The Sacred Heart of Jesus is inviting Us
- jornaleros
- Jun 27
- 5 min read
350 years since the apparition of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Learn about the great miracle of the apparitions of our Lord Jesus Christ to Margaret and take time to meditate on the Lord inviting you into your life.
St. Margaret Mary was born on July 25, 1647, in Janots, Burgundy. After many struggles and sorrows, the death of her father and the family that pushed her and her mother aside, she entered the Convent of the Visitation of Paray-le-Monial on June 20, 1671. That is where the great apparitions of our Lord Jesus Christ took place and where I speak to you of His Most Sacred Heart.
On December 27, 1673, the feast of St. John the Apostle, Margaret Mary, who was only 14 months old and 26 years old, was as usual kneeling before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the chapel. It was the time of the first great revelation from the Lord. The Lord allowed him to lie on his divine breast and said:
"My Divine Heart is so passionate about Love for men, in particular for You, that, not being able to contain in it the flames of His ardent charity, it is necessary that He pour them out using You and manifest Himself to them to enrich them with the precious gifts that I am discovering to You, which contain the sanctifying and salutary graces necessary to separate them from the abyss of perdition. I have chosen you as an abyss of unworthiness and ignorance, that you may all be my work."
My Divine Heart is so passionate about Love for men
About two or three months after the first apparition, the second major revelation occurred. Margarita writes:
"The divine Heart appeared to me on a throne of flames, brighter than the sun, and transparent as crystal, with the adorable wound, surrounded by a crown of thorns and signifying the pangs produced by our sins, and a cross on top..." "He made me see," Marguerite continues, "that the ardent desire I had to be loved by men and to turn them away from the path of perdition..."
On what was probably the first Friday in June, 1674, the feast of Corpus Christi, Margaret had the third great revelation. Jesus explained to him the wonders of his pure love and how far his love for men had gone, from whom he received nothing but ingratitude.
It was here that he faced many challenges and trials in his order. But the Lord had promised him that his work would succeed in spite of all obstacles. It was then that she met Father Combiere, who was assigned by the Mother Superior to accompany her.
Under this new acceptance that the fourth and final revelation was given that can be considered as the most important. The Lord wanted to establish a liturgical feast in the Church in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This revelation took place in the course of the octave of Corpus Christi in the year 1675, that is, between June 13 and 20. "You cannot pay me any more tribute than by doing what I have asked you so many times already."
Then the Lord revealed his Heart to him and said to him: "Behold, the Heart that has loved men so much and that has spared nothing to the point of exhaustion and waste to bear witness to their love. And, in compensation, he only receives, from the majority of them, ingratitude through their irreverence and sacrilege, as well as through the coldness and contempt they have for me in this Sacrament of love..."
Behold the Heart that has loved men so much and that has spared nothing to the point of exhausting itself and wasting itself to witness to them its love
On the evening of October 17, 1690, Margaret having previously indicated this date as the day of her death, she commended her soul to her Lord, whom she had loved with all her heart. Die between 7 and 8PM. He was 43 years old and had been in religious profession for 18 years.
It was only three years after his death that Pope Innocent XIII began a movement that would open the doors to this devotion. He proclaimed a papal bull giving indulgences to all Visitantine monasteries, which resulted in the institution of the feast of the Sacred Heart in most convents. In 1765, Pope Clement XIII introduced the feast in Rome, and in 1856 Pope Pius IX extended the feast of the Sacred Heart to the entire Church. Finally, in 1920, Margaret was raised to the altars by Pope Benedict XV.
Although the first liturgical feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was celebrated by the Father, St. John Eudes in 1672, in France. Pope Pius IX extended it as a feast of the whole (universal) church in 1856 and elevated it to a solemnity. The feast of the Sacred Heart is celebrated on the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi, just as our Lord Jesus Christ had asked St. Margaret. That is, it is a movable solemnity.
Some resources to learn more:
Some Ways to Honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus:
Receive absolution for your sins and go to Mass.
Offer your Communion for the peace of the world.
Offer your daily problems and sorrows to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for the salvation of your family, the peace of the world, the persecuted Church.
Do an act of love, of charity for someone:
Visit a family member or neighbor who is alone.
Offer a smile to the one who is a victim of bullying.
Plan an act of charity with your family, friends, or alone and carry it out in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Enroll in a ministry in your parish or contribute financially to a charity.
Offer a Holy Rosary for your parish priest, vicar, nuns or for priests and nuns who serve in difficult situations in the world.
Pray an Our Father and a Hail Mary in honor of the Holy Father and his intentions.
Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus:
O Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, pour out your blessings abundantly upon your Church, upon the Supreme Pontiff and upon all the clergy; give perseverance to the just, convert sinners, enlighten unbelievers, bless our parents, friends and benefactors, help the dying, deliver souls from purgatory and extend over all hearts the sweet empire of your love. Amen.
Saint Margaret Alacoque, pray for us
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us
Glory be to the Father… Amen
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