Maria Rosa Mystica Prayers 

The 13th of each month should be honored as a special Maria Rosa Mystica day (Her Feast Day is July 13th). On the 12 preceeding days special prayers should be offer

Mystical Rose, be thou blessed, Mother of Divine Grace.  Thou hast given to the whole of mankind thy divine Son, Jesus Christ, the Author of Grace.   Mystical Rose, be thou ever blessed!  Thy Divine Son, when dying upon the cross, obtained grace for us and thou didst co-operate with Him in this, when the sword pierced Thy soul.   Mystical Rose, be thou ever blessed!  Thou were chosen by the Heavenly Father to be the mistress of His treasures, stewardess and distributor of all His graces.   Mystical Rose, our mother!  Turn loving eyes upon the millions of human kind.  We beg thee, we implore thee, we beseech thee, let all obtain the grace of God through holy Baptism, the sacrament of Reconciliation and all the other sacraments.   Mystical Rose, Mother of Divine Grace, let us all attain to the house of the Heavenly Father, for we are all Thy children and the children of God.  Look upon my soul, which through sin is so poor and unworthy.   Mystical Rose, thou givest to whom thou willest.  Thou givest when and as much as thou willest.  I trust in thee; I open my heart to thee.  Let thy light irradiate my soul.  Make Thy motherly love cause my indifferent heart to glow.  Fill me with Thy joy, Thy humility and Thy peace!   Mystical Rose, thou acceptest that thou art a mother with a special care for all those children who most require thy help.  And so I seek thy help in all my bodily and spiritual needs.  Very particularly I beg thee for the following grace . . .   Mystical Rose, thou art the mother of Jesus Christ and the mother of Divine Grace, Thou art the Mother of Mercy and the Mother of Life.  Thou art our kind mother and our hope.  Enclose me in Thy Immaculate Heart and hear my prayer.  Amen. Mystical Rose, pray to Jesus for us! (Three times)   Salve Regina . . . Hail Holy Queen . . .   1.  The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary and she conceived by the Holy Spirit.  Hail Mary . . .   2.  Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to Thy Word.  Hail Mary . . .   3.  And the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us.  Hail Mary . . .   Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.  Let us pray.  Pour forth, we beseech thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we to whom the incarnation of Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by His passion and cross be brought to His glorious resurrection, through the same Christ, our Lord.  Amen.   Prayers to “Rosa Mystica”   Rosa Mystica, Immaculate Virgin, Mother of Grace, in honor of your Divine Son, we prostrate ourselves at your feet to implore God’s mercy.  We beg for help and grace, not relying on any merit of ours, but on the Kindness of your motherly heart, and confident that you will grant our urgent requests.  Hail Mary . . .   Rosa Mystica, Mother of Jesus, Queen of the Holy Rosary and Mother of the Church, of the mystical body of Christ, we implore the gifts of unity and peace for the anxious world, and those graces so able to convert the souls of your erring children. Hail Mary . . .   Rosa Mystica, Queen of the Apostles, pray that many men and women may hear Christ’s call to priestly and religious vocations, an d help them to spread the Kingdom of Jesus Christ throughout the world by the holiness of their lives and their burning zeal for the salvation of souls.  Pour out your heavenly grace upon us! Hail Mary . . . Additional Prayers http://rosamystica13.com/prayers.php http://www.mgr.org/RosaMysticaNovena.html http://www.rosamystica.us/rosamysticaprayer.html Apparitions of Rosa Mystica http://www.catholic.org/featured/headline.php?ID=291 http://www.giftstor.org/RosaMystica.htm http://www.giftstor.org/RosaMystica.htm http://www.marypages.com/MontichiariEng.htm

Feast Day: Sts. Jude and Simon, Apostles and Martyrs

Simon, called the Zealot to distinguish him from the apostle whom Jesus renamed Peter, was one of the original 12 apostles. He was sent to spread the Gospel in Egypt, Persia and Mesopotamia. Jude, also an apostle, was a nephew of Mary and Joseph and preached with St. Simon. St. Jude was a healer and an exorcist; he is now best known as the patron saint of lost or impossible causes. Tradition teaches that both Simon and Jude were martyred, although the exact places of their martyrdoms are unknown.

Saint Simon and Saint Jude ... you carried the good news of Jesus throughout the eastern regions with no thought to your own safety ... please help us to be as fearless in our daily living of the Gospel. Saints Simon and Jude, pray for us!

Little is known of these two Apostles, whose names are always linked in the Gospel accounts, St. Simon was surnamed the Zealot for his rigid adherence to the Jewish law and to the Canaanite law. He was one of the original followers of Christ. Western tradition is that he preached in Egypt and then went to Persia with St. Jude, where both suffered martyrdom. Eastern tradition says Simon died peacefully at Edessa.

Jude is so named by Luke and Acts, while Matthew and Mark call him Thaddeus. St. Jude, known as Thaddaeus, was a brother of St. James the Less, and a relative of Our Saviour. St. Jude was one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus. He is not mentioned elsewhere in the Gospels, except, of course, where all the apostles are mentioned. He is an author of an epistle (letter) to the Churches of the East, particularly the Jewish converts, directed against the heresies of the Simonians, Nicolaites, and Gnostics. This Apostle is said to have suffered martyrdom along with St. Simon in Armenia, which was then subject to Persia. However, scholars debate whether or not he is the author of the Letter of Jude. Actually, Jude had the same name as Judas Iscariot. Evidently because of the disgrace of that name, it was shortened to "Jude" in English. Ancient writers tell us that he preached the Gospel in Judea, Samaria, Idumaea, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Lybia. According to Eusebius, he returned to Jerusalem in the year 62, and assisted at the election of his brother, St. Simeon, as Bishop of Jerusalem.

Saint Jude the Apostle
Apostle Jude, by Anthonis van Dyck
Apostle and Martyr
Born	1st century AD Roman Province of Galilee
Died	1st century AD Roman Province of Syria
Honored in	Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Churches, Eastern Catholic Churches, Church of the East, Coptic Church, Anglican Communion, Lutheranism , Islamand Philippine Independent Church
Canonized	Pre-Congregation
Majorshrine	Saint Peter's, Rome, Reims,Toulouse, France
Feast	October 28 (Western Christianity) June 19 (Eastern Christianity)
Attributes	Axe, club, boat, oar, medallion
Patronage	Armenia, lost causes, desperate situations, ibises[citation needed], hospitals, St. Petersburg, Florida, Cotta Lucena City Quezon,Philippines the Chicago Police Department, Clube de Regatas do Flamengo from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Sibalom, Antique,Philippines.

St Jude is invoked in desperate situations because his New Testament letter stresses that the faithful should persevere in the environment of harsh, difficult circumstances, just as their forefathers had done before them. Therefore, he is the patron saint of desperate cases. (The epithet is also commonly rendered as “patron saint of lost causes”.) However, there is another reckoning to this epithet. Many Christians have unfortunately reckoned him as Judas Iscariot and thus avoided veneration. Therefore he was also called the “Forgotten Saint”. Because veneration was avoided, only people in the most desperate circumstances would call upon him, and Jude, desiring to help, was willing to pray for even the most desperate or lost case. Therefore, goes the logic, Jude became the patron saint of lost causes.

Saint Simon the Zealot
St. Simon, by Peter Paul Rubens (c. 1611), from his Twelve Apostles series at the Museo del Prado, Madrid
Apostle, Martyr, Preacher
Born	Cana or Canaan
Died	~65 or ~107[1] place of death disputed. Possibly Pella, Armenia; Suanir, Persia; Edessa, Caistor
Honored in	Roman Catholic Church; Eastern Orthodox Church; Coptic Church;Oriental Orthodox Churches,Eastern Catholic Churches;Anglican Church; Lutheran Church; Islam.
Majorshrine	relics claimed by many places, including Toulouse; Saint Peter's Basilica[2]
Feast	October 28 (Western Christianity); May 10 (Coptic Church)
Attributes	boat; cross and saw; fish (or two fishes); lance; man being sawn in two longitudinally; oar[2]
Patronage	curriers; sawyers; tanners[2]

Simon is mentioned on all four lists of the apostles. On two of them he is called "the Zealot." The Zealots were a Jewish sect that represented an extreme of Jewish nationalism. For them, the messianic promise of the Old Testament meant that the Jews were to be a free and independent nation. God alone was their king, and any payment of taxes to the Romans—the very domination of the Romans—was a blasphemy against God. No doubt some of the Zealots were the spiritual heirs of the Maccabees, carrying on their ideals of religion and independence. But many were the counterparts of modern terrorists. They raided and killed, attacking both foreigners and "collaborating" Jews. They were chiefly responsible for the rebellion against Rome which ended in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. In art, Simon has the identifying attribute of a saw because according to legend, he was put to death by a saw.

COMMENT:
As in the case of all the apostles except for Peter, James and John, we are faced with men who are really unknown, and we are struck by the fact that their holiness is simply taken to be a gift of Christ. He chose some unlikely people: a former Zealot, a former (crooked) tax collector, an impetuous fisherman, two "sons of thunder" and a man named Judas Iscariot.It is a reminder that we cannot receive too often. Holiness does not depend on human merit, culture, personality, effort or achievement. It is entirely God's creation and gift. God needs no Zealots to bring about the kingdom by force. Jude, like all the saints, is the saint of the impossible: only God can create his divine life in human beings. And God wills to do so, for all of us. One of his namesakes is St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, which has helped many children with terminal illnesses and their families since its founding in 1962.

QUOTE:

"Just as Christ was sent by the Father, so also he sent the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit. This he did so that, by preaching the gospel to every creature (cf. Mark 16:15), they might proclaim that the Son of God, by his death and resurrection, had freed us from the power of Satan (cf. Acts 26:18) and from death, and brought us into the kingdom of his Father" (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy).

PRAYERS TO ST. JUDE:

A common Roman Catholic prayer is:

"O most holy apostle, Saint Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honoureth and invoketh thee universally, as the patron of hopeless cases, and of things almost despaired of. Pray for me, who am so miserable. Make use, I implore thee, of that particular privilege accorded to thee, to bring visible and speedy help where help was almost despaired of. Come to mine assistance in this great need, that I may receive the consolation and succor of Heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly (here make your request) and that I may praise God with thee and all the elect throughout eternity. I promise thee, O blessed Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favour, to always honour thee as my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to thee. Amen."

”

An alternative prayer:

"May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, glorified, loved and preserved now and forever. Sacred Heart of Jesus have mercy on us, Saint Jude worker of Miracles, pray for us, Saint Jude helper and keeper of the hopeless, pray for us, Thank you Saint Jude."

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Simon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jude_the_Apostle
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?id=302
http://catholicinformation.aquinasandmore.com/2007/09/25/the-feast-of-st-simon-and-st-jude-apostles-and-martyrs-is-october-28/
http://admaioremdeigloriamrcc.wordpress.com/2008/10/28/the-feast-of-st-simon-and-st-jude-apostles-tuesday-the-28th-of-october-2008/
http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1182
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=241
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=127
http://ssjpitt.org/patron_saints.htm
http://www.domestic-church.com/CONTENT.DCC/19980901/SAINTS/STJUDE.HTM

The Miraculous Medal Prayer

O Virgin Mother of God,

Mary Immaculate,

we dedicate and consecrate ourselves to you

under the title of Our Lady of the 

Miraculous Medal.

May this Medal be for each one of us 

a sure sign of your affection for us

and a constant reminder of our duties 

toward you.

Ever while wearing it,

may we be blessed by your loving protection

and preserved in the grace of your Son.

O Most powerful Virgin,

Mother of our Savior,

keep us close to you

every moment of our lives.

Obtain for us, your children,

the grace of a happy death;

so that, in union with you,

we may enjoy the

bliss of heaven forever.

Amen.

Kanelstrand blog: A Portrait of The Artist: Dustbin Cards

Kanelstrand blog: A Portrait of The Artist: Dustbin Cards: * * * A Portrait of the Artist is a project that runs weekly on the Kanelstrand blog and aims to offer publicity to indep...

Feast Day: St. Luke, Evangelist (? - 70 A.D.)

St. Luke was born in Antioch. He was a gentile doctor who was a good and kind man. He heard about Jesus from the great apostle Paul and soon became a Christian. The Bible calls Luke "the beloved physician."

After becoming a Christian, he went everywhere with St. Paul. Luke was a great help to him in spreading the faith in Greece and Rome. He was with Paul when he was shipwrecked and through other dangers, including prison, as they traveled from place to place.


Luke wrote one of the major portions of the New Testament, a two-volume work comprising the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. In the two books he shows the parallel between the life of Christ and that of the Church. He is the only Gentile Christian among the Gospel writers. Tradition holds him to be a native of Antioch, and Paul calls him "our beloved physician" (Colossians 4:14). His Gospel was probably written between A.D. 70 and 85.



Luke appears in Acts during Paul’s second journey, remains at Philippi for several years until Paul returns from his third journey, accompanies Paul to Jerusalem and remains near him when he is imprisoned in Caesarea. During these two years, Luke had time to seek information and interview persons who had known Jesus. He accompanied Paul on the dangerous journey to Rome where he was a faithful companion. "Only Luke is with me," Paul writes (2 Timothy 4:11).


The Gospel According to Luke (Greek: Τὸ κατὰ Λουκᾶν εὐαγγέλιον, to kata Loukan euangelion), commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry ofJesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.

The author is traditionally identified as Luke the Evangelist. Certain popular stories, such as the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan, are found only in this gospel. This account also has a special emphasis on prayer, the activity of the Holy Spirit, women, and joyfulness. Luke presented Jesus as the Son of God, but turned his attention especially to the humanity of Jesus, featuring His compassion for the weak, the suffering and the outcast.

10th century Byzantine illustration ofLuke the Evangelist.

According to the preface, the purpose of Luke is to write a historical account, while bringing out the theological significance of the history. The evangelist divides history into three stages: the first ends with John the Baptist, the second consists of Jesus' earthly ministry, and the third is the life of the church after Jesus' resurrection. The author portrays Christianity as divine, respectable, law-abiding, and international. Here, Jesus' compassion extends to all who are needy, women are important among his followers, the despised Samaritans are commended, and Gentiles are promised the opportunity to accept the gospel. While the gospel is written as a historical narrative, many of the facts portrayed therein are based on previous traditions of the recorded Gospel story and not on what some might consider to be historical record.

Biblical Scholars are in wide agreement that the author of the Gospel of Luke also wrote the Acts of the Apostles. Many believe "the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles originally constituted a two-volume work", which scholars refer to as Luke-Acts.

Comments:

Saint Luke is often portrayed as painting portraits of Mary. According to tradition, Luke was believed to have painted portraits of both Mary and Jesus. Centuries later, it was proven that Luke did not paint such images but he is still considered the patron saint of artists because of this tradition.

Saint Luke is also portrayed with pen in hand because he recorded the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. He is often shown with an ox, which is a symbol of sacrifice – the sacrifice Jesus made for the world.

Luke wrote as a Gentile for Gentile Christians. This Gospel reveals Luke's expertise in classic Greek style as well as his knowledge of Jewish sources.

The character of Luke may best be seen by the emphases of his Gospel, which has been given a number of subtitles: (1) The Gospel of Mercy: Luke emphasizes Jesus' compassion and patience with the sinners and the suffering. He has a broadminded openness to all, showing concern for Samaritans, lepers, publicans, soldiers, public sinners, unlettered shepherds, the poor. Luke alone records the stories of the sinful woman, the lost sheep and coin, the prodigal son, the good thief. (2) The Gospel of Universal Salvation: Jesus died for all. He is the son of Adam, not just of David, and Gentiles are his friends too. (3) The Gospel of the Poor: "Little people" are prominent—Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph, shepherds, Simeon and the elderly widow, Anna. He is also concerned with what we now call "evangelical poverty." (4) The Gospel of Absolute Renunciation: He stresses the need for total dedication to Christ. (5) The Gospel of Prayer and the Holy Spirit: He shows Jesus at prayer before every important step of his ministry. The Spirit is bringing the Church to its final perfection. (6) The Gospel of Joy: Luke succeeds in portraying the joy of salvation that permeated the primitive Church.

Luke also has a special connection with the women in Jesus' life, especially Mary. It is only in Luke's gospel that we hear the story of the Annunciation, Mary's visit to Elizabeth including the Magnificat, the Presentation, and the story of Jesus' disappearance in Jerusalem. It is Luke that we have to thank for the Scriptural parts of the Hail Mary: "Hail Mary full of grace" spoken at the Annunciation and "Blessed are you and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus" spoken by her cousin Elizabeth.

Luke's unique perspective on Jesus can be seen in the six miracles and eighteen parables not found in the other gospels. Luke's is the gospel of the poor and of social justice. He is the one who tells the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man who ignored him. Luke is the one who uses "Blessed are the poor" instead of "Blessed are the poor in spirit" in the beatitudes. Only in Luke's gospel do we hear Mary's Magnificat where she proclaims that God "has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty" (Luke 1:52-53).

Forgiveness and God's mercy to sinners is also of first importance to Luke. Only in Luke do we hear the story of the Prodigal Son welcomed back by the overjoyed father. Only in Luke do we hear the story of the forgiven woman disrupting the feast by washing Jesus' feet with her tears. Throughout Luke's gospel, Jesus takes the side of the sinner who wants to return to God's mercy.

Reading Luke's gospel gives a good idea of his character as one who loved the poor, who wanted the door to God's kingdom opened to all, who respected women, and who saw hope in God's mercy for everyone.

The reports of Luke's life after Paul's death are conflicting. Some early writers claim he was martyred, others say he lived a long life. Some say he preached in Greece, others in Gaul. The earliest tradition we have says that he died at 84 Boeotia after settling in Greece to write his Gospel.

Quote:

"Then [Jesus] led them [out] as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven. They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God" (Luke 24:50-53).

Prayers to St. Luke:

Most charming and saintly Physician, you were animated by the heavenly Spirit of love. In faithfully detailing the humanity of Jesus, you also showed his divinity and his genuine compassion for all human beings. Inspire our physicians with your professionalism and with the divine compassion for their patients. Enable them to cure the ills of both body and spirit that afflict so many in our day. Amen.

Almighty God, who inspired your servant Luke the physician to set forth in the Gospel the love and healing power of your Son: Graciously continue in your Church this love and power to heal, to the praise and glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Father, you chose Luke the evangelist to reveal by preaching and writing the mystery of your love for the poor. Unite in one heart and spirit all who glory in your name, and let all nations come to see your salvation. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Why is Saint Luke the patron of Artists?

Patron: Artists; bachelors; bookbinders; brewers; butchers; glassworkers; goldsmiths; lacemakers; notaries; painters; physicians; sculptors; stained glass workers; surgeons.

Symbols: Winged ox; winged calf; ox; picture of the Virgin; palette and brushes; phials of medicine; physician's robes; easel; book and pen; hatchet; wooden horse; books of his Gospel and of the Acts; bishop; painting an icon of our Lady.

In addition to his life as physician and apostle, St. Luke is known as the first iconographer, and the icon “Hodigitria” (“She who shows the way”) is attributed to him. This icon, which shows our Lord and the Mother of God together, indicates that the early Church integrated religious art with theology as an important aspect of our worship.

A tradition that Luke was a painter seems to have no basis in fact. Several images of Mary appeared in later centuries claiming him as a painter but these claims were proved false. Because of this tradition, however, he is considered a patron of painters of pictures and is often portrayed as painting pictures of Mary.

How Saint Luke is represented in Christian Art

It is helpful to be able to recognise Saint Luke in paintings, stained glass windows, illuminated manuscripts, architecture and other forms of Christian art. The artistic representations reflect the life or death of saints, or an aspect of life with which the person is most closely associated. Saint Luke is represented in Christian Art with an easel and painting materials. Beside him is usually an ox, symbolical of sacrifice; in other words, that in St. Luke's Gospel we have the fullest description of the Sacrifice of Christ.

Bibliography:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Luke

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_the_Evangelist

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acts_of_the_Apostles

http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1172

http://www.st-luke-medal.com/feast_of_st_luke.html

http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/kids/saints/1018_luke.asp

http://www.catholic-saints.info/patron-saints/saint-luke.htm

http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearABC/HolyDays/Luke.html

http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=76

http://stlukesredding.org/category/saints-days/page/2/

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2007-10-18

October 13, 1917: The Miracle of the Sun, Cova, Fatima, Portugal

Jacinta Marto,
Lúcia (Lucy)de Jesus Rosa Santos,
Francisco Marto

In July Our Lady had promised a miracle for the final apparition, on October 13, so that all would believe. What transpired became known as "Miracle of the Sun". A crowd believed to be approximately 70,000 in number including newspaper reporters and photographers, gathered at the Cova da Iria. The rain had finally ceased and a thin layer of clouds cloaked the silver disc of the sun such that it could be looked upon without hurting one’s eyes. Lúcia called out to the crowd to look at the sun. Sometime while Lucia was pointing towards the sun and seeing various religious figures in the sky, the sun appeared to change colors and rotate, like a fire wheel. For some, the sun appeared to fall from the sky before retreating, for others, it zig-zagged. The phenomenon was witnessed by most in the crowd as well as people many miles away.

Feast Day, Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647– 1690)

Painting by Corrado Giaquinto in 1765.

Marguerite Marie Alacoque or Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque was a French Roman Catholic nun and mystic, who promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in its modern form.


From early childhood, Margaret was described as showing intense love for the Blessed Sacrament (the Eucharist), and as preferring silence and prayer to childhood play. After her First Communion at the age of nine, she practised in secret severe corporal mortification (including carving the name "Jesus" into her chest as an adolescent) until rheumatic fever confined her to bed for four years. "The heaviest of my crosses was that I could do nothing to lighten the cross my mother was suffering."At the end of this period, having made a vow to the Blessed Virgin to consecrate herself to religious life, she was instantly restored to perfect health.


She refused marriage, and at age 24 she entered the convent at and was professed the next year. Two years later, she experienced her first vision of Christ. She began a series of revelations that were to continue over the next year and a half. In them Christ informed her that His human heart was to be the symbol of his divine-human love and that she was His chosen instrument to spread devotion to His Sacred Heart. By her own love she was to make up for the coldness and ingratitude of the world—by frequent and loving Holy Communion, especially on the first Friday of each month, and by an hour's vigil of prayer every Thursday night in memory of his agony and isolation in Gethsemane. He also asked that a feast of the Sacred Heart be established. 

Rebuffed by her superior in her efforts to follow the instruction she had received in the visions, she eventually won her over but was unable to convince a group of theologians of the validity of her apparitions, nor was she any more successful with many of the members of her community. She received the support of the community's confessor for a time, who declared that the visions were genuine. Opposition in the community ended when another was elected Superior. She later saw the convent observe the feast of the Sacred Heart privately and two years later, a chapel was built  to honor the Sacred Heart. Soon observation of the feast of the Sacred Heart spread to other convents. She died at the age of 43 while being anointed. "I need nothing but God, and to lose myself in the heart of Jesus." She was canonized in 1864. She, St. John Eudes, and 


Blessed Claude La Colombiere are called the "Saints of the Sacred Heart".The devotion to the Sacred Heart was officially recognized and approved seventy-five years after her death.  When her tomb was canonically opened in July 1830, two instantaneous cures were recorded to have taken place. Her incorrupt body rests under the altar in the Sacred Heart chapel, and many striking blessings have been claimed by pilgrims attracted there from all parts of the world.

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque - Died in 1690 at the age of 43. Her tomb was canonically opened 140 years later in 1830 and body found to be incorrupt. She was a French Roman Catholic nun and mystic, who promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which has become popular among Catholics. The Catholic Church investigated and affirmed the credibility of her visions in 1928. Her body rests under the altar in the chapel at Paray in France.

Promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus:
Of the many promises Our Lord Jesus Christ revealed to Saint Margaret Mary in favor of souls devoted to His Sacred Heart the principal ones are as follows:

1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
2. I will give peace in their families.
3. I will console them in all their troubles.
4. I will be their refuge in life and especially in death.
5. I will abundantly bless all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall rise speedily to great perfection.
9. I will bless those places wherein the image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and venerated.
10. I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.
11. Persons who propagate this devotion shall have their names eternally written in my Heart.
12. In the excess of the mercy of my Heart, I promise you that my all powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and my Heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour. 


Quotes:


"And He [Christ] showed me that it was His great desire of being loved by men and of withdrawing them from the path of ruin that made Him form the design of manifesting His Heart to men, with all the treasures of love, of mercy, of grace, of sanctification and salvation which it contains, in order that those who desire to render Him and procure Him all the honour and love possible, might themselves be abundantly enriched with those divine treasures of which His heart is the source." — from Revelations of Our Lord to St. Mary Margaret Alacoque

Painting of Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart
and Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in
adoration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Christ speaks to St. Margaret Mary: "Behold this Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself, in order to testify its love. In return, I receive from the greater part only ingratitude, by their irreverence and sacrileges, and by the coldness and contempt they have for me in this sacrament of love.... I come into the heart I have given you in order that through your fervor you may atone for the offenses which I have received from lukewarm and slothful hearts that dishonor me in the Blessed Sacrament" (Third apparition).




Patronage:

• against polio
• against the death of parents
• devotees of the Sacred Heart
• polio patients

Prayers to Saint Margaret Mary:

The Sacred Heart of Jesus

So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. Lord, pour out on us the riches of the Spirit which you bestowed on Saint Margaret Mary. May we come to know the love of Christ, which surpasses all human understanding, and be filled with the fullness of God.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, to You 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 You. This is my irrevocable will, to belong entirely to You, and to do all for Your love, renouncing with my whole heart all that can displease You.

I take You, 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 You O merciful Heart, my justification before God Your 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 You, O Heart of Love. I hope from Your infinite Goodness. Annihilate in me all that can displease or resist You. Imprint Your pure love so deeply in my heart that I may never forget You or be separated from You.

I beseech You, through Your infinite Goodness, grant that my name be engraved upon Your Heart, for in this I place all my happiness and all my glory, to live and to die as one of Your devoted servants. Amen.

Bibliography:

http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/MARGMARY.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_Marie_Alacoque
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_the_Sacred_Heart
http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-margaret-mary-alacoque/
http://www.cin.org/sstmargm.html
http://www.piercedhearts.org/theology_heart/life_saints/margaret_mary.htm
http://communio.stblogs.org/2009/10/saint-margaret-mary-alacoque-1.html
http://mt.stblogs.org/cgi/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=23&tag=Sacred%20Heart%20of%20Jesus&limit=20&IncludeBlogs=23