St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Posted on October 16, 2018 by admin No comments

Born: 22 July 1647 L’Hautecour, Duchy of Burgundy, Kingdom of France

Died: 17 October 1690 (aged 43) Paray-le-Monial, Duchy of Burgundy, Kingdom of France

Venerated: in Roman Catholic Church

Beatified: 18 September 1864, Rome, Papal States, by Pope Pius IX

Canonized: 13 May 1920, Vatican City, by Pope Benedict XV

Major shrine: Monastery of the Visitation, Paray-le-Monial, Saône-et-Loire, France

Feast: October 16 (October 17 by the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary and universally prior to 1969; transferred to Oct 20 in Canada)

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

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, V.H.M. (French: Marguerite-Marie Alacoque) (1647–1690), was a French Roman Catholic Visitation nun and mystic, who promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in its modern form.

Life

She worked to prove the genuineness of her vocation and her visions of Jesus and Mary relating to the Sacred Heart. She was initially rebuffed by her mother superior and was unable to convince theologians of the validity of her visions. A noted exception was Jesuit Saint Claude de la Colombière, who supported her. The devotion to the Sacred Heart was officially recognized 75 years after Alacoque’s death. In his encyclical Miserentissimus Redemptor, Pope Pius XI stated that Jesus Christ had “manifested Himself” to Saint Margaret and referred to the conversation between Jesus and Saint Margaret several times.

Early life

Alacoque was born in 1647 in L’Hautecour, Burgundy, France, now part of the commune of Verosvres, then in the Duchy of Burgundy, the only daughter of Claude and Philiberte Lamyn Alacoque, who had also several sons. From early childhood, Margaret was described as showing intense love for the Blessed Sacrament, and as preferring silence and prayer to childhood play.

After her First Communion at the age of nine, she practised in secret severe corporal mortification, until rheumatic fever confined her to bed for four years. At the end of this period, having made a vow to the Blessed Virgin to consecrate herself to religious life, she was instantly restored to perfect health. In recognition of this favor, she added the name Mary to her baptismal name of Margaret. According to her later account of her life, she had visions of Jesus Christ, which she thought were a normal part of human experience and continued to practice austerity.

Alacoque lost her father at a young age, and the family’s assets were held by a relative who refused to hand them over, plunging her family into poverty. During this time, her only consolation was frequent visits to pray before the Blessed Sacrament in the local church. When she was 17, however, the family regained their fortune and her mother encouraged her to socialize, in the hopes of her finding a suitable husband. Out of obedience, and believing that her childhood vow was no longer binding, she began to accompany her brothers in the social events, attending dances and balls.

One night, after returning home from a ball for Carnival dressed in her finery, she experienced a vision of Christ, scourged and bloody. He reproached her for her forgetfulness of him; yet he also reassured her by demonstrating that his Heart was filled with love for her, because of the childhood promise she had made to his Blessed Mother. As a result, she determined to fulfill her vow and entered, when almost 24 years of age, the Visitation Convent at Paray-le-Monial on 25 May 1671, intending to become a nun.
Monastic life

Alacoque was subjected to many trials to prove the genuineness of her vocation. She was admitted to wearing the religious habit on 25 August 1671, but was not allowed to make her religious profession on the same date of the following year, which would have been normal. A fellow novice described Margaret Mary as humble, simple and frank, but above all kind and patient.Finally, she was admitted to profession on 6 November 1672. It is said that she was assigned to the infirmary and was not very skillful at her tasks.

Visions

In this monastery Alacoque received several private revelations of the Sacred Heart, the first on 27 December 1673 and the final one 18 months later. The visions revealed to her the form of the devotion, the chief features being reception of Holy Communion on the first Friday of each month, Eucharistic adoration during a “Holy hour” on Thursdays, and the celebration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart. She stated that in her vision she was instructed to spend an hour every Thursday night to meditate on Jesus’ Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Holy Hour practice later became widespread among Catholics.

On 27 December 1673, the feast of St. John, Margaret Mary reported that Jesus permitted her to rest her head upon his heart, and then disclosed to her the wonders of his love, telling her that he desired to make them known to all mankind and to diffuse the treasures of his goodness, and that he had chosen her for this work.

Initially discouraged in her efforts to follow the instruction she had received in her visions, Alacoque was eventually able to convince her superior, Mother de Saumaise, of the authenticity of her visions. She was unable, however, to convince a group of theologians of the validity of her apparitions, nor was she any more successful with many of the members of her own community, and suffered greatly at their hands. She eventually received the support of St. Claude de la Colombière, S.J., the community’s confessor for a time, who declared that the visions were genuine. In 1683, opposition in the community ended when Mother Melin was elected Superior and named Margaret Mary her assistant. She later became Novice Mistress, and saw the monastery observe the Feast of the Sacred Heart privately, beginning in 1686. Two years later, a chapel was built at Paray-le-Monial to honour the Sacred Heart. Alacoque died on 17 October 1690.

Veneration

Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart and St. Margarette Mary Alacoque adoring the Sacred Heart of Jesus
After Alacoque the devotion to the Sacred Heart was fostered by the Jesuits and the subject of controversies within the Church. The practice was not officially recognized until 75 years later.

The discussion of Alacoque’s own mission and qualities continued for years. All her actions, her revelations, her spiritual maxims, her teachings regarding the devotion to the Sacred Heart, of which she was the chief exponent as well as the apostle, were subjected to the most severe and minute examination, and finally the Sacred Congregation of Rites passed a favourable vote on the heroic virtues of this “servant of God”. In March 1824, Pope Leo XII pronounced her Venerable and on 18 September 1864 Pope Pius IX declared her Blessed. When her tomb was canonically opened in July 1830, two instantaneous cures were recorded to have taken place. Her incorrupt body rests above the side altar in the Chapel of the Apparitions, located at the Visitation Monastery in Paray-le-Monial, and many striking blessings have been claimed by pilgrims attracted there from all parts of the world.

Alacoque was canonized by Pope Benedict XV in 1920, and in 1929 her liturgical commemoration was included in the General Roman calendar for celebration on 17 October, the day of her death. In the reforms of 1969, the feast day was moved to the prior day, 16 October.

In his 1928 encyclical Miserentissimus Redemptor, Pope Pius XI affirmed the Church’s position regarding the credibility of her visions of Jesus Christ by speaking of Jesus as having “manifested Himself” to Saint Margaret Mary and having “promised her that all those who rendered this honour to His Heart would be endowed with an abundance of heavenly graces”.

Alacoque’s short devotional writing, La Devotion au Sacré-Coeur de Jesus (Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus), was published posthumously by J. Croiset in 1698, and has been popular among Catholics.

Mariologists refer to Saint Marguerite Marie Alacoque as “living proof how Marian devotion is linked to ‘Christology'” and the adoration of Jesus Christ.

Prayer to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Saint Margaret Mary, thou who wast made a partaker of the divine treasures of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, obtain for us, we beseech thee, from this adorable Heart, the graces we need so sorely. We ask these favors of thee with unbounded confidence. May the divine Heart of Jesus be pleased to bestow them upon us through thy intercession, so that once again He may be loved and glorified through thee. Amen.

V. Pray for us, O blessed Margaret; R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.
O Lord Jesus Christ, who didst wondrously open the unsearchable riches of Thy Heart to blessed Margaret Mary, the virgin: grant unto us, by her merits and our imitation of her, that we may love Thee in all things and above all things, and may be worthy to have our everlasting dwelling in the same Sacred Heart: who livest and reignest, world without end. Amen.

Prayers by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Prayer to the Blessed Virgin

O most holy, most amiable and most glorious Virgin, Mother of God, Mistress and Advocate to whom we are all vowed and consecrated, making it our glory to belong to thee as children, servants and slaves for time and eternity, behold! with common accord, we throw ourselves at thy feet to renew our vows of fidelity and servitude to thee and to pray thee that as we belong entirely to thee, thou wouldst offer, dedicate, consecrate and immolate to the Sacred Heart of our adorable Jesus, ourselves and all that we are, all that we shall do and suffer, without reserving anything for ourselves. We wish to have no other liberty except that of loving Him, no other glory except that of belonging to Him as slaves and victims of His pure love, no other will or power but that of pleasing Him and contenting Him in everything, even at the price of our lives. And since thou hast all power over the amiable Heart of thy Divine Son, grant, O most charitable Mother, that He may receive and accept this consecration which we make today in thy presence, and through thy mediation, with the protestations of our fidelity, relying on His grace and thy help, which we beg thee not to refuse us.

O, our sweet Hope, make us feel thy power over the amiable Heart of Jesus, and use thy influence on our behalf to lodge us there always. Pray Him to exercise His sovereign empire over our souls, making His love reign in our hearts, in order that He may consume us and transform us entirely into Himself May He be our Father, our Spouse, our Protection, our Treasure, our Delight, our Love and our All in all things; may He destroy and annihilate in us all that is of ourselves and put in place of it all that is of Himself, in order that we may be able to be pleasing to Him. May He be the support of our powerlessness, the strength of our weakness, the joy of all our sadness.

O Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, repair all our failings, supply for all that is wanting to us, burn our hearts in your holy ardors; consume all our coldness and cowardice in loving and serving you, since we wish to make all our holiness and happiness consist in living and dying in the state of slaves of the adorable Heart of Jesus, and servants of His holy Mother. Amen.

Prayer to the Sacred heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Place me, O my sweet Savior, in Thy Sacred Side, and in Thy adorable Heart which is a burning Furnace of pure love, and I shall be in safety. I hope, O my Jesus, My Sovereign Good, that Thou wilt bring me in thither, since I love Thee, not for the recompenses which Thou dost promise to those who love Thee, but purely for the love of Thyself. I love Thee above all things lovable, above everything good, above everything beautiful, above every pleasure, and in fine, above myself and everything that is outside of Thee, and I protest in the presence of Heaven and earth that I wish to live and die in Thy holy love, purely and simply, and that even if to love Thee in this manner, I must suffer persecution and torments and even endure death, I am quite content, and will say with St. Paul: “No creature shall ever be able to separate me from the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, whom I love and wish to love eternally.”

O most amiable Heart, Thou art my strength, my support, my recompense, my safety, my refuge, my love and my all. O most holy Heart of Jesus, Heart most august, Master of all hearts, I love Thee, I adore Thee, I praise Thee; I thank Thee, I wish to be all Thine. O Heart of love, dwell with me and in me; govern me, save me, change me entirely into Thee. O most excellent and most Sacred Heart, the eternal enjoyment of which will be, without surfeit, the Source of enjoyment and the Recompense of the blessed, how desirable, how lovable Thou art! O Divine Heart, come to me, or draw me to Thee. O Heart most sublime, the Delight of Divinity! I salute Thee from exile where I am; I invoke Thee in my sorrow; I call on Thee as the remedy for my frailty. Oh! most merciful Heart, compassionate and generous Heart of my Father and my Savior, do not refuse Thy help to my unworthy heart, destroy in me the reign of sin and establish in me that of virtue in order that Thy image may be completely perfected in me and that it may one day be an ornament in Thy Heavenly palace. Amen.

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque’s Litany of the Passion

Humbly prostrate at the foot of Thy holy Cross, I will often say to Thee,  in order to excite Thy compassion and obtain mercy and pardon: Jesus, unknown and despised,  Have mercy on me.  Jesus, calumniated and persecuted, Etc.  Jesus, abandoned by men and tempted,  Jesus, betrayed and sold for a paltry sum,  Jesus, blamed, accused and unjustly condemned,  Jesus, clothed with a garment of opprobrium and shame,  Jesus, buffeted and mocked,  Jesus, dragged with a rope round Thy neck,  Jesus, scourged unto blood,  Jesus, reputed to be a fool and to be possessed by a devil,  Jesus, to Whom Barabbas was preferred,  Jesus, shamefully stripped of Thy garments,  Jesus, crowned with thorns and saluted in derision,  Jesus, laden with the Cross, and disowned by Thy people,  Jesus, overwhelmed with insults, sorrow, and humiliations,  Jesus, sorrowful unto death,  Jesus, insulted, spat upon, beaten, outraged and scoffed at,  Jesus, hanged on the infamous tree in company with robbers,  Jesus, set at nought and deprived of honor before men,  Jesus, overwhelmed with all kinds of sorrow,

O Good Jesus, Who has suffered an infinity of insults and humiliations for love of me, imprint deeply on my heart a great love and appreciation for them, and the desire to endure them willingly for Thee. Amen.

 Prayer for the Mercy

Behold, O compassionate Father, this prodigal who has sinned against Thee by dissipating the treasures with which Thou hast enriched him. I throw myself at Thy Feet and cry for mercy. Do not reject me and do not forget Thy mercies. Exercise them over my poor soul, although it is unworthy of them. Do not permit that it be lost before Thine eyes, since Thy Sacred Heart has given birth to it with so much pain. Do not refuse me the title of child of Thy Heart, for I desire to die unto myself and unto sin, in order to live henceforth only by the life of submission and obedience. In this spirit I wish to do all my actions, uniting my obedience with that which Thou dost render to the priest, whether he be good or bad, without showing the pain it costs Thee to enter into the hearts of sinners. In like manner, I will repress my repugnances so that they will have no other effect on me but to make me sacrifice them to Thee, saying: Jesus was silent; Jesus was obedient even unto death; I wish to obey until I breathe my last sigh. Amen.

 Prayer to Our Lord In His Quality of all powerful Physician

O Jesus, my love, in memory of the Sacrifice of Thyself which Thou didst offer on the Cross and which Thou dost still offer in the Blessed Sacrament, I beg of Thee to accept that which I make of my whole being, immolated and sacrificed to Thy adorable designs and wishes. Receive me in the spirit of penance and sacrifice. O Heavenly Physician of my soul, Sovereign Remedy for my evils, I present myself to Thee as a sick person without hope in any other but in the charitable Heart of my Savior, who alone knows my maladies and can cure me of them.

I hope for this favor from Thy bounty, since in this amiable Sacrament Thou hast made Thyself my medicine, my healing balm. My cowardice and my coldness in Thy love have been the cause of all my infirmities; but Thou canst, if Thou wilt, cure me, for I am ready to suffer anything in order to be cured. Cut, burn, amputate; provided that I love Thee and be saved, I will submit to everything. On my part, I am ready to apply the iron and fire of entire mortification and crucifixion of myself to cure the wounds

which pride and self-love have caused to my soul.
Apply Thyself then to my poor languishing heart as a balm of love. O my charitable Physician, have pity on my weakness and deliver me from it for the glory of Thy name. Amen.

Sacred Heart Prayer by Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

Hail, Heart of Jesus, save me! Hail, Heart of my Creator, perfect me! Hail, Heart of my Savior, deliver me! Hail, Heart of my Judge, grant me pardon! Hail, Heart of my Father, govern me! Hail, Heart of my Spouse, grant me love! Hail, Heart of my Master, teach me! Hail, Heart of my King, be my crown! Hail, Heart of my Benefactor, enrich me! Hail, Heart of my Shepherd, guard me! Hail, Heart of my Friend, comfort me! Hail, Heart of my Brother, stay with me! Hail, Heart of the Child Jesus, draw me to yourself! Hail, Heart of Jesus dying on the Cross, redeem me! Hail, Heart of Jesus in all your states, give yourself to me! Hail, Heart of incomparable goodness, have mercy on me! Hail, Heart of splendor, shine within me! Hail, most loving Heart, inflame me! Hail, most merciful Heart, work within me! Hail, most humble Heart, dwell within me! Hail, most patient Heart, support me! Hail, most faithful Heart, be my reward! Hail, most admirable and most worthy Heart, bless me!

Lord Jesus, let my heart never rest until it finds You, who are its center, its love, and its happiness. By the wound in Your heart pardon the sins that I have committed whether out of malice or out of evil desires.

Place my weak heart in Your own divine Heart, continually under Your protection and guidance,
so that I may persevere in doing good and in fleeing evil until my last breath. Amen.

Prayer to God the Father

Eternal Father,  I offer unto Thee the infinite satisfaction  which Jesus rendered to Thy justice  on behalf of sinners upon the tree of the Cross;  and I pray that Thou wouldst make the merits of His  Precious Blood  available to all guilty souls  to whom sin has brought death;  may they rise again to the life of grace  and glorify Thee for ever.  Eternal Father,  I offer Thee the fervent devotion of the Sacred Heart of  Jesus  in satisfaction for the lukewarmness and cowardice of Thy  chosen people,  imploring Thee by the burning love  which made Him suffer death,  that it may please Thee to rekindle their hearts  now so lukewarm in Thy service,  and to set them on fire with Thy love,  that they may love Thee for ever.  Eternal Father,  I offer Thee the submission of Jesus to Thy will,  and I ask of Thee,  through His merits,  the fullness of all grace  and the accomplishment of all Thy holy will.  Blessed be God!  Amen.

Intercession to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

O St Margaret Mary, through you, Jesus pours out His abundant graces to all mankind. Help us to put aside personal interests and abandon ourselves entirely and lovingly to His Adorable Heart. May our work, like yours, merit His special care and favour, through Jesus’ Holy Name.

St Margaret Mary, we implore you, to whom the Sacred Heart of Jesus manifested His Divine treasures, to obtain the graces we seek from His Adorable Heart. With unlimited confidence, we ask: (Share your request…)

O Glorious St Margaret Mary, through your intercession, may the Divine Heart of Jesus continue to be glorified and loved.
Say: Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…
St Margaret Mary Alacoque, Pray for Us …

Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

I – O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you.” Behold I knock, I seek and ask for the grace of…… (here name your request)  Our Father….Hail Mary….Glory Be to the Father….  Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

II – O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.” Behold, in your name, I ask the Father for the grace of……. (here name your request)  Our Father….Hail Mary….Glory Be to the Father….  Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

III – O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away.” Encouraged by your infallible words I now ask for the grace of….. (here name your request)  Our Father….Hail Mary….Glory Be to the Father….  Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

Prayer O Sacred Heart of Jesus, for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted, have pity on us miserable sinners and grant us the grace which we ask of you, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, your tender Mother and ours.
St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray for us. Amen

Click here to download this content of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in .pdf format