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In the 17th century, this ambience of faith and austerity was inhabited by the nuns of the order of the Visitation, founded by St. Francis de Sales and St. Jeanne de Chantal. Following the express wish of their Father and Founder, these nuns were great devotees of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, particularly Sister Margaret Mary Alacoque.
St. Marguerite Marie Alacoque (Montmartre Canadien, Québec)
This was due in great part to the richness of her virtues, the profound fervour of a prayer life that united her continually more to the Divine Master, as well as the fact that she was favoured by several visions in which Our Lord revealed to her, little by little, the infinite treasures of his love for mankind.
Among these apparitions, four of them stand out because of the importance of the words and promises they contained. The first of them occurred on December 27, 1673, the feast of St. John the Evangelist. The date seems to have been carefully chosen by Providence, in order to give a special importance to this vision.
Sister Margaret Mary was in the chapel of the convent, kneeling close to the grille in profound adoration of the Blessed Sacrament exposed over the main altar. Suddenly, she felt herself assumed by this divine presence, in such a strong way that she forgot everything else, including the time and place where she was, seeing only the Spirit that had enveloped and captivated her soul. And while she was thus in a state of ecstasy, she heard Our Lord, who invited her to take the place at his side that St. John had occupied during the Last Supper.
“My Sovereign Master made me repose for a long time upon His Divine Breast, where he revealed to me the marvels of His love and the inexplicable secrets of His Sacred Heart, which He had up to this time kept concealed from me. He opened to me for the first time His Divine Heart in a manner so real and sensible, that He left no doubt of the reality of this grace…. Jesus said to me, `My Divine Heart is so full of love for men, and for you in particular, that being unable to contain within Itself the flames of Its burning charity, It must spread them abroad by your means, and manifest Itself to them to enrich them with the treasures It contains. I reveal to you the price of these treasures; they contain graces of sanctification and salvation necessary to draw them from the abyss of perdition. I have chosen you, in spite of your unworthiness and ignorance, for the accomplishment of this great design, in order that it may better appear that all is done by Me.”
Under the influx of this vision, Sister Margaret Mary penetrated more deeply than ever into the mysteries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, manifested to her in previous apparitions, which could be called preparatory for the great revelations that now began. Surpassing the others in importance, the apparition of December 27, 1673, took place for the benefit of the Church and all of humanity. On this day, Our Lord appeared to the holy seer, not so much to console and instruct her, as to give her the mission of presenting to the world the treasures of mercy and graces accumulated in his Sacred Heart.
The Master spoke, and so clearly, that the disciple could have no doubt about the authenticity of the order given her. And Saint Margaret Mary let no obstacle or sacrifice prevent her from obeying the divine intimation.
Nevertheless, in this most important and enlightening meeting, Our Lord has still not said everything to his beloved servant. “The great gift He had given me – she observed — was nothing other than the basis for all those He was to grant me.”
(From the book : Sacred Heart of Jesus, Treasury of goodness and love)
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