From the early days of the Society of the Holy Heart of Mary, the question arose of a possible union with the Congregation of the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost, the two parties met at the Seminary of the Holy Spirit in Paris and unanimously accepted the principle of the union.
Rome officially approved this unification on September 28, 1848, spelling out exactly the implications:
"It is now up to you to complete this fusion of your two congregations, so that henceforth, the Congregation of the Holy Heart of Mary will cease to exist and its members and aspirants will be integrated into the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, thereby becoming its members and aspirants, sharing the same rights and privileges and being subject to the same rules".
The Superior General of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Madagascar. On November 3, the Propaganda approved the election of Fr. Francis Libermann as Superior General of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Heart of Mary, the tenth successor of Claude Poullart des Places.
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Spiritans will be "the advocates, the supporters and the defenders of the weak and the little ones against all who oppress them. Whatever the circumstances, the great love and power of Jesus Christ must grow in their souls. But they must always act with the kindness and prudence that their Master will give them if they remain faithful"
On the side of the oppressed
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The Congregation of the Holy Heart of Mary had died only to be re-born into a new family of even greater dynamism; the Work for the Black People was to continue as before. Libermann wrote down the essence of spiritan apostolic life in the Rule of 1849:
"To bring the apostolic life - for which Spiritan life is intended - to its perfection, to ensure the continuance and the development of the works in which it engages and to foster the holiness of its members, the Congregation has adopted life in community as its founding principle. Its members shall all live in community at all times".
Spiritans will be "the advocates, the supporters and the defenders of the weak and the little ones against all who oppress them. Whatever the circumstances, the great love and power of Jesus Christ must grow in their souls. But they must always act with the kindness and prudence that their Master will give them if they remain faithful"
On the side of the oppressed.
"In the colonies, we will find an immense number of unfortunate people living in dependence on those who treat them horribly. It is the responsibility of the missionary to adopt their cause; he must defend the weak against those who treat them badly...He will also need to be in complete control of himself so as not to annoy people by imprudent outbursts without gaining any improvement for those he is trying to defend. His aim must be to lessen the evils under which these unfortunate people are suffering; so he will use all means available to reach this end and avoid everything that could make the situation worse. He will make use of authority, commands, pleadings, sweetness according to the state and dispositions of the oppressors he is dealing with. If the circumstances are right, let him speak out forcibly, showing the injustice that is being done, ...but always with dignity...".
