As a child, Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque was very quiet. She loved praying and especially loved praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament. At a very young age, she made a vow to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she would enter religious life.
Later, as a young lady, she attended a ball in an elegant ball gown. She had a vision of Jesus, bloody from his scourging. He asked Saint Margaret Mary if she had forgotten about Him, and the vow she had made. Jesus showed her His Sacred Heart full of love for her. She left the ball and entered a convent soon after.
Jesus appeared to her many times after this. He revealed the devotion of the nine first Fridays, the practice of a Holy Hour, Eucharistic Adoration, and the Feast of the Sacred Heart to her.
Jesus told her to share these revelations with the world. Many people did not believe her. They doubted that Jesus Himself was appearing to her. Eventually, her confessor, Saint Claude de la Colombiere, declared her visions to be genuine and true.
Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque died in 1690. In the late 1860s, more than 150 years later, after her beatification, her tomb was opened. Immediately, two miraculous cures took place and her remains were discovered to be incorrupt. She is the patron saint of those who love the Sacred Heart, polio patients, and against the death of parents. Let us ask Saint Margaret Mary to teach us to love the Sacred Heart of Jesus as deeply as she did. May she help us to turn away from worldly desires to follow the will of God.