Margaret Mary Alacoque VSM (French: Marguerite-Marie Alacoque; 22 July 1647 – 17 October 1690) was a French Visitation nun and mystic who promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in its modern form.

Biography

Early life

Blason de la famille Alacoque.
Blason de la famille Alacoque.

Alacoque was born in 1647 in L'Hautecour, Burgundy, France, now part of the commune of Verosvres, then in the Duchy of Burgundy. She was the fifth of seven children, and the only daughter of Claude and Philiberte Lamyn Alacoque.[1] Her father was a well-to-do notary. Her godmother was the Countess of Corcheval. Margaret was described as showing intense love for the Blessed Sacrament from early childhood.

When Margaret was eight years old, her father died of pneumonia. She was sent to a convent school run by the Poor Clares in Charolles, where she made her First Communion at the age of nine. She later contracted rheumatic fever which confined her to bed for four years. At the end of this period, having made a vow to the Blessed Virgin Mary to consecrate herself to religious life, she was instantly restored to perfect health.[1] 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.

With the death of Alacoque's father, the family's assets were held by an uncle 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, her brother came of age, took undisputed possession of the home and things improved. 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.[1]

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.[1]

Monastic life

St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome, Italy, The Altar of the Sacred Heart, mosaic. The painting for the mosaic was by Carlo Muccioli in 1919-20
Jesus Christ appearing to St. Margaret Mary, Church of San Michele, Cortemilia, Italy
The Vision of the Heart of Jesus by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque by unknown artist

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 the usual course.[2] A fellow novice described Margaret Mary as humble, simple and frank, but above all kind and patient.[3] She was finally 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.[4]

Visions

At the monastery, Alacoque reportedly received several apparitions and private revelations of Jesus Christ between 27 December 1673 and June 1675. Among other things, these visions revealed to her different forms of devotion to the Sacred Heart.

On 27 December 1673, the feast of St. John, Margaret Mary said that Jesus had 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.

Between 1674 and 1675, other apparitions followed. From the second apparition onwards, a theme of sadness was present in her visions:

Veneration

Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart and St. Margarette Mary Alacoque adoring the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Stained glass image of Mary Alacoque in Clonmel, Ireland

After Alacoque's death, the devotion to the Sacred Heart was fostered by the Jesuits even as it remained controversial within the Catholic Church. The practice was not officially recognized for 75 years.[8] 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.

The Sacred Congregation of Rites eventually voted favorably and Pope Leo XII pronounced her Venerable on 30 March 1824, introducing a cause for her canonization.[19]

Six years later, Commissaries Apostolic were sent to Paray-le-Monial by the Holy See to inspect the virtues of the venerable Alacoque. The Commissaries desired to open her tomb in order to authenticate her remains. When Alacoque's tomb was opened in July 1830, they discovered that her brain had been preserved from corruption, 140 years after her death. Four doctors recorded the miracle in a report and two instantaneous cures were also recorded by the Commissaries. The examination of Alacoque's virtues and writings lasted 14 years.[20] Now, her body rests above the side altar in the Chapel of the Apparitions, located at the Visitation Monastery in Paray-le-Monial, which draws pilgrims from all parts of the world.[1]

On 23 August 1846, Pope Pius IX officially declared her heroic virtues, granting her the title "Servant of God".[20]

On 18 September 1864, Pope Pius IX declared her Blessed. Another tomb opening was done for the process and her brain was still discovered showing signs of incorruptibility, 174 years after her death.[21]

Alacoque was canonized by Pope Benedict XV on 13 May 1920. The two miracles attributed to Alacoque's intercession that are required for the canonization approval were Louise Agostini-Coleshi's instant and complete cure of chronic transverse meningo-myelitis, and Countess Antonia Artorri's instant and complete cure of right papillary cancer.[22] The Pope also inserted the "Great Promise" of the First Fridays Devotion into the Bull of her Canonization.[23]

In his 1928 encyclical Miserentissimus Redemptor, Pope Pius XI affirmed the Catholic Church's position regarding the credibility of her visions of Jesus Christ by speaking of Jesus as having "manifested Himself" to Alacoque and having "promised her that all those who rendered this honour to His Heart would be endowed with an abundance of heavenly graces".[24]

In 1929 her liturgical commemoration was included in the General Roman calendar for celebration on 17 October, the day of her death. During the reforms of 1969, the feast day was moved to 16 October. It is an optional memorial in the United States.[25]

Alacoque's short devotional work, 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.[26]

On the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia there are two flower festivals supported by their respective Societies. Each society has a patron saint on whose feast day the grande fete is celebrated. For the Roses it is the feast of St. Rose of Lima on 30 August; and for the Marguerites it is that of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, 17 October.[27]

Quote

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 want to manifest 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

The detente bala amulet used by Spanish soldiers is said to derive from Alacoque's emblems.[28]

In James Joyce's short story "Eveline", in his book Dubliners, a "coloured print of the promises made to Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque" is mentioned as part of the decorations of an Irish home at the turn of the 20th century, testifying to Joyce's fine eye for the details of Irish Catholic piety.[29]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Margaret Mary Alacoque". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  2. ↑ Émile Bougaud: The Life of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (TAN Books 1990 ISBN 0-89555-297-3), pp. 94-102
  3. ↑ "Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque". Franciscan Media. 16 October 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  4. 1 2 Lives of Saints, John J. Crawley & Co., Inc.
  5. ↑ Autobiography of Margaret Mary Alacoque, n. 55, quoted by Pope Francis in Dilexit nos, paragraph 165, published on 24 October 2024, accessed on 6 March 2025
  6. ↑ Alacoque, Marguerite Marie (1915). Vie et oeuvres (in French). Kelly - University of Toronto. Paris : Poussielgue. p. 261.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  7. ↑ Alacoque, Marguerite Marie (1915). Vie et oeuvres (in French). Kelly - University of Toronto. Paris : Poussielgue. p. 72.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  8. 1 2 Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3): article Margaret Mary Alacoque, St
  9. ↑ The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Spirituality by Gordon S. Wakefield 1983 ISBN 0-664-22170-X page 347
  10. ↑ Alacoque, Marguerite Marie (1915). Vie et oeuvres (in French). Kelly - University of Toronto. Paris : Poussielgue. p. 102.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  11. ↑ Ann Ball, 2003 Encyclopedia of Catholic Devotions and Practices ISBN 0-87973-910-X page 240
  12. ↑ Marguerite–Marie Alacoque (1993). Sainte Marguerite–Marie Alacoque – Sa vie par elle-même – Life by herself. Paris-Fribourg: Saint-Paul. ISBN 2-85049-153-5.
  13. ↑ Alain Denizot (1994). Le Sacré-Cœur et la Grande Guerre. Paris. ISBN 2-7233-0489-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  14. ↑ Alain Denizot (1994). "History of Sacred Heart".
  15. 1 2 Monseigneur Bougaud (1890). Revelations of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to Blessed Margaret Mary and the History of Her Life. New York: Benziger Brothers. pp. 209, 210.
  16. ↑ Duffy, Patrick. "Oct 16 – St Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647–90) visionary", Catholic Ireland, October 16, 2012
  17. ↑ Gheon, Henri (1963). "The Secret of Saint Margaret Mary". Sheed and Ward. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  18. ↑ Miles Jesu
  19. ↑ Alacoque, Margaret Mary (1920). Vie et révélations de Sainte Marguerite-Marie Alacoque [Life and Revelations of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque] (in French). Boston College. Paris: Librairie Saint-Paul. p. 200.
  20. 1 2 Alacoque, Margaret Mary (1920). Vie et révélations de Sainte Marguerite-Marie Alacoque [Life and Revelations of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque] (in French). Boston College. Paris, France: Librairie Saint-Paul. p. 201.
  21. ↑ Alacoque, Margaret Mary (1920). Vie et révélations de Sainte Marguerite-Marie Alacoque [Life and Revelations of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque] (in French). Boston College. Paris, France: Librairie Saint-Paul. p. 202.
  22. ↑ Alacoque, Margaret Mary Alacoque (1920). Vie et révélations de Sainte Marguerite-Marie Alacoque [Life and Revelations of Margaret Mary Alacoque] (in French). Boston College. Paris, France: Librairie Saint-Paul. p. 206.
  23. ↑ "Acta Apostolicæ Sedis 1920" (PDF). vatican.va. Vatican: The Holy See. 1920. p. 503.
  24. ↑ Encyclical Miserentissimus Redemptor of Pope Pius XI
  25. ↑ "Optional Memorial of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, virgin", USCCB
  26. ↑ Chisholm 1911.
  27. ↑ "The National Flower Festivals: La Rose and La Marguerite".
  28. ↑ "El Regimiento "Príncipe" n.º 3 se presenta a su Patrona". ejercito.defensa.gob.es (in Spanish). Regimiento de Infantería 'Principe' nº 3. 24 October 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  29. ↑ Torchiana, Donald T. "Joyce’s ‘Eveline’ and the Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque". James Joyce Quarterly, vol. 6, no. 1, 1968, pp. 22–28. JSTOR

References

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Mary_Alacoque