Saint Who?
Saints Who Had Family Challenges
Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque
Religious († 1690) Feast: October 16
Those who receive the gift of supernatural visions rarely live easy lives, and Saint Margaret Mary is no exception to that rule. Born into a large Catholic family in Janots, France, she lost her father when she was eight years old and spent the next seven years in a boarding school run by Poor Clare nuns. This was an ideal life for the devout young girl, except for the painful illness, probably rheumatic arthritis, that often confined her to bed.
When fifteen-year-old Margaret returned to her family, she discovered that the household was now controlled by unkind relatives. Although Margaret never spoke ill of them—or anyone else—in her autobiography, it is clear that she and her mother were treated like servants for years, a humiliation which she bore with patience.
Over the years, Margaret received many visions of our Lord. One vision convinced her to enter the Visitation convent at Paray-le-Monial. Other visions led her to encourage devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Many nuns in her community disbelieved Margaret, and she was ridiculed and resented for decades. But family life had taught Margaret how to respond to mistreatment with charity and forgiveness, and her patience bore fruit as devotion to the Sacred Heart spread throughout the world.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, help us treat others
with patience and compassion.
