**Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque** (1647–1690) was a French Visitation nun to whom Jesus Christ revealed His Sacred Heart in a series of apparitions between 1673 and 1675, establishing the modern devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. ## Life Marguerite Alacoque was born on July 22, 1647, in Lauthecour (also called Vérosvres), Burgundy, France, the fifth of seven children of Claude Alacoque, a royal notary, and Philiberte Lamyn. From early childhood, she showed intense love for the Blessed Sacrament and preferred silence and prayer to children's games. At age five, she made a private vow of perpetual chastity. After her father's death in 1655, Margaret was sent to be educated by the Poor Clares in Charolles, where she made her First Communion at age nine. A severe rheumatic illness confined her to bed for four years until, upon making a vow to the Blessed Virgin to consecrate herself to religious life, she was instantly healed. In gratitude, she added "Mary" to her baptismal name. On June 20, 1671, at age 24, she entered the Visitation Convent at Paray-le-Monial, having heard Christ say to her: "This is where I want you." She professed her vows on November 6, 1672. ## The Sacred Heart Apparitions Between December 27, 1673, and June 1675, Margaret Mary received the principal revelations of the Sacred Heart: **First Great Apparition (December 27, 1673):** On the Feast of St. John the Evangelist, Jesus appeared to her, invited her to rest upon His breast as John had done, and revealed the marvels of His love. **Second Great Apparition (1674):** Jesus appeared with His five wounds shining like suns, revealing His Heart burning like a furnace. He requested Holy Communion on the First Friday of each month and the practice of the Holy Hour—praying between 11 p.m. and midnight on Thursdays to share in His agony in Gethsemane. **Third Great Apparition (June 1675):** During the octave of Corpus Christi, Jesus revealed His Heart surrounded by flames, crowned with thorns, and surmounted by a cross. He spoke the famous words: "Behold this Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself, to prove to them its love. And in return, I receive from the greater part only ingratitude." He requested that the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi be established as a feast in honor of His Sacred Heart. ## Recognition and Spread of the Devotion Initially, Margaret Mary faced skepticism and even hostility from her religious community. Her turning point came when St. Claude de la Colombière, the Jesuit superior at Paray-le-Monial, became her confessor and spiritual director. He recognized the authenticity of her visions and became the first apostle of the Sacred Heart devotion. In 1683, Mother Melin was elected Superior and appointed Margaret Mary her assistant. She later became Novice Mistress, and in 1686, the monastery observed the Feast of the Sacred Heart privately for the first time. Two years later, a chapel was built at Paray-le-Monial to honor the Sacred Heart. ## Death and Canonization Margaret Mary died on October 17, 1690, at age 43. When her tomb was opened in July 1830, her brain was found to be miraculously preserved 140 years after her death. Her incorrupt body now rests in a silver shrine above the side altar in the Chapel of the Apparitions at the Visitation Monastery in Paray-le-Monial. She was beatified by Pope Pius IX on September 18, 1864, and canonized by Pope Benedict XV on May 13, 1920. **Feast Day:** October 16