The Visitation Order was instrumental, through its St. Margaret Mary, in establishing this Feast. But long before her entrance into the monastery of Paray le Monial, our Holy Founders were already inspired to realize the essential call of the Visitation to the Sacred Heart.
In fact, the Visitation Order has been called the sanctuary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Prior to the revelations to St. Margaret Mary, the founders of the Visitation, St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal, realized through inspiration that the Sacred Heart of Jesus was integral to the foundation of this new congregation.
“At the moment of Mme. de Chantal’s departure for Annecy to begin the foundation of the Institute, St. Francis de Sales wrote her a line to animate her courage : ” My advice, my daughter, is, that henceforth we live no more in ourselves, but that in heart, intention, and confidence we lodge forever in the pierced side of the Savior.”
And to his daughters gathered around him in those first sweet moments of the little ” Gallery House” he says : ” The other day, considering in prayer the open side of our Saviour, and gazing upon His Heart, I seemed to see all our hearts around His, doing Him homage as the Sovereign King of hearts.”
Thus we behold the image under which St. Francis loved to represent to himself his little congregation, his daughters lodged in the Heart of Jesus, or their hearts surrounding and rendering homage to the Heart of Jesus.”
(Bishop Bougaud: The Life of St Margaret Mary)
The co-foundress of the Order of the Visitation, St. Jane de Chantal, was a “Daughter of the Heart of Jesus”. And she counselled her own spiritual daughters, the first members of the Institute, in this way: ” If the Sisters of the Visitation are very humble and faithful to God, they shall have the Heart of Jesus for a dwelling and sojourn in this world.”
This “dwelling” would set the pattern for the prayer life of a Visitandine. St. Jane de Chantal explained how St. Francis de Sales understood this. ” Our blessed Father,who understood excellently well all sorts of prayer, has always approved of this [the prayer of simple regard]. He said that, whilst others ate diverse viands at the Lord’s table, we ought to rest our soul and all our affections on His loving breast.”
And finally, one of St. Jane’s meditations stated,
” Consider that the sweet Savior not only showed His love for us, as well as for all other Christians, by the work of our redemption; but that He obliges us especially, as daughters of the Visitation, by the gift and favor that He has made to our Order and to each of us in particular of His Heart, or rather of the virtues it contains, since He has founded our most lovely Institute on these two precepts: Learn of Me that I am meek and humble of heart. This is the portion of His treasures that has fallen to us. Having given to other Orders, to one eminent prayer, to another solitude, to another austerity, He bequeathed to us what, undoubtedly, He esteemed more dear, since His precious Heart is its depository. Ah, could we but have this satisfaction, could we learn and practise well the lesson that this loving Savior gives us, we should then be honored in bearing the title of ‘Daughters of the Heart of Jesus’ ”