June is the month of the Sacred Heart (regardless of what the secularist said). To that effect, it will be appropriate to remember the saint who was instrumental in bringing this devotion to us.
St Margaret Mary Alacoque was born in Burgundy, France. Since she was little, she already had a special relationship with the Lord as the Lord appeared to her in visions. These visions were so common for her to the extent that she was surprised to hear that not everyone could see and talk to the Lord directly and regularly.
When she was at a young age, her father passed away. This created difficulty in her life as the estate was controlled by her father's relatives. She and her family were treated poorly by them. However, this helped St Margaret Mary to understand more the suffering of Jesus. In fact, Jesus often appeared to her in His suffering and beaten state, teaching her to unite her sufferings and injustices to His own.
At around the age of 11, when she was staying with the poor Claire's sisters for her education, she fell ill. She was not able to walk for 4 years. She then prayed and dedicated herself to Our Lady. She was cured afterwards.
When she was 17, she managed to get control of the estate back to her family. At this stage of her life, her mother encouraged her to get married. St Margaret Mary decided to follow her mother's wishes and start socialising more. However, this displeased her greatly as she was profoundly aware of Jesus’ sorrow. On at least one occasion, after returning home from a dance, Jesus appeared to her as He looked during His scourging at the pillar, revealing His love for her and that her sins caused His suffering.
In 1571, St Margaret Mary entered a Visitation Convent in Paray-le-Monial. In this place, she received the visions of the Sacred Heart. This caused great suffering for her as no one believed her. When she shared her vision with her Mother Superior, she was treated with contempt and was ordered to stop carrying out the duties related to the devotion. She obeyed, but the strain was too much for her so she became ill. Her Mother Superior became worried and promised that she would believe her visions if she recovered from her illness. St Margaret Mary prayed and she was cured. Her Mother Superior kept her promise, but many of the sisters still doubted her visions.
To resolve the issue, St Margaret Mary's superior ordered her to submit her experience and visions to a council of theologians. The council decided that St Margaret Mary suffered from delusions and rejected her visions as authentic. The issue remained unresolved until St Claude de la Colombiere, a Jesuit, was appointed to become a confessor for the nuns. St Claude believed in her visions and ruled them as authentic. He then started to apply the duties as required by the devotion to the Sacred Heart and share it more publicly.
Toward the end of Margaret Mary’s life, her community began to accept the revelations and observed the Feast of the Sacred Heart, building a chapel to the Sacred Heart three years before her death. Seventy-five years after her death, after a thorough examination, Pope Clement XIII approved devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, paving the way for Margaret Mary’s canonization, which would not take place until 1920, and the inclusion of this feast on the General Roman calendar, which took place in 1929.
May in the month of June, we increase our devotion to the Sacred Heart as an antidote to the toxic secularist celebration. Let us ask the intercession from St Margaret Mary Alacoque to keep us chaste and for the conversion of those who lived under the tyrannical rule of Asmodeus.
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Lyrics by: Milites Ecclesiae
Music made in: www.udio.com/
Video made in: vizzy.io
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