St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (feast day Oct. 16) was born in the Diocese of Autun (France) on July 22, 1647, the fifth of seven children. Even as a child she had a deep love for the Lord and always wanted to please him. She was also deeply devoted to Our Lady. While growing up, St. Margaret Mary only had two years of formal learning from the Urbanist Nuns, yet her contributions to the Church have been significant.
At the age of 9, she made her First Holy Communion. After this she became extremely ill and was even unable to walk for about four years. St. Margaret Mary was cured, and in 1671. St. Margaret Mary experienced apparitions from Christ who revealed his most Sacred Heart to her and his deep love for mankind. All the apparitions took place while St. Margaret Mary was praying before the Blessed Sacrament. St. Margaret Mary knew Christ had selected her and, with the help of St. Claude de la Colombiere, SJ, was instrumental in instituting the great feast of the Sacred Heart and spreading the devotion to the Sacred Heart throughout the world. This saint shared the messages of Christ in a way that touched even the hardest of sinners and provided so many with hope that miracles can happen when hearts unite with Christ. This wonderful saint died on Oct. 17, 1690, at the age of 42 and was canonized on May 13, 1920, by Pope Benedict XV.
1016 St Mary Alqoque A Prayer to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
Saint Margaret Mary, thou who wast made a partaker of the divine treasures of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, obtain for us, we beseech thee, from this adorable Heart, the graces we need so sorely. We ask these favors of thee with unbounded confidence. May the divine Heart of Jesus be pleased to bestow them upon us through thy intercession, so that once again He may be loved and glorified through thee.
Amen.
V. Pray for us, O blessed Margaret;
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray
O Lord Jesus Christ, who didst wondrously open the unsearchable riches of Thy Heart to blessed Margaret Mary, the virgin: grant unto us, by her merits and our imitation of her, that we may love Thee in all things and above all things, and may be worthy to have our everlasting dwelling in the same Sacred Heart: who livest and reignest, world without end.
Amen.
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Novena
(Repeat the following Novena prayers every day for 9 consecutive days.)
O St Margaret Mary, through you, Jesus pours out His abundant graces to all mankind. Help us to put aside personal interests and abandon
ourselves entirely and lovingly to His Adorable Heart. May our work, like yours, merit His special care and favour, through Jesus’ Holy Name.
St Margaret Mary, we implore you, to whom the Sacred Heart of Jesus manifested His Divine treasures, to obtain the graces we seek from His Adorable Heart. With unlimited confidence, we ask:
(Share your request…)
O Glorious St Margaret Mary, through your intercession, may the Divine Heart of Jesus continue to be glorified and loved.
Say: Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…
St Margaret Mary Alacoque, Pray for Us.
Blessed apostle, ardent adorer,
and most fervent disciple of the Sacred Heart of Jesus!
listen to my prayer.
An appeal from you to that merciful Heart you loved so well,
must surely be irresistible.
Obtain for me this one request,
that I may be ever united to the Adorable Heart of Jesus
in all that It has ever done
or will do for the glory of God
and the salvation of man.
Ask also for me, O ardent lover of Jesus,
the grant of the humble and earnest petition
I now put up to Heaven through your hands.
(Mention your need here again…)
Pray for us, O Blessed Margaret Mary.
That we may ardently love the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
and possess our souls in patience.
Let us pray
We thank You, O Lord Jesus,
for having established in these our days,
a most special and tender devotion towards Your loving Heart,
by means of Your humble servant, Blessed Margaret Mary,
and may we so feel the benefit of her favor in Your sight,
as to receive through her powerful prayers whatever we ask for,
or do now stand most in need of,
to Your honor and glory,
who with the Father, and the Holy Ghost,
lives and reign Forever and ever.
Amen.
Sacred Hearts of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless and protect the Church.
Amen.
Prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart by Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, to Thee I consecrate and offer up my person and my life, my actions, trials, and sufferings, that my entire being may henceforth only be employed in loving, honoring and glorifying Thee. This is my irrevocable will, to belong entirely to Thee, and to do all for Thy love, renouncing with my whole heart all that can displease Thee.
I take Thee, O Sacred Heart, for the sole object of my love, the protection of my life, the pledge of my salvation, the remedy of my frailty and inconstancy, the reparation for all the defects of my life, and my secure refuge at the hour of my death. Be Thou, O Most Merciful Heart, my justification before God Thy Father, and screen me from His anger which I have so justly merited. I fear all from my own weakness and malice, but placing my entire confidence in Thee, O Heart of Love, I hope all from Thine infinite Goodness. Annihilate in me all that can displease or resist Thee. Imprint Thy pure love so deeply in my heart that I may never forget Thee or be separated from Thee.
I beseech Thee, through Thine infinite Goodness, grant that my name be engraved upon Thy Heart, for in this I place all my happiness and all my glory, to live and to die as one of Thy devoted servants.
Amen.
Prayer to God the Father by Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque
Eternal Father, I offer unto Thee the infinite satisfaction which Jesus rendered to Thy justice on behalf of sinners upon the tree of the Cross; and I pray that Thou wouldst make the merits of His Precious Blood available to all guilty souls to whom sin has brought death; may they rise again to the life of grace and glorify Thee for ever.
Eternal Father, I offer Thee the fervent devotion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in satisfaction for the lukewarmness and cowardice of Thy chosen people, imploring Thee by the burning love which made Him suffer death, that it may please Thee to rekindle their hearts now so lukewarm in Thy service, and to set them on fire with Thy love, that they may love Thee for ever.
Eternal Father, I offer Thee the submission of Jesus to Thy will, and I ask of Thee, through His merits, the fullness of all grace and the accomplishment of all Thy holy will. Blessed be God!
Amen.
Prayer to unite your heart with the Sacred Heart
Lord Jesus, let my heart never rest until it finds You, who are its center, its love, and its happiness. By the wound in Your heart pardon the sins that I have committed whether out of malice or out of evil desires. Place my weak heart in your own divine heart, continually under your protection and guidance, so that I may persevere in doing good and in fleeing evil until my last breath.
Amen.
For Mercy
Behold, O compassionate Father, this prodigal who has sinned against Thee by dissipating the treasures with which Thou hast enriched him. I throw myself at Thy Feet and cry for mercy. Do not reject me and do not forget Thy mercies. Exercise them over my poor soul, although it is unworthy of them. Do not permit that it be lost before Thine eyes since Thy Sacred Heart has given birth to it with so much pain. Do not refuse me the title of child of Thy Heart, for I desire to die unto myself and unto sin, in order to live henceforth only by the life of submission and obedience. In this spirit I wish to do all my actions, uniting my obedience with that which Thou dost render to the priest, whether he be good or bad, without showing the pain it costs Thee to enter into the hearts of sinners. In like manner, I will repress my repugnances so that they will have no other effect on me but to make me sacrifice them to Thee, saying: Jesus was silent; Jesus was obedient even unto death; I wish to obey until I breathe my last sigh.
Amen.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus
Place me, O my sweet Savior, in Thy Sacred Side, and in Thy adorable Heart which is a burning Furnace of pure love, and I shall be in safety. I hope, O my Jesus, My Sovereign Good, that Thou wilt bring me in thither, since I love Thee, not for the recompenses which Thou dost promise to those who love Thee, but purely for the love of Thyself. I love Thee above all things lovable, above everything good, above everything beautiful, above every pleasure, and in fine, above myself and everything that is outside of Thee, and I protest in the presence of Heaven and earth that I wish to live and die in Thy holy love, purely and simply, and that even if to love Thee in this manner, I must suffer persecution and torments and even endure death, I am quite content, and will say with St. Paul: “No creature shall ever be able to separate me from the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, whom I love and wish to love eternally.”
O most amiable Heart, Thou art my strength, my support, my recompense, my safety, my refuge, my love and my all. O most holy Heart of Jesus, Heart most august, Master of all hearts, I love Thee, I adore Thee, I praise Thee; I thank Thee, I wish to be all Thine. O Heart of love, dwell with me and in me; govern me, save me, change me entirely into Thee. O most excellent and most Sacred Heart, the eternal enjoyment of which will be, without surfeit, the Source of enjoyment and the Recompense of the blessed, how desirable, how lovable Thou art! O Divine Heart, come to me or draw me to Thee. O Heart most sublime, the Delight of Divinity! I salute Thee from exile where I am; I invoke Thee in my sorrow; I call on Thee as the remedy for my frailty. Oh! most merciful Heart, compassionate and generous Heart of my Father and my Savior, do not refuse Thy help to my unworthy heart, destroy in me the reign of sin and establish in me that of virtue in order that Thy image may be completely perfected in me and that it may one day be an ornament in Thy Heavenly palace.
Amen.
