St. Margaret Mary, Disciple of the Sacred Heart

                                             St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Born July 22, 1647, at L'Hautecourt, Burgundy
 Died at Paray-le- Monial, 1690
 Canonized 1920

"Love triumphs, love enjoys, the love of the Sacred Heart rejoices!" Saint Margaret Mary is nearly the antithesis of yesterday's saint, Teresa of Ávila. As joyful as Teresa was; Margaret Mary was dour and humorless. Teresa was gregarious; Margaret Mary self- contained. Both were sickly, but dealt with it differently. Both were visionaries. This proves once again that no personality precludes sanctity.

Margaret Mary was the daughter of the respected notary Claude Alacoque and Philiberte Lamyn. Her father died when she was around eight, leaving her family in a precarious financial situation, so that for several years they were at the mercy of some domineering and rapacious relatives.

She was sent to school with the Poor Clares at Charolles. She fell ill with a painful rheumatic condition at 12 and was bedridden until she was 15. The family home had been taken over by her sister, and her mother and she were treated with undeserved severity and almost like servants. Her sister often refused her permission to attend church. "At that time," she wrote later, "all my desire was to seek happiness and comfort in the Blessed Sacrament.

At 20, she was pressed to marry but after a long struggle with herself decided to fulfill the vow she had made earlier to the Virgin and entered the Order of the Visitation. She was confirmed at 22 and took the name Mary. Her brother furnished her dowry and she joined the convent at Paray-le-Monial. During her retreat before her profession, which she made on November 6, 1672, she had a vision of Jesus in which he said, "Behold the wound in my side, wherein you are to make your abode, now and forever."
She worked in the infirmary, and the slow-moving, awkward Margaret Mary suffered much under the active and efficient infirmarian, Sister Catherine Marest.

On December 27, 1673, the feast of Saint John the Evangelist, as she knelt at the grill before the exposed Blessed Sacrament, she experienced a vision in which the Lord told her to take the place that Saint John had occupied at the Last Supper, and that she would act as His instrument. Jesus revealed His Sacred Heart as a symbol of His love for mankind, saying:

"My divine Heart is so inflamed with love for mankind . . . that it can no longer contain within itself the flames of its burning charity and must spread them abroad by your means."

Then it was as if He took her heart and placed it next to his own, and then returned it burning with divine love into her breast.

She had three more visions over the next year and a half in which he instructed her in a devotion that was to become known as the Nine Fridays and the Holy Hour, and in the final revelation, the Lord asked that a feast of reparation be instituted for the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi.

The Wisdom of God also told her, "Do nothing without the approval of those who guide you, so that, having the authority of obedience, you may not be misled by Satan, who has no power over those who are obedient."

She told her superior, Mother de Saumaise, about the visions, was treated contemptuously and was forbidden to carry out any of the religious devotions that had been requested of her in her visions. She became ill from the strain, and the superior, searching for a divine sign of what to do, vowed to believe the visions if Margaret Mary was cured. Margaret Mary prayed and recovered, and her superior kept her promise.

A group within the convent remained skeptical of her experiences, especially when, in 1677, she told them that Jesus had twice asked her to be a willing victim to expiate their shortcomings. The superior ordered Margaret Mary to present her experiences to theologians. They were judged to be delusions, and it was recommended that Margaret Mary eat more.

Blessed Claude La Colombière, a holy and experienced Jesuit, arrived as confessor to the nuns, and in him Margaret Mary recognized the understanding guide that had been promised to her in the visions. He became convinced that her experiences were genuine and adopted the teaching of the Sacred Heart the visions had communicated to her. He departed not long after for England.

During the next years, Margaret Mary experienced periods of both despair and vanity, and she was ill a great deal. In 1681 Claude returned; in 1682 he died. In 1684 Mother Melin became superior and elected Margaret Mary her assistant, silencing any further opposition.

Her revelations were made known to the community when they were read aloud in the refectory in the course of a book written by Blessed Claude. Margaret Mary became novice mistress and was very successful.

Her revelations in the open now, she encouraged devotion to the Sacred Heart, especially among her novices, who observed the feast in 1685. The family of an expelled novice accused her of being unorthodox, and bad feelings were revived, but this passed and the entire house celebrated the feast that year.

A chapel was built in 1687 at Paray in honor of the Sacred Heart, and devotion began to spread in the other convents of the Visitidines, as well as throughout France.

Margaret Mary became ill while serving a second term as assistant to the superior and died during the fourth anointing step of the last rites. As she received the Last Sacrament, she said, "I need nothing but God, and to lose myself in the heart of Jesus."

She, Saint John Eudes, and Blessed Claude are called "saints of the Sacred Heart."

Margaret Mary's patience and trust during her trials within the convent contributed to her canonization in 1920. The devotion was officially recognized and approved by Pope Clement XIII in 1765, 75 years after her death. Her visions and teachings have had considerable influence on the devotional life of Catholics, especially since the inauguration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the Roman calendar in 1856 (Attwater, Delaney, Kerns, White).

Depicted as a nun in the Visitation habit holding a flaming heart; or kneeling before Jesus, who exposed his heart to her (White).

In art, Saint Margaret Mary is portrayed as a nun to whom Christ offers His Sacred Heart (Roeder).

Venerable Mary de Sales Chappuis, VHM, co-foundress of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, was born in Soyhieres, Switzerland in 1793.  At the age of twelve he had been sent to the Visitation Monastery in Fribourg as a boarding student, and entered that community at the age of twenty-two.  When she became superior at the Monastery at Troyes, it soon became evident that she not only had great gifts as an administrator, but also great spiritual gifts.  For the rest of her life she was alternately either Superior or Mistress of Novices at various Visitation Monasteries.  In 1844, when she returned to Troyes from Paris, she again became Superior of this monastery.  The monastery now had a young diocesan priest as its chaplain by the name of Fr. Louis Brisson.
The relationship between Mother Chappuis and Father Brisson could not have been more different than between Saints Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal.  In this relationship the “Good Mother” was clearly the innovator and leader.  Immediately upon her return from Paris, Chappuis began hinting to Fr. Brisson of some great work that he would do for Christ.  “What you are doing is of course very good, but what you are going to do will have much greater results.”  One day she finally told him directly that he was to found a society of priests under the patronage of St. Francis de Sales which will work for the same aims Francis held.  Fr. Brisson was reluctant but gave in to her wishes – and indeed the will of God.

To the end Mother Chappuis advised, strengthened and directed Fr. Brisson in his foundation of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales.  She died on October 7, 1785.

Francis de Sales

Bishop and Doctor of the Church

1567-1622

The tumultuous years in France after the Protestant Reformation formed the background for Francis de Sales. He was born on August 12, 1567, into a family of nobility of what was then the Kingdom of Savoy, which bordered France, Italy and Switzerland. He received his schooling under the Jesuits at the College of Clermont in Paris and the University of Padua where he earned a Doctorate in both Civil and Church Law.
To the great disappointment of his father, Francis gave up a most promising civil career in favor of the priesthood. After his ordaination, he was sent as a young missionary to the Chablais district of Savoy for four years. There he became famous for his pamphets in defense of the faith. These writings are now collected into a book known as The Catholic Controversy. By the end of his missionary apostolate, Francis had persuaded about 72,000 Calvinists to return to the Catholic Church.
Francis was ordained a a bishop and named the Bishop of Geneva in 1602, but resided in Annecy (now a part of modern day France) since Geneva was under Calvinist control and therefore closed to him. He was never permitted to take his seat in the cathedral in Geneva. His diocese became famous throughout Europe for its efficient organization, zealous clergy and well-instructed laity – a monumental achievement in Francis’ time. Francis’ fame as a spiritual director and writer grew. He was persuaded by others to collect, organize and expand on his many letters addressing spiritual subjects, and to publish them in 1609 under the title, The Introduction to the Devout Life. This became his most famous work and remains a spiritual classic found in bookstores throughout the world today.
Francis’ special project was the writing of A Treatise of the Love of God, over which he prayed and labored many years. It is also still published today. His desire to write a companion to the Treatise, On the Love of Neighbor, was not realized. Francis de Sales died on December 28, 1622, at the age of fifty-five. In addition to the works above, his published letters, sermons and conferences comprise approximately thirty volumes. The enduring value and popularity of his writings led the Church to bestow on him the title, Patron of Catholic Writers. Francis is also the patron of the Deaf community for his efforts in developing sign language, the Oblate Sisters, Brothers and Fathers of St. Francis de Sales, the Diocese of Toledo, Ohio, and of the Sisters of the Holy Visitation of Mary, which he co-founded.
Francis collaborated with St. Jane Frances de Chantal in founding the religious order of the Sisters of the Visitation of Holy Mary (VHM), known for the simplicity of its rule and traditions and for its special openness to widows. It was through the persistence of one of these sisters some two hundred fifty years later, Mother Marie-Therese Chappuis, VHM, that Fr. Louis Brisson, a priest of Troyes in France, founded the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales – a community of priests and brothers dedicated to living and spreading the spirit and teachings of Francis. Fr. Brisson also founded a community of sisters with the same name.
The spirit and reputation of Francis and the influence of his writings spread rapidly after his death. The Church formally declared him to be a saint in 1665 and in 1867 gave him the rare title of Doctor of the Church – a title conferred on fewer than thirty-five other saints in the history of the Church, all of whom are renowned for their writings. Francis’ de Sales memorial is observed by the Church on January 24.

Books by Francis de Sales:
Litany of Praise Adapted from Francis’ Writings
Introduction to the Devout Life On-line Text
Treatise on the Love of God On-Line Text

Vistation nun's Profession Cross

Profession Cross

The Profession Cross is given at a Visitandinee’s first profession of vows.

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The Profession Cross is not a crucifix.  Each of the nun is to be the “body” so that he may, “fill up those things which are wanting in the Passion of Christ,” as St. Paul says.  Nothing is wanting in the Passion of Christ but our cooperation, our generous oblation of self.  The cross is modeled after the pectoral cross of St. Francis de Sales.   The Visitation sisters wear this cross.  It is made of sterling silver and is precious both in its essence and its quality of heritage.

Francis de Sales had special veneration for St. Sebastian, patron of the chapel at the chapel of Sales. He generally preached there on January 20. Once, referring to the arrows which are the insignia of St. Sebastian, he said, “the bishop’s cross must be like the insignia of this saint, who is represented with piercing arrows all over his body, to announce to all that he is a servant of Jesus Christ.” Animated by this sentiment, instead of the cape and scapular, he prescribed for his Daughters of the Visitation that they should bear on their breasts a silver cross on which were the names of Jesus and Mary- “so that,” as he wrote to Mother Chantal, “everybody will know that our daughters belong to Jesus Christ crucified” (Année Sainte des religieuses de la Visitation Sainte Marie Vol 1 pp. 520).

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Front Side

IHS – The monogram of the name of Jesus in Greek reminds us that he is our savior and that we are called to be “other Christs,” to reproduce his life on earth and to manifest God’s love for all; we do this through suffering and dying to ourselves.

The Double Cross Engraved Above the “H” is not a Latin cross, but rather an Eastern one.  Like the Greek letters, this deliberate choice of form manifests that Church unity, which was so desired by St. Francis de Sales and symbolized in the concept of the union of Christ with his Church, our life of union with God through the Directory.  The empty cross in the Eastern Rite is a symbol of Christ’s victory over sin and death; thus, it also tells us that it is the Risen Christ whom we follow.

The Drops of Blood symbolize the love of charity which animates our lives.  They recall the tongues of fire which descended upon the Church at Pentecost.  The whole Trinity is represented on the front side of the cross:  the Holy Spirit’s great work of love manifested at Pentecost; the Son’s work of Redemption symbolized by the cross, and the Father’s work of creation and his dominance in the Hebrew Scriptures symbolized by the mountain and olive branch.

The Three Nails Dripping with Blood symbolize the three vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience which bind us to Christ just as the nails bound him to the cross.  The drops of blood tell us that our religious life is one of continual mortification, sacrifice and acquiescence to the will of God, and also that we must be ready to die for Christ, being faithful, “even to the shedding of our blood.”  Some profession crosses are engraved instead with arrows.  This may harken to the devotion to St. Sebastian that Francis de Sales had.

The Mountain at the Bottom of the Cross represents Mount Sinai, the mountain of the Covenant of the Hebrew Scriptures.  Being at the base of the cross, it represents two things:  first, with creation began all of salvation history which culminates in Christ’s resurrection and which is perpetuated and applied to all in the Church through the work of the Spirit; and second, our vows, our covenant with God and the basis of our religious life.  The mountain being in three parts graphically recalls the three vows, Chastity, Poverty, and Obedience.

The Olive Branch is a symbol of peace and of God’s mercy in the Hebrew Scriptures.  It is above the mountain to tell us that from fidelity to our vows we draw peace.

Reverse Side

The Letters “M” and “A”
There are two explanations for the meaning of “M – A”:

1. The letters “MRA” were engraved on St. Francis’ pectoral cross (an abbreviation for Maria). On the Oblate profession cross (and the Visitation cross as well), the “R” is removed and the Heart is substituted in its place. Thus the “M – A” is an abbreviation of the name of Mary, Mother of God.
2. The letters M – A are an abbreviation for Mons Amoris, the mount of love, which is on Calvary. On this Mons Amoris, Jesus’ Heart was opened by the lance and His love was poured out upon the world, thus the heart is flanked by the letters M and A.

The Three Flames symbolize the theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity that bind us directly to God.

The Mountain at the Bottom of the Cross appears again with added Marian emphasis that Mary, as the “New Eve,” responds with a fidelity that brought us peace in the person of her Son.

The Symbols for Mary on the hidden side of the cross remind us that by imitation of and recourse to her, we are to manifest the life of her Son in our lives and so to become Theotokos, a God-bearer by how we live and minister.

The Heart Surmounted by Two Crosses may represent many things.  One source denies that it is the heart of Mary or Jesus, but rather is one that has loved and has suffered.

Speaking to St. Jane de Chantal, St. Francis de Sales says, “I thought, my dear Mother, if you agree, that we should take for our arms a single heart pierced with two arrows and encircled by a crown of thorns; this poor heart serving as an enclosure for a cross which will surmount it and will be engraved with the holy names of Jesus and Mary.”

According to this opinion the heart, which is that of Mary, is surmounted with two crosses, instead of the arrows which are used in the Visitation Sisters’ coat of arms.

Inner Contents of the Profession Cross

Within the cross are pieces of linen which touch the relics of:

• The Holy Roman Martyrs (red linen)
• Saint Francis de Sales (white linen)
• St. Jane Frances de Chantal (pink linen)
• St. Margaret Mary (blue linen)
• Venerable Marie Therese Chappuis (green linen)

The cross also a yellow piece of linen which has touched Agnus Dei wax.

Short Biography and Novena Prayer to St. Jane de Chantal

Novena and Prayers to St. Jane Frances de Chantal

O Glorious Saint, Blessed Jane Frances, who by thy fervent prayer, attention to the divine Presence, and purity of intention in thy actions, didst attain on earth an intimate union withGod, be now our advocate , our mother, our guide in the path of virtue and perfection.  Plead our cause near Jesus, Mary and Joseph, to whom thou wast so tenderly devoted, and whose holy virtues thou didst so closely imitate.  Obtain for us, O amiable and compassionate saint the virtues thou seest most necessary for us; an ardent love of Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament, a tender and filial confidence in His blessed Mother, and like thee, a constant remembrance of His sacred passion and death.  Obtain also, we pray thee, that our particular intention in this novena may be fulfilled.
V.     St. Jane Frances, pray for us.
R.     That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.
Almighty and merciful God, who didst grant blessed Saint Jane Frances, so inflamed with the love of Thee, a wonderful degree of fortitude through all the paths of life, and wast pleased through her to adorn Thy Church with a new Religious order; grant, by her merits and prayers, that we, who sensible of our weakness confide in Thy strength, may overcome all adversities with the help of Thy heavenly grace, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Prayer to implore fidelity to Divine Grace

O great Saint Jane Frances! who, to follow the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, when thou wert called to the religious state, didst despise all the ties of nature and of blood; obtain for us also the grace to correspond faithfully with all divine impulses, and to sacrifice to God whatever is most dear and precious to us.  Amen.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY

Jane Frances de Chantal was born on January 28, 1572 in Dijon, France. At the age of 20, Jane married the Baron Christophe de Chantal, who had inherited not only a feuded estate at Bourbilly, but a mountain of debts as well. It was through Jane’s personal stewardship of the estate that the debt was paid and financial stability restored.

Jane and Christophe were completely devoted to each other and their four children, and his untimely death as a result of a hunting accident in 1601 left Jane as a despondent widow at the age of 28. Jane opted to take a vow of chastity at this time, and in her prayers she beseeched God to send her a spiritual guide to advise her. In visions, God showed her the spiritual advisor He had chosen for her – whom she would later meet and befriend – St. Francis de Sales.

To secure her children’s inheritance, it became necessary for Jane to move her children and herself to the home of her father-in-law at Monthelon. Here she lived a rather subservient and difficult life for seven years, but her time at Monthelon enabled her to carve out a prosperous future for her children as well as provide for their education.

It was on a trip to visit her father at Dijon in 1604 that Jane first encountered the spiritual advisor chosen for her by God. St. Francis de Sales was preaching at Sainte Chapelle, and Jane immediately placed herself under his direction. With the help of St. Francis, Jane journeyed to Annecy, where she founded the Congregation of the Visitation in 1610. This Order welcomed women who had been rejected by other religious communities for reasons of poor health or old age. She was criticized for accepting into her Order an elderly woman of 83!

For the remainder of her days, Jane Frances de Chantal lived a life of simple virtue behind the cloistered walls of her convent. Renowned for her sanctity, Jane provided spiritual direction for many people who sought her advice, including ambassadors, royalty and archbishops. When she ventured out of her convent, she was perplexed to receive ovations from a grateful coterie of admirers.

Jane passed away at the age of 69 on December 13, 1641 at the Visitation Convent at Moulins. Beatified in 1751 and canonized in 1767, St. Jane Frances de Chantal’s feast day is celebrated on August 12th, but had previously been commemorated at different times on August 21st and December 12th. She is the patron saint of widows and those suffering from difficulties with their in-laws.

Let Your God Love You

Be silent.  Be still.  Alone. 
Empty before your God.                                   
Say nothing.  Ask nothing.
Be silent.  Be still.

Let your God look upon you.
That is all.  God knows and understands.
God loves you with an enormous love,
wanting only to look upon you with Love.
Quiet.  Still.  Be.

Let your God love you.

St. Jane de Chantal's Advice on Prayer

"Just as birds would never be able to mount the air on a single wing, so we must not allow ourselves to think that by means of mortification alone, without the aid of prayer, a soul will ever take flight in order to raise itself to God. 

Penances without prayer are useless pains; prayer without penance is food without salt which easily goes bad. Hence it is absolutely necessary to fit our souls with those two wings, mortification and prayer, in order that we may make our flight to the heavenly court in which we may find contentment of soul in conversation with our God.

The great method for mental prayer is simply this: that there is none when the Holy Spirit has taken charge of the person who is meditating, for then He does with the soul as it pleases Him, and all rules and methods vanish away. 
In the hands of God the soul must become like clay in the hands of a potter, who from it can form any sort of dish; or, if you like, the soul must become like soft wax receptive to the impression of a seal, or like a blank sheet upon which the Holy Spirit writes His divine will. 
If, when entering upon prayer, we could make ourselves a mere capacity for receiving the spirit of God, this would suffice for all method. Prayer must be carried on by grace, and not be deliberate art. 
Enter into your prayer by faith, remain in it in hope, and do not abandon it except by virtue of that charity which asks only to work and to endure.

The fundamental state of mind for mental prayer is that purity of intention by which we are resolved that everything we do shall be for the glory of God alone. The second condition is a complete self-resignation which may make us indifferent to anything that can happen to us. The third is a complete giving up of our own opinions so that we labor only at that which God has given us for our labor.

When we begin mental prayer we must call home all the faculties of our soul and must tell ourselves: "So now you are going to appear before God and to deal with Him; everything else has got to be dropped."

Bring to your prayer the deepest peace of heart you can. In order to put yourself in the presence of God you will picture Him as filling the entire universe, and you will see Him in every place, like the air which we know penetrates everywhere. Or we may withdraw into ourselves, into that inner chamber of our hearts, and there, with a calm and steady eye, consider how the divine essence lives throughout our soul and fills our inner self. Finally. we must humble ourselves and acknowledge that we are unworthy to speak to God, saying like Abraham: "I will speak to my Lord, I who am but dust and ashes."

The most suitable state of mind for mental prayer is that which will lead us into it with a heart completely detached. so that the soul, in all its interior powers and resources, may appear naked before God and may bow down before His will, sometimes doing this by means of a deliberate act and fresh intention.

If prayer is to be good it must be carried out with attention and reverence. What we do in prayer must be determined according to our attraction, whether it be by meditation or by a simple gazing upon God, according as He may lead us.
Every meditation must be ended by three acts which we should never fail to make. The first is thanksgiving; the second, the offering of our prayer; the third, an act of petition, by which we implore God's aid in order to carry out the good resolutions which we have made.

The very essence of mental prayer, St. Francis de Sales used to say, consists in talking to ourselves and with God, praising and blessing Him because of what He is, speaking to Him as would a child to his Father, a disciple to his master, a subject to his king, a poor beggar to a rich man, a wife to her husband; in short, as we might to a faithful friend.

The only thing which is absolutely indispensable to prayer is our heart and, though if this part of us be not committed all the rest is only a hollow mockery, nevertheless with heart alone given to prayer, we never lack for anything."

Visitation of Tyringham videos

Part One


Part Two

The Visitation Order

The Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary was founded on June 6, 1610 in Annecy, France (then Savoy). 

The founders,  Saint Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal founded the order

 
“to give to God daughters of prayer, and souls so interior that they may be found worthy to serve His infinite Majesty and to adore Him in spirit and in truth.” (St. Francis de Sales).

Visitation Sisters are cloistered, contemplative religious who are dedicated to a life of prayer and of living in community.

 
The Liturgy of the Hours is sung five times each day and two hours of mental prayer and spiritual reading are also prescribed.

The sisters gather for recreation daily.

The each sister is assigned various duties inside and outside the monastery, as in other orders.  From cooking, cleaning, gardening, etc.