It is not surprising that Our Lord chose a humble, pious woman, Margaret Mary Alacoque, to be the bearer of His messages about His Most Sacred Heart. When I read this short biography, I quickly noted that her life included times of sadness, illness, mourning, and mistreatment by others. She was brought up by devout and devoted parents in a small town of Burgundy; and, by the time she was eight she had already experienced the sharp pain that death brings into our human existence. She lost her beloved godmother, the Countess of Corcheval, and her father, Claude. Although her father’s death put the family in financial straits, her mother, Philiberte, was able to send her to school with the Urbanist Sisters at Charolles. There she learned to love the peace and order of the convent life. The good sisters were impressed by her piety and reverence and she was permitted to receive her First Holy Communion at the age of nine.
Soon she became bedridden for four years and returned home to be nursed back to health. By the time she returned, some of her father’s relatives had moved in and were controlling all matters in her family’s financial and personal life. This situation brought great sadness to young Margaret. When her brother became of age, he was able to regain control of his family’s land and finances and thus end this difficult time.
At the age of twenty-two, Margaret made her religious profession at the convent of the Visitation at Paray-le-Monial. When she made her profession, the name Mary was added and, hence, she was called Margaret Mary.
In 1673, Margaret Mary began to have supernatural experiences in which Our Lord told her that the love of His heart must spread and manifest itself to men and He revealed its graces through her. Margaret Mary was inspired by Christ to establish the Holy Hour and to pray lying prostrate with her face to the ground from eleven until midnight on the eve of the first Friday of each month, to share in the mortal sadness He endured when abandoned by His Apostles in His Agony, and to receive Holy Communion on the first Friday of every month.
The next first Friday of the month, let’s partake in the devotions that Our Lord requests of us through His revelations to this holy saint. And, when we feel moments of despair and sadness turn to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and ask her to pray for us that the heaviness of sadness be lifted from our hearts. I close this post with these inspiring words from St. Margaret Mary Alacoque:
[quote]I need nothing but God, and to lose myself in the heart of Jesus.[/quote]