Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

"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. Thouse who love thus, love themselves too much to love God with all their heart." -Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

After four hard long years of rheumatic fever, Margaret Alacoque (1647-1690) was recovering after she and her mother prayed that Margaret would be finally healed of her illness, and in return, Margaret would be one of Our Lady's daughters and enter one of the convents. Unfortunately, when Margaret turned 19, her mother changed her mind about the vow they had made to Our Lady, and grew upset about her daughter's decision about entering a convent. Then finally, on June 20, 1671, Margaret became a postulant of the Visitation nuns. Several weeks later, when Margaret on her way to pull some weeds out in the convent garden, she suddenly had a vision of Our Lord. She was found kneeling on the ground by the beans and lettuce, lost in deep prayer. There also a time when she forgot to fetch hot milk for another sister, due to more of her prayers, and she seemed to see Our Lord carrying the cross and on His way to Calvary.

Margaret also made several sacrifices. Her family for some reason, could not stand eating cheese. Margaret did her best to eat more of it (she even asked for permission to eat more cheese) , since she disliked it so much, and offered it as a sacrifice.

In 1675, she recived more visions from God and He later gave her the 12 promises for those who practiced great devotion to His Sacred Heart.

1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
2. I will establish peace in their families.
3. I will console them in all their troubles.
4. They shall find in My Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour of their death.
5. I will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in My Heart the source of an infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.
9. I will bless the homes where an image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored.
10. I will give to priests the power of touching the most hardened hearts.
11. Those who propagate this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be effaced.
12. 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.

Sorry, I had to end that because I have to make more room for another one of my favorites..........;-)

A Surprising Relic

God has a sense of humor, as shown by a little-known miracle involving St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, the saint of the Sacred Heart. This holy nun spent so much time mediatating about God that she could be quite absent minded. Thus, the nuns in her community considered her "lacking in brains." Imagine their surprise when the saint's body was examined some years after her death. Although the rest of the saint's body had decayed normally, God had kept her brain in perfect condition! The convent has kept the incorrupt brain as a precious relic from that day to this.

Haha! So much for "lacking in brains!":-)