Prior to the Revelations of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary, Visitandines from the Monasteries of Grenoble, Nantes, Montheux and Lyons,France, also had intimate understandings of the Heart of Jesus.
Meet a few more of them here; while they do not complete the list of Sisters with deep devotion to Our Lord’s Heart, they can represent all whose devotion mystically built up grace toward the moment St. Margaret Mary received the great revelations.
Sister Angelica-Claude Garnier († 1667),of the Visitation of Nantes,to whom the Lord said, “that the remains of shattered souls are in the Heart of Jesus, and that he cherishes them as the apple of his eye.”
Mother Mary Constance de Bressand(1593-1668), from the Visitation of Grenoble, who writes: “Whereas one day I perceived our Lord on the cross, I was told that his side was open to show us his love and with the purpose of receiving all our hearts in His. I also wanted to put in my own, but this was refused because of my unworthiness, but I understood that this refusal was for me to ask more earnestly. I did so with great affection and then my heart was inflamed near the Sacred Heart, who joined them together and pressed them in a very intimate way to impress his virtues, and to ensure that no affection can enter there but His love. Then, in words all of fondness, this divine Heart assured me of his special protection and assistance on all occasions when I ask it. I stood in full confidence in the Sacred Heart of our Lord”.
Sister Mary Agnes Despanes(1630-1682), who recounts a similar experience: “One day I retired[in 1650], as I was in prayer, the subject that I had prepared was suddenly removed from my mind and I was given at the same time a sight of Jesus crucified … my eyes rested primarily on the sacred wound on the side of Our Lord from which flowed a precious liquor. Then I saw several doves, white as snow , fluttering around and approaching one after another to drink at the opening. They seemed to do with an indescribable joy. I saw myself among those happy doves , and I had the last drink, and finding myself on the edge of this delightful fountain it was like diving into an ocean of inexpressible sweetness … “
Mother Emmanuel Philibert of Monthoux (1623-1683), the author of the Lives of several Superiors of the Visitation, said “I was so well educated in the school inside the Heart of my Spouse crucified, bitterness and abjection He always turned to good account … “.
Sister Marie-Suzanne Villerey de Riants in the monastery of Lyons, who received Communion on Good Friday of the year 1666 fromthe side of Jesus, so that “the substance of the Heart of love spread through her own, not being two but one.”
Sister Marthe-Angelique Gaultier († 1692), who wrote in 1668 “You know, Holy Virgin Mother of my Savior, I have only one desire and one desire only: that of being united to God and to you, my good Mother, that is to love passionately and fully my divine master . But how can i do this if not through you, O holy Virgin, who are the mother of love? Take my heart, put it in yours, and you, in that of Jesus Christ. It is lost in him as the drop in the ocean, nothing in all, or rather it is all consumed in the flames of love. “