican rector in Cottesmore, England. As was typical of her social class, she was educated at home by governesses who included well trained German and Swiss teachers from whom she learned fluent German and French, as well as philosophy and literature. When she was thirteen, one of her older brothers who was reading Aristotle declared to her that all creatures had a “last end” or ultimate purpose, and asked what was hers. Janet did not know but set herself to find out.

This quest took her through teenage years of religious skepticism and an interest in philosophy that led her at the age of twenty-one to become a Catholic. This was a courageous decision at a time when Catholics were still viewed with suspicion in England, even more so because as a Church of England minister her father could not accept her remaining at home, where her religious affiliation might cause scandal among his parishioners. Janet was forced to leave home, and for three years lived with friends and relatives in London or in Ireland, while continuing her search for her true path in life. At last, she found it one day in her “blue hyacinth” moment, May 6, 1882: “Then and there, standing by the side of a bed of blue hyacinths—the word of God came to me and I saw it all.” She made a retreat at the Sacred Heart convent at Roehampton in London. Her Jesuit spiritual director sent word to the superior, Reverend Mother Mabel Digby: “If Miss Stuart offers herself for the noviceship, she is not to be refused….she is the most complete person I have ever met.” She entered the Society on September 7, 1882.

Soon after her final profession of vows, Janet was named mistress of novices, then soon superior of the large house at Roehampton, and superior vicar of England in 1894. Most of her familiar writings were produced during these years. In 1911, she was elected superior general of the Society of the Sacred Heart, and left Roehampton to take up her residence in the motherhouse, then in Brussels. The last three years of her life were spent in international travel to visit the houses of the Society in all parts of the world. This included Austraia, New Zealand, and Japan. Then came the outbreak of war in 1914. Escaping from Brussels, from where she could no longer keep in touch with her convents, she returned to Roehampton.

Already ill when she arrived in England, she did not recover. She died on October 21, 1914, aged fifty-seven, and is buried in the Sacred Heart chapel at Roehampton, one of the few parts of the original building which survived the bombing in WWII.

Janet Stuart’s influence continues primarily through her writings, which inspire commitment to spiritual growth and educational excellence. Among her best-known works are Highway and Byways of the Spiritual Life (1909) and The Education of Catholic Girls (1912). These works and her conferences on education were used by Sacred Heart educators around the world for decades and are still evident in Sacred Heart philosophy and pedagogical practices. One of her poems set to music, Spirit Seeking, is still sung by Sacred Heart students around the world.