St. Margaret Mary Alacoque – October 17th
Margaret Mary is the famous French nun to whom Our Lord showed His Sacred Heart. As a child, she had a horror of being naughty and she was a healthy, happy little girl who loved the nuns at school. But when she was eleven, she became very sick and it was four years before she was well again. Her father had died, and an aunt had moved into their home. This aunt and her husband made Margaret Mary and her beloved mother suffer very much. Day after day, the young teenager would hide herself in the garden to cry and pray. What hurt her most was to see her mother being hurt.
Yet Margaret Mary grew to love good times and a few years later, she was considering marriage. Her mother wanted her to marry and so did her relatives, especially when she brought beggar children into the garden to try to teach them!
But Christ wanted her for His own. Margaret Mary hesitated a while, neither marrying nor entering the Convent, but at last she generously gave herself to Jesus as His bride.
In the Visitation Convent she entered, she was of good example to everyone because of her charity and humility. Often she made others impatient since she was rather slow and clumsy, but she was dear to Jesus, and He began to appear to Sister Margaret Mary to show her how much He loves us all. Jesus wanted her to spread devotion to His Sacred Heart. It was a very hard thing to do, because many people thought the good Sister really had not seen Our Lord at all. Some were very angry with her for trying to spread the new devotion, and all this brought great suffering to the Saint. Yet she still did her best to carry out Our Lord’s wish, and today, this wonderful devotion to the Sacred Heart is practiced all over the world.
Our Lord made great promises to St. Margaret Mary for those who are devoted to His Most Sacred Heart. Some of these promises are: “I will comfort them in all their afflictions. I will establish peace in their homes. I will bestow abundant blessings on all their undertakings. I will bless every place where a picture of My Heart shall be exposed and honored.” The greatest promise Our Lord made is this: “My Divine Heart shall be the safe refuge in the last moment to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Friday for nine months in a row.” I want to make sure of making the Nine First Fridays.
