Margarete-Mary Alacocoque.

* 22 July 1647 Lhautecour, Burgundy, France
† 17 October 1690 Paray-le-Monial, FranceMeaning of the name Margita: pearl (Greek-Latin)Attribute: palm tree

St. Margita Mary Alacoque was born on July 22, 1647, in France in the village of Lauthecour near Verosvres. Her father was the royal notary in the village. Margita was the fifth of seven children. She was given the name Mary during confirmation. Parents lead their children to faith from an early age. When she was eight years old, her father died. Her mother sent her to the monastery of St. Clary in Charolles. Margita was very religious; she prayed a lot. When she was nine years old, she had a severe illness. She couldn’t move at all. She lost weight to the bone and skin. No one could help her. She said that she would recover only when her relatives and friends put her under the protection of the Virgin Mary. She promised herself that when she recovered, she would enter a monastery. She spent two years in bed in a monastery and another two years at home. After she recovered, she began to lead an austere life. She fasted, meditated, wore penitential robes, and slept on the ground. In addition, she had to suffer from her relatives – grandmother, aunt, and maid who ran the household as her mother was weak and sick. They mistreated her. They humiliated her and did not give her food or clothes. They didn’t even want to take care of her mother. Margita endured it all without pride and cared for her mother as best as possible. She even started whipping herself. Her mother cried because of this, forbade her to live in a separate room, and forced her to get married. In the end, however, she gave her freedom, and Margita, at the age of twenty-four, entered the monastery of the Order of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary, founded by St. Francis of Sales, in the town of Paray-le-Monial in the Burgundy region. In 1672, she took her first vows. She lived strictly and knelt before the Sacrament of the Altar whenever possible.

On December 27, 1673, the Divine Heart appeared to her in dazzling brilliance. It was then that she knelt before the Sacrament of the Altar. The heart was surrounded by thorns and decorated with a cross. According to her own words, she was filled with unspeakable love. She had her second apparition on Friday in the octave of the Body of God. Then, she saw the five wounds of Christ. At the same time, she heard a voice: “You cannot show me a greater love than to do what I asked of you, to increase your respect for my loving Heart. You can only become perfectly worthy of this grace through humiliation and suffering.” Then the Savior showed her His Divine Heart and continued: “Look, this Heart that loved people so much, spared nothing, even spent itself, just to show its love. However, he receives in return ingratitude instead of gratitude. Therefore, I ask you that the first Friday after the octave of the feast of my Divine Body be established as a special feast, that on that day, my Heart be worshiped with solemn supplications, and that on that day, people approach St. communion intending to make amends for the innumerable indignities it had received during the time it had been exposed on the altar.’

After this apparition, Margita fell seriously ill. She felt an immense pain in her heart, which did not leave her until her death. No doctor knew what kind of disease it was. Margita dutifully told the superior what was needed. However, the special and the other sisters did not want to believe her and persecuted her for making things up. Margita tried to endure everything in silence and humility. On Sunday, June 16, 1675, the Savior appeared to her for the third time. Again, he spoke of how men belittle his love and the sacraments. He asked Margita to attend the first Friday of every month to St. communion so that, according to her strength, she would correct the insults that befall the Most Holy Sacrament in that month. Since then, every night from Thursday to Friday, Margaret experienced the deathly anguish that Jesus had before his Passion in the Garden of Gethsemane. All this confused her; she could not understand that Jesus had chosen her for such an important task. However, God sent a wise and pious priest, Claudio de la Comboniér, a Jesuit, who became her spiritual leader, comforter, and adviser. With his help, she could carry out what the Savior had said and preached to spread further through the revelations.

In 1685, she became matron of novices for two years. Then, she became assistant to the matron of the house. In 1690, she started talking about death. She begged the matron to allow her to withdraw for forty days and prepare for death. The matron was surprised because Margita did not suffer from any illness. She got a cold in the fall, but the doctor said the disease was not dangerous. But the humiliated nun smiled and said they would not even notice when God would call her back. She often pressed the cross to her chest when sick and called on God. On the morning of October 17, 1690, she asked for a priest. The priest took care of her, and Margita died the same day. She was only forty-three years old. Her brain was found intact over a hundred years after her grave was opened. She was declared blessed in 1864 and a saint in 1920. Her remains rest under the main altar of the convent church in Paray-le-Monial. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus spread throughout the Church.

From the revelations of St. Margita, which she described in her notes, established over time the twelve promises of the Divine Heart for those who will worship the Divine Heart:

I will give them all the graces necessary for their condition.

I will bring peace to their families and comfort them in their troubles.

I will become their haven in life, especially in the hour of death.

I will shower abundant blessings on all their events.

Sinners will find a source of grace and an endless sea of ​​mercy in my heart. Indifferent souls become zealous.

Ardent souls will attain great perfection.

I will also bless the houses where the image of my Sacred Heart will be displayed and venerated.

I will give priests the gift that they will convert even the most hardened hearts.

The names of those who will spread this respect will be written in my Heart and will never be erased from it.

To all who approach St. Communion on the first Friday for nine consecutive months,

I promise the grace of repentance when dying – they will not die in grace nor without the sacraments. My Heart will be a haven for them in the last moments of their lives.