A new video celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the canonization of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque has begun to attract many views on its YouTube channel.
The six-minute video, made by the Visitation Sisters, recalls the history of devotion to the Sacred Heart, the revelations of Jesus Christ to St. Margaret Mary, and encourages viewers to make a pilgrimage to a Visitation monastery during the Jubilee Year.
The Jubilee Year, granted by the Apostolic Penitentiary in Rome, opens October 16, 2019 and closes on October 17, 2020. Click or tap on the video below.
Video Script
Have you ever felt that God is distant from you? Do you wonder whether God really cares for you?
Well, you should know that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, loves you with a human heart. In fact, his heart, in heaven, feels for you and wants you to share his love!
Jesus told his disciples, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” [Matt.11.29]
This love comes from Jesus’ human heart, and we call it his Sacred Heart. Why is it important to love the heart of Jesus?
Pope Benedict XVI said, “It is still a fitting task for Christians to continue to deepen their relationship with the Heart of Jesus, in such a way as to revive their faith in the saving love of God …” [2006 Letter of His Holiness Benedict XVI on the 50th anniversary of Haurietis Aquas]
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus could be said to have begun with John the Apostle when he rested his head on the heart of Jesus [see John 13:23–25].
And, we find one of the first promoters of this devotion in the 1200’s.
St. Lutgarde was transformed by a mystical encounter with Jesus.
In the same century, Jesus granted visions to St. Gertrude, known by the title “Herald of the Sacred Heart,” and to St. Mechtilde, to whom he instructed, “Give Me to others with the liberality of My generous Heart.”
Later, in the 1600’s, there was an unfortunate movement in France called Jansenism, which maintained the total depravity of human nature, essentially eliminating the effectiveness of human free will to accomplish anything good.
During this time, Jesus appeared to a Visitation Sister, St. Margaret Mary Alocoque, in Paray-le-Monial, France, to speak of his Sacred Heart.
In these visions, between 1673 and 1675, Christ informed her that she was His chosen instrument to spread devotion to His Sacred Heart. In her writings, St. Margaret Mary said that she saw in one of the visions,
“Flames issued on all sides from His Sacred Humanity, but especially from His adorable Breast, which resembled a furnace. In this He showed me His most adorable Heart, the living Source of these flames.”
“Then He disclosed to me the ineffable wonders of His love, and to what an excess He had carried it in His love for men, from whom He received only ingratitude.”
“He assured me that He took special pleasure in being honored under the representation of the Heart of flesh, and that He desired such representations to become public, so that the hard hearts of men might thereby be touched.”
Jesus instructed her in a devotion that was to become known as the Nine Fridays and the Holy Hour, and asked that the feast of the Sacred Heart be established.
In the visions, Jesus promised twelve specific graces to those who carry out the Nine Fridays. There are many other devotions to the Sacred Heart, including a scapular, badges, the Litany of the Sacred Heart, and the Guard of Honor.
People are encouraged to consecrate themselves to the Sacred Heart. The Enthronement of the Sacred Heart is a specific way that families can consecrate their lives and their home.
Through the apparitions given to St. Margaret, the Visitation Sisters were given the mission to make the Sacred Heart known and loved.
A great basilica in Paris dedicated to the Sacred Heart stands as a testament to the success of this mission.
Recently, Pope Francis granted a Jubilee Year to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the canonization of St. Margaret Mary.
During this special year, the grace of a plenary indulgence will be granted to all those who pass through the doors of a Visitation monastery chapel on any day of the Jubilee Year.
This will allow the numerous faithful who frequent the chapels of the Visitation monasteries to intimately experience the love of the Heart of Jesus, and to render him “love for love” according to the desire that he himself had expressed to Saint Margaret Mary.
The Salesian scholar Fr. Thomas Dailey has said, “An indulgence affords the penitent person an opportunity to counteract the injurious and residual effects of sin.
The tradition of granting them builds on the inexhaustible merits of Christ’s own work of salvation, which he bestowed upon the apostles in the power of ‘binding and loosing’ sins [Matt 16:19; 18:18].”
To receive the plenary indulgence, you must:
1) Be in a state of grace;
2) Go to Confession and receive Holy Communion within twenty days preceding or following the visit; and
3) Pray for the intentions of the Holy Father.
Pilgrimage dates:
- Feast of St. Margaret Mary, Oct. 16, 2019 and 2020
- Solemnity of Saint Francis de Sales, January 24, 2020
- 100th anniversary of the canonization of St. Margaret Mary, May 13, 2020
- Solemnity of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary, May 31, 2020
- Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, June 19, 2020
- Solemnity of Saint Jane de Chantal, August 12, 2020
- First Friday of each month.
You may gain the indulgence upon making a visit on any day during the Jubilee Year. But we invite you to visit a Visitation Monastery on these dates:
Prayer to the Sacred Heart
- Merciful Jesus, I consecrate myself today and always to Your Most Sacred Heart.
- Most Sacred Heart of Jesus I implore, that I may ever love you more and more.
- Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in You!
- Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!
- Sacred Heart of Jesus, I believe in Your love for me.
- Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like your Heart.