St. Margaret Mary Alacoque was chosen by God to reveal to the Christian World the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Her life was marked by supernatural experiences through which she greatly suffered in intense love for Jesus Christ. She consecrated her heart, while yet a child, to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. In order to dedicate herself wholly to her Divine Spouse, she joined the Visitation Order of nuns at 23 years of age.
Margaret Mary was only 26 years old and had only fourteen months of profession when she received her first revelation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She was kneeling as usual before the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the chapel. She told us how it happened: “I was praying before the Blessed Sacrament, when I felt myself wholly penetrated with that Divine Presence, but to such a degree that I lost all thought of myself and of the place where I was. He made me repose for a long time upon His Sacred Breast, where He disclosed to me the marvels of His love and the inexplicable secrets of His Sacred Heart.” Jesus told her: “My Divine Heart is so inflamed with love for men, and for thee in particular that, being unable any longer to contain within Itself the flames of Its burning charity, It needs to spread them abroad by thy means, and manifest itself to them (mankind) in order to enrich them with the precious treasures which I discover to thee, and with contain graces of sanctification and salvation necessary to withdraw them from the abyss of perdition. I have chosen thee as an abyss of unworthiness and ignorance for the accomplishment of this great design, in order that everything may be done by Me.”
One or two months after the first apparition, a second revelation took place. St. Margaret Mary wrote: “The Divine Heart was presented to me in a throne of flames, more resplendent than a sun, transparent as crystal, with this adorable wound. And it was surrounded with a crown of thorns, signifying the punctures made in it by our sins, and a cross above signifying that from the first instant of His Incarnation, that is, as soon as the Sacred Heart was formed, the cross was implanted into it and from the first moment it was filled with all the sorrow to be inflicted on it by the humiliations, poverty, pain, and scorn of His sacred humanity was to endure throughout His life and during His sacred passion…And He (Jesus) made me see that He intensely desired to be loved by men and to snatch them from the path of perdition onto which Satan was driving them in throngs. It was this that made Him decide to manifest His heart to men - with all the treasures of love, mercy, graces, sanctification and salvation it contained. Thus, all who wanted to render to Him and obtain for Him all the love, honor and glory in their power would be enriched with the abundance and profusion of these divine treasures of the heart of God which was their source. This heart of God must be honored under the form of His heart of flesh, whose image He wanted exposed, and also worn on me and on my heart. He promised to pour out into the hearts of all those who honor the image of His heart all the gifts it contains in fullness, and for all those who would wear this image on their persons He promised to imprint His love on their hearts and to destroy all unruly inclinations. Everywhere this holy image was exposed to be honored, He would pour fourth His graces and blessings. This blessing was, as it were, a final effort of His love.
More apparitions followed. The most memorable part of this series of apparitions occurred when Jesus pronounced these words: “Behold this heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to the point of spending itself and being consumed to prove its love to them. And in return, I receive from most men only ingratitude because of their irreverence and sacrileges and the coldness and scorn they have for me in this Sacrament of love. But what offends me most is that hearts consecrated to me act in this way…”
On the evening of October 17th, having previously announced herself that this would be the date of her death, she entrusted her soul to the Lord, the One whom she had loved wholeheartedly. Only three years after her death, Pope Innocent XII addressed the monastery at Dijon whereby he enriched the feast of the Sacred Heart with precious indulgences, extending the privilege of celebrating it to all Visitation monasteries. In 1765, Pope Clement XIII introduced the feast at Rome. Finally, in 1856, Pope Pious IX extended the feast to the entire Church. Finally, in the year 1920, she was beatified by Pope Benedict XV. Before she died she said: “I only have the need of God and the need of immersing myself in the Sacred Heart of Jesus.”
“SAINT MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE: Apostle and Messenger of the Love of the Sacred Heart.” Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary. 19 February 2024. https://www.piercedhearts.org/theology_heart/life_saints/margaret_mary.htm Rev. Hugo Hoever, S.O.Cist., Ph.D. (rev). Lives of the Saints. Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New Jersey: 2005.
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