Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, Feast Day October 17th
The most significant source for the devotion to the Sacred Heart in the form it is known today was Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647–1690), a nun of the Order of the Visitation of Mary, who claimed to have received apparitions of Jesus Christ in the Burgundian French village of Paray-le Monial. The first apparition was on 27 December 1673, the feast of Saint John the Evangelist, and the final apparition 18 months later. They revealed the form of the devotion, the chief features being reception of Holy Communion on the first Friday of each month for 9 consecutive months, Eucharistic adoration during a "Holy Hour" on Thursdays, and the celebration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart.
She said that in her vision she was instructed to spend an hour every Thursday night to meditate on Jesus' Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.
"She herself wrote out the devotion, and signed this humble formula: 'Sister Peronne-Rosalie Greyfie, at present Superioress, and for whom Sister Margaret Mary daily asks conversion with the grace of final penitence.'
And He [Christ] showed me that it was His great desire of being loved by men and of withdrawing them from the path of ruin that made Him want to manifest His Heart to men, with all the treasures of love, of mercy, of grace, of sanctification and salvation which it contains, in order that those who desire to render Him and procure Him all the honour and love possible might themselves be abundantly enriched with those divine treasures of which His heart is the source.
— from Revelations of Our Lord to St. Mary Margaret Alacoque.
Margaret Mary Alacoque
Margaret Mary Alacoque, V.H.M., was a French Roman Catholic Visitation nun and mystic, who promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in its modern form.
Born: July 22, 1647, Verosvres, France
Died: October 17, 1690, Paray-le-Monial, France
Full name: Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque
Buried: Chapelle de la Visitation (Paray-le-Monial), Paray-le-Monial, France
Siblings: Chrysostome Alacoque, Jean Alacoque,
She said that in her vision she was instructed to spend an hour every Thursday night to meditate on Jesus' Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.
- In June or July 1674, Sister Margaret Mary claimed that Jesus requested to be honored under the figure of his heart, saying that, when he appeared radiant with love, he asked for a devotion of expiatory love: frequent reception of Communion, especially on the first Friday of the month, and the observance of the Holy Hour.
- During the Octave of Corpus Christi in 1675, on June 16, the vision known as the "great apparition" reportedly took place, where Jesus said: "Behold the Heart that has so loved men. ...Instead of gratitude I receive from the greater part (of humankind) only ingratitude," and He asked Margaret Mary for a feast of reparation on the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi, asking her to consult her confessor Father Claude de la Colombiere, then superior of the small Jesuit house at Paray le Mongustine Marest, France.
Father de la Colombière directed her to write an account of the apparition, which he discreetly circulated in France and England. After his death on 15 February 1682, his journal of spiritual retreats was found to contain a copy in his handwriting of the account that he had requested of Margaret Mary, together with a few reflections on the usefulness of the devotion. This journal, including the account – an "offering" to the Sacred Heart in which the devotion was explained – was published at Lyon in 1684. The little book was widely read, especially at Paray le Monial. Margaret Mary reported feeling "dreadful confusion" over the book's contents, but resolved to make the best of it, approving of the book for the spreading of her cherished devotion. Along with the Visitandines, priest, religious and laymen espoused the devotion, particularly the Capuchins. The reported apparitions served as a catalyst for the promotion of the devotion to the Sacred Heart. Jesuit Father Croiset wrote a book called The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and Fr. Joseph D. Gallifet, SJ, promoted the devotion.
The mission of propagating the new devotion was especially confided to the religious of the Visitation and to the priests of the Society of Jesus.
"She herself wrote out the devotion, and signed this humble formula: 'Sister Peronne-Rosalie Greyfie, at present Superioress, and for whom Sister Margaret Mary daily asks conversion with the grace of final penitence.'
And He [Christ] showed me that it was His great desire of being loved by men and of withdrawing them from the path of ruin that made Him want to manifest His Heart to men, with all the treasures of love, of mercy, of grace, of sanctification and salvation which it contains, in order that those who desire to render Him and procure Him all the honour and love possible might themselves be abundantly enriched with those divine treasures of which His heart is the source.
— from Revelations of Our Lord to St. Mary Margaret Alacoque.
Margaret Mary Alacoque
Margaret Mary Alacoque, V.H.M., was a French Roman Catholic Visitation nun and mystic, who promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in its modern form.
Born: July 22, 1647, Verosvres, France
Died: October 17, 1690, Paray-le-Monial, France
Full name: Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque
Buried: Chapelle de la Visitation (Paray-le-Monial), Paray-le-Monial, France
Siblings: Chrysostome Alacoque, Jean Alacoque,