July 2nd Revelation of the Sacred Heart to Saint Margaret Mary

We share the July 2nd (then the Feast of the Visitation) revelation of the Sacred Heart to Saint Margaret Mary known to Visitandines and Jesuits but perhaps not to you. In this revelation, the mission to make the Sacred Heart known and loved was entrusted to the Visitation Order and to the Jesuits. The mural (an extract) above depicts the revelation and is located in the Shrine of Saint Claude de la Colombiere in Paray-le-monial, France near the Visitation Monastery.

From a letter to Mother de Saumaise, at Dijon, July 1688

. . . I must tell you that I had the good fortune of spending all day on the feast of the Visitation [July2] before the Blessed Sacrament. My Sovereign deigned to favor His wretched slave with several special graces form His loving Heart. He drew me into Himself and made me experience things I cannot express. He showed me a very high place, spacious and wonderfully beautiful, in the midst of which was set up a throne of flames and within it the adorable Heart of Jesus with Its wound. From this shot forth flames so luminous and glowing that the whole place was lighted up and warmed by them. The Blessed Virgin was on one side and Saint Francis de Sales and the saintly Father de la Colombiere on the other. The Daughters of the Visitation were there with their guardian angels beside them, each holding a heart in his hand. The Blessed Virgin invited us with these words: “Come, my well-beloved daughters, draw near, for I want to make you the trusted guardians of this precious treasure which the divine Sun of Justice formed within the virginal soil of my heart, where It lay hidden nine months. After that It was manifested to men. But they did not recognize Its value and contemned it because they saw It mixed and covered with the clay of their humanity. Onto It the eternal Father had cast all the filth and corruption of our sins. These He caused to be purified away for thirty-three years by the burning flames of Its charity. But seeing that men, far from enriching themselves and making use of so precious a treasure for the purpose for which It was given them but rather trying to set It at naught and exterminate It, if possible, from the face of the earth, the eternal Father, by an excess of mercy, made use of their malice only to render yet more useful this precious gold. By the blows they gave It in His Passion they have made of It priceless money, stamped with the image of the divinity, so that with It they might pay all their debts and carry on the great business of their salvation.”

This Queen of goodness continued to speak. She said to them, pointing to this Heart: “This is the precious treasure especially reserved to you because of the tender love my Son has for your Institute. He loves it and considers it His dear Benjamin, and for that reason wants you to have a greater share in this inheritance than all others. They must not only enrich themselves with this treasure but do all they can to put this precious money into circulation. They must distribute it lavishly, trying to enrich the whole world with it without fear of depleting it. For the more of it they take the more of it there will be left to take.”

Then turning to the good Father de la Colombiere, this Mother of goodness said: “As for you, faithful servant of My divine Son, you have a great share in this precious treasure. For if it is given the Daughters of the Visitation to know and distribute it to others, it is reserved to the Fathers of your Society to show and make known its utility and value so that people may profit from It by receiving It with the respect and gratitude due so great a benefit. In proportion as they give Him this pleasure, this Divine Heart, source of blessings and graces, will shower them so abundantly on the works of their ministry that they will produce fruits far beyond their labors and expectations. And this, too, for their own personal salvation and perfection.”

Our holy founder [St Francis de Sales], speaking to his daughters, said to them: “Esteemed daughters, come and draw from the source of all blessings the waters of salvation. From it a little rivulet, your constitutions, has already flowed forth into your souls. In this divine Heart you will find an easy way of acquitting yourselves perfectly of what is enjoined you in the first article of your Directory. This contains in substance the whole perfection of your Institute, and reads: ‘Let their whole life and endeavor tend to unite them with God.’ For that end let this Sacred Heart be the life that animates us and His love our continual exercise. This alone can unite us with God, help holy Church by prayer and good example, and further the salvation of our neighbor. With this in view, let us pray in the Heart and through the Heart of Jesus, Which wishes henceforth to make Itself the Mediator between God and man. Our good example shall consist in living in conformity with the holy maxims and virtues of this divine Heart and we shall further the salvation of our neighbor by spreading among them this holy devotion. Let us try to diffuse the good odor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus into the hearts of the faithful, so that we may become the joy and crown of this adorable Heart.”

Thereupon all the guardian angels drew near to present Him with what they held in their hands. As soon as these hearts touched the sacred wound they became beautiful and shone like stars. Some of them did not shine as brightly as others. The names of several remained written in letters of gold in the Sacred Heart, into Which some of those I speak of eagerly disappeared and were buried with mutual pleasure. These words were spoken: “In this abyss of love is your dwelling-place and repose forever.” These were the hearts of those who labored to make Him known and loved. . . .
(from The Letters of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, Tan Books and Publishers. Pages 125-127)