SAINT OF THE DAY -- Oct. 13 - St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
October 13
St.
Margaret Mary Alacoque
(1647 - 1690)
Patron Saint of Those Whom Have Lost Parents,
.
Christian Devotees, and Polio Patients
"What a weakness it is to love Jesus Christ only when He Caresses us, and to be cold immediately once He afflicts us.
This is not true love.
Those who love thus, love themselves too much to love God with all their heart."
~Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque
Margaret Mary was chosen by Christ to arouse the Church to a realization of the love of God symbolized by the heart of Jesus.
Her
early years were marked by sickness and a painful home situation. "The
heaviest of my crosses was that I could do nothing to lighten the cross
my mother was suffering." After considering marriage for some time,
Margaret entered the Order of Visitation nuns at the age of 24.
A
Visitation nun was "not to be extraordinary except by being ordinary,"
but the young nun was not to enjoy this anonymity. A fellow novice
(shrewdest of critics) termed Margaret humble, simple and frank, but
above all kind and patient under sharp criticism and correction. She
could not meditate in the formal way expected, though she tried her
best to give up her "prayer of simplicity." Slow, quiet and clumsy, she
was assigned to help an infirmarian who was a bundle of energy.
On
December 21, 1674, three years a nun, she received the first of her
revelations. She felt "invested" with the presence of God, though
always afraid of deceiving herself in such matters. The request of
Christ was that his love for humankind be made evident through her.
During the next 13 months he appeared to her at intervals. His human
heart was to be the symbol of his divine-human love. By her own love
she was to make up for the coldness and ingratitude of the world—by
frequent and loving Holy Communion, especially on the first Friday of
each month, and by an hour's vigil of prayer every Thursday night in
memory of his agony and isolation in Gethsemane. He also asked that a
feast of reparation be instituted.
Like all saints, Margaret had
to pay for her gift of holiness. Some of her own sisters were hostile.
Theologians who were called in declared her visions delusions and
suggested that she eat more heartily. Later, parents of children she
taught called her an impostor, an unorthodox innovator. A new
confessor, Blessed Claude de la Colombiere, a Jesuit, recognized her
genuineness and supported her. Against her great resistance, Christ
called her to be a sacrificial victim for the shortcomings of her own
sisters, and to make this known.
After serving as novice mistress
and assistant superior, she died at the age of 43 while being anointed.
"I need nothing but God, and to lose myself in the heart of Jesus."
St. Margaret is one of the incorruptibles. Learn about the Incorruptibles.
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The Twelve Promises of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary
.
for those devoted to His Sacred Heart:
- I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
- I will establish peace in their families.
- I will console them in all their troubles.
- They shall find in My Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour of their death.
- I will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings.
- Sinners shall find in My Heart the source of an infinite ocean of mercy.
- Tepid souls shall become fervent.
- Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.
- I will bless the homes where an image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored.
- I will give to priests the power of touching the most hardened hearts.
- Those who propagate this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be effaced.
- The all-powerful love of My Heart will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final
repentance; they shall not die under my displeasure, nor without
receiving their Sacraments; My heart shall be their assured refuge at
that last hour.
from Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque's vision of Jesus
Comment:
Our scientific-materialistic age cannot "prove" private revelations. Theologians, if pressed, admit that we do not have to
believe in them. But it is impossible to deny the message Margaret Mary
heralded: that God loves us with a passionate love. Her insistence on
reparation and prayer and the reminder of final judgment should be
sufficient to ward off superstition and superficiality in devotion to
the Sacred Heart while preserving its deep Christian meaning.
Quote:Christ
speaks to St. Margaret Mary: "Behold this Heart which has so loved men
that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself, in
order to testify its love. In return, I receive from the greater part
only ingratitude, by their irreverence and sacrileges, and by the
coldness and contempt they have for me in this sacrament of love.... I
come into the heart I have given you in order that through your fervor
you may atone for the offenses which I have received from lukewarm and
slothful hearts that dishonor me in the Blessed Sacrament" (Third
apparition).
Prayer:O Holy Visitandine, to hear your name is to recall the Sacred Heart
Devotion, especially as practiced on First Fridays and in making
reparation for sins. From early youth you dedicated yourself to Jesus
and you exhibited fervent love for him in the Eucharist. You became his
chosen vessel to spread the devotion to the Sacred heart which has done
wonders in modern times. Make all of us realize ever more Christ's
words: "Behold this Heart that has so greatly loved people." Amen.
Source: American Catholic Organization
Many great miracles have been associated with
the Rosary throughout history. The tremendous power of the Rosary can
overcome any problem, be it small or large, personal or worldwide.
Miracles continue to the present day.
The Rosary is a powerful prayer!
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Learn to pray the Rosary--The Joyful Mysteries
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If you are a victim of domestic or sexual violence, please know that my husband and I pray for you every single night.
If you need immediate assistance, dial 911.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline:
1-800-799-SAFE OR (1-800-799-7233)
SIGNS OF AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP
Do you:
feel afraid of your partner much of the time?
avoid certain topics fear of angering your partner?
feel that you can’t do anything right for your partner?
believe that you deserve to be hurt or mistreated?
wonder if you’re the one who is crazy?
feel emotionally numb or helpless?
Does your partner:
- humiliate, criticize, or yell at you?
- treat you so badly that you’re embarrassed for your friends or family to see?
- ignore or put down your opinions or accomplishments?
- blame you for his own abusive behavior?
- see you as property or a sex object, rather than as a person?
Does your partner:
have a bad and unpredictable temper?
hurt you, or threaten to hurt or kill you?
threaten to take your children away or harm them?
threaten to commit suicide if you leave?
force you to have sex?
destroy your belongings?
Does your partner:
- act excessively jealous and possessive?
- control where you go or what you do?
- keep you from seeing your friends or family?
- limit your access to money, the phone, or the car?
- constantly check up on you?