#Margaret Mary Alacoque

[apenitentialprayer]

The Apparition of Our Lord to Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque

Through this life of contemplation you [nuns] are the voice of the Church as She ceaselessly praises, thanks, implores, and intercedes for all mankind. Through your prayer, you are co-workers of God, helping the fallen members of His glorious Body rise again […] In this way, you have become an image of Christ who seeks to encounter the Father on the heights.

Pope Francis (Vultum Dei quaerere, §9)

#Christianity #Catholicism #nun #prayer #Imitatio Dei #Jesus Christ #Sacred Heart #saints #Margaret Mary Alacoque #Ecclesia #praying #meditation #God the Father #mysticism #My Pope #Vultum Dei quaerere

[cruger2984]

THE DESCRIPTION OF SAINT MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE The Mystic and Promoter of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Feast Day: October 16

St. Margaret Mary was born at L'Hautecour (located in the Verosvres commune), Burgundy, France, on July 22, 1647 to Claude Alacoque and Philiberte Lamyn. Her father died when she was about eight years old, leaving her family in a precarious financial situation and at the mercy of some rapacious relatives.

As a young girl, she was stricken with rheumatic fever, and the resulting paralysis forced her to be bedridden for the next four years until the age of fifteen. It was during this time that she developed an intense devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and made a vow to the Blessed Virgin to consecrate herself to religious life. During these hard times Margaret continued her devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and Christ made His presence known to her. She later wrote, "At that time, all my desire was to seek happiness and comfort in the Blessed Sacrament."

She had three more visions over the next year and a half in which Jesus instructed her in a devotion that was to become known as the Nine Fridays. Christ also inspired Margaret Mary to establish the Holy Hour and to receive Holy Communion on the first Friday of every month. In the final revelation, the Lord asked that a feast of reparation be instituted for the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi.

On May 25, 1671, at the age of 23, Margaret entered the Order of the Visitation convent at Paray-le-Monial. She pronounced her final vows on November 6, 1672 and took the name Mary. During her retreat before her profession, she had a vision of Jesus in which He said, "Behold the wound in my side, wherein you are to make your abode, now and forever."

The Lord continued to appear to her in visions and on December 27, 1673, the feast of Saint John the Evangelist, as she knelt at the grill before the exposed Blessed Sacrament, she experienced a vision in which the Lord told her to take the place that Saint John had occupied at the Last Supper, and that she would act as His instrument.

Jesus revealed His Sacred Heart as a symbol of His love for mankind, saying, "My divine Heart is so inflamed with love for mankind… that it can no longer contain within itself the flames of its burning charity and must spread them abroad by your means."

She described that His Heart was on fire and surrounded by a crown of thorns. Our Lord told her that the flames represented His love for humanity, and the thorns represented man’s sinfulness and ingratitude. Jesus informed her that her mission was to establish the devotion to His Most Sacred Heart, and He revealed twelve promises that He would bestow upon all those who practice the devotion.

Margaret Mary told her superior, Mother de Saumaise, about the visions and was treated with contempt. She was forbidden to carry out any of the religious devotions that had been requested of her in her visions. She became ill from the strain, and her superior, looking for a divine sign, vowed to believe the visions if Margaret Mary was cured. Margaret Mary prayed and recovered, and her superior kept her promise. There was a group within the convent who remained skeptical, however. Her superior ordered Margaret Mary to present her experiences to theologians, but they were judged to be delusions.

St. Claude de la Colombière, a holy and experienced Jesuit, arrived as confessor to the nuns, and in him Margaret Mary recognized the understanding guide that had been promised to her in the visions. He became convinced that her experiences were genuine and adopted the teaching of the Sacred Heart that the visions had communicated to her. Her revelations were made known to the community when they were read aloud in the refectory from a book written by St. Claude.

Her revelations in the open, she encouraged devotion to the Sacred Heart, especially among her novices, who observed the feast in 1685. A chapel was built in 1687 at Paray in honor of the Sacred Heart, and devotion began to spread in other convents of the Visitidines, as well as throughout France.

Margaret Mary became ill and died on October 17, 1690 during the fourth anointing step of the last rites. As she received the Last Sacrament, she said, "I need nothing but God, and to lose myself in the heart of Jesus."

The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was officially recognized and approved by Pope Clement XIII in 1765, seventy-five years after her death. Margaret Mary was declared Venerable in March, 1824 by Pope Leo XII, and she was pronounced Blessed on September 18, 1864 by Pope Pius IX. The inauguration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus occurred in 1856, and Margaret Mary was canonized by Benedict XV in 1920.

#random stuff #catholic #catholic saints #margaret mary alacoque #sacred heart of jesus

[portraitsofsaints]

Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

1647-1690

Feast Day: October 16 (New), October 17 (Trad)

Patronage: those suffering from polio, devotees of the Sacred Heart, loss of parents

A nun of the Visitation order, St. Margaret Mary was most notably known for her visions of Our Lord and devotion to His Sacred Heart.

"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 form the design of manifesting 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

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)

#St Margaret Mary Alacoque #Sacred heat of Jesus #catholic saint #catholic art #artist on tumblr

[dramoor]

Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart and St. Margarette Mary Alacoque adoring the Sacred Heart of Jesus

(Art by Corrado Mezzana, 1922)

#Christian art #saints #Lord Jesus Christ #Sacred heart #Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart #St. Margaret Mary Alacoque #adoration #veneration

[charlesreeza]

A selection of mosaics at Sacré-Cœur Basilica in Paris

Photographed (despite lighting challenges) by Charles Reeza

#20th century religious art #glass mosaics #catholic church #Sacred Heart #St. Margaret Mary Alacoque #Jesus #disciples #St. George #St. Joan of Arc #Paris #France #travel photos

[stjohncapistrano67]

The tomb/Shrine of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in France.

#traditional catholicism #traditional catholic images #traditional catholic gothic #traditional catholic saints #traditional catholic saints shrines #the sacred heart of jesus devotion #st. margaret mary alacoque

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (February 15)

On February 15, the Catholic Church honors Saint Claude de la Colombiere, the 17th-century French Jesuit who authenticated and wrote about Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque's visions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

When he canonized St. Claude in 1992, Pope John Paul II upheld him as a model Jesuit, recalling how the saint “gave himself completely to the Sacred Heart, 'ever burning with love.'

Even in trials, he practiced forgetfulness of self in order to attain purity of love and to raise the world to God.”

Born in the south of France on 2 February 1641, Claude de la Colombiere belonged to a family of seven children, four of whom entered the priesthood or religious life.

He attended a Jesuit school in his youth and entered the order himself at age 17.

As a young Jesuit recruit, Claude admitted to having a “horrible aversion” to the rigorous training required by the order in his day.

But the novitiate of the Society of Jesus focused and sharpened his natural talents.

He would later take a private vow to obey the order's rules as perfectly as possible.

After completing his order's traditional periods of study and teaching, Claude became a priest in 1669.

Known as a gifted preacher, he also taught at the college level and served as a tutor to the children of King Louis XIV's minister of finance.

In 1674, the priest became the superior of a Jesuit house in the town of Paray-le-Monial.

It was during this time, in his role as confessor to a convent of Visitationist nuns, that Claude de la Colombiere became involved in events that would change his own life and the history of the Western Church.

One of the nuns, later canonized as St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, claimed to have experienced private revelations from Christ urging devotion to his heart as the symbol and seat of God's love for mankind.

Within the convent, however, these reports met with dismissal and contempt.

During his time in Paray-le-Monial, Father la Colombiere became the nun's spiritual director, giving careful consideration to her testimony about the purported revelations.

He concluded that Sister Margaret Mary had indeed encountered Jesus in an extraordinary way.

Claude la Colombiere's writings and his testimony to the reality of St. Margaret Mary's experiences helped to establish the Sacred Heart as a feature of Western Catholic devotion.

This, in turn, helped to combat the heresy of Jansenism, which claimed that God did not desire the salvation of some people.

In the fall of 1676, Father la Colombiere was called away from Paray-le-Monial to England.

During a time of tension in the religiously torn country, he ministered as chaplain and preacher to Mary of Modena, a Catholic who had become the Duchess of York.

In 1678, a false rumor spread about an alleged Catholic “plot” against the English monarchy.

The lie led to the execution of 35 innocent people, including eight Jesuits.

La Colombiere was not put to death but was accused, arrested, and locked in a dungeon for several weeks.

The French Jesuit held up heroically during the ordeal, but conditions in the prison ruined his health before his expulsion from England.

He went back to France in 1679 and resumed his work as a teacher and priest, encouraging love for Christ's Sacred Heart among the faithful.

In 1681, Claude de la Colombiere returned to Paray-le-Monial, the site of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque's revelations.

It was there, during 1682, that the 41-year-old priest died from internal bleeding on the year's first Sunday of Lent, February 15.

Claude de la Colombiere was beatified by Pope Pius XI on 16 June 1929 – nine years after the canonization of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II on 31 May 1992.

#Saint of the Day #Saint Claude de la Colombiere #Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

[peoplefromheaven]

#promises #sacred heart #st margaret #st margaret Mary alacoque #christianity #catholicism #god #faith

[tinyshe]

#catholic #saint #st margaret mary alacoque #pray for us #sacred heart #have mercy on us

[cvbarroso]

"Qué debilidad es amar a Jesucristo sólo cuando nos acaricia, y ser frío inmediatamente después de que nos aflige. Esto no es amor verdadero. Quien ama así, se ama demasiado a sí mismo como para poder amar a Dios con todo su corazón".

"What weakness is to love Jesus Christ only when he caresses us, and to be cold immediately after he afflicts us. This is not true love. Whoever loves thus, loves himself too much to love God with all his heart."

Santa Margarita María Alacoque

#saint margaret mary alacoque

[apenitentialprayer]

Sacred Heart Being Adored by Bl. Mary of the Divine Heart and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Corrado Mezzana, 1922.

God has loved us with an everlasting love; therefore, when He was lifted up from the earth, in His mercy he drew us to His heart.

Antiphon from Evening Prayer I for the Feast of the Sacred Heart

#Jesus Christ #Sacred Heart #Ascension #Catholicism #Christianity #antiphon #liturgy #Margaret Mary Alacoque #Mary of the Divine Heart #saints #love #agape

[fatherbarnabas]

Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

#Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

[portraitsofsaints]

Happy Feast Day Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque 1647-1690 Feast Day: October 16 (New), October 17 (Trad) Patronage: those suffering from polio, devotees of the Sacred Heart, loss of parents

A nun of the Visitation order, St. Margaret Mary was most notably known for her visions of Our Lord and devotion to His Sacred Heart."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 form the design of manifesting 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 {website}

#St Margaret Mary Alacoque #Catholic saint #Saint for families #Sacred Heart of jesus #artist on tumblr

[dramoor]

Three relics of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Relic of St. Therese of Lisieux, Relic of St. John of the Cross.

St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church, Winter Park, Florida

(Photos © dramoor 2023)

#Relics #churches #saints #St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church #Winter Park FL #travel #photography #photographers on tumblr #veneration #St. Therese of Lisieux #St. John of the Cross #St. Margaret Mary Alacoque #crucifix #Lord Jesus Christ #Christian #architecture

[emvidal]

#st margaret mary #st margaret mary alacoque #sacred heart

[stjohncapistrano67]

A post renaissance era Catholic religious painting of The Sacred Heart of Jesus appearing to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. Artist unknown.

#traditional catholicism #traditional catholic images #traditional catholic modern art #traditional catholic saints #traditional catholic saints images #st. margaret mary alacoque #the sacred heart of jesus devotion