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Life of St. Margaret MaryThe Saint of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart
St. Margaret Mary was a very humble nun who began receiving visitations from Our Lord who eventually asked her to found a new devotion in the church.
Sickly in her youth, St. Margaret Mary’s greatness would never be realized physically, but rather, spiritually later in life when the Lord would begin speaking to her in visions about the special work he had for her to do. St. Margaret Mary 1647 – 1690 Born on July 22, 1647, at L’Hautecour, Burgundy France, St. Margaret Mary was educated at a school run by the Poor Clare Nuns after the death of her father. The daughter of poor parents, she showed a profound sanctity even at a young age developing a devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and secretly practicing penances. Developing Rheumatic Fever at the age of 10, she was paralyzed and bedridden for five years. When she was cured of her illness, she chose not to marry and instead entered the Visitation Convent at Paray-le-Monial and became a professed nun in one year's time. Visions of Jesus ChristSt. Margaret Mary began receiving visions of Jesus Christ in 1673 wherein He began to tell her of His wishes for her to establish a new devotion within the Church. The visions continued for a year and a half in a successive series of great apparitions.
In the second apparition, St. Margaret Mary related “He showed me that it was His great desire of being loved by men and of withdrawing them from the path of ruin into which Satan hurls such crowds of them, 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 her visions, St. Margaret Mary was told that she was chosen by Christ as His instrument to spread the Devotion to the Sacred Heart. He also gave her a series of promises that Jesus said would apply to anyone who propagated, honored, performed or displayed the devotions and images of the Sacred Heart. The Opposition of the Church to St. Margaret Mary’s RevelationsHer own Mother Superior, Mother de Saumaise, did not believe in her visions. Her own community and a great many theologians opposed her for many years on her call to bring about this Devotion to the Sacred Heart to the Catholic Church. But this opposition was squelched when she was named Assistant to the Mother Superior (Mother Melin) in 1683. Observance of the Feast of the Sacred HeartOctober 17th is the day wherein the Feast of the Sacred Heart is currently celebrated. It was Blessed Claude La Colombiere, her confessor, who began the process to end the persecutions by openly declaring that her visions were coming from God. The convent began observing the Feast of the Sacred Heart privately in 1683, but it was not formally established within the church until February 6th, 1765 by Pope Clement XIII. Canonization of St. Margaret MaryOn May 13th, 1920, St. Margaret Mary was Canonized by Pope Benedict XV and on June 16th 1929, Claude de la Colombiere (her former confessor) was Beatified and called ‘Blessed.’ St. Margaret Mary passed away on October 17, 1690, her wisdom and purity of life being a subject of discussions for a great deal of time thereafter. The Chaplet of the Divine Mercy is another Catholic Devotion with equally interesting origins and promises. Sources: The Autobiography of St. Margaret Mary, Thoughts and Sayings of St. Margaret Mary, The Life of St. Margaret Mary – Emile Bougaud, Devotion to the Sacred Heart – Fr. Louis Verheylezoon, S.J., The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus - Fr. John Croiset
The copyright of the article Life of St. Margaret Mary in Catholic Saints is owned by Marilynn Hughes. Permission to republish Life of St. Margaret Mary in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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