THE MESSAGE OF JESUS The Sisters of the Visitation of Paray perpetuate the memory and the heritage of Saint Margaret Mary. They are actively working on republishing the account of the apparitions and messages of Jesus that she received. They speak to us of the love of Jesus for all men and of the charism specific to their community, still alive and more current than ever.
The Order of the Visitation was born in 1610 from a deep friendship between the bishop of the very Protestant city of Geneva exiled in Annecy, François de Sales, and a young widow, mother, Jeanne de Chantal. Going against the customs of the time, whether it was orders beggars where there was great austerity or the elitism of the convents of young girls from the nobility, the Visitation welcomes women of all social conditions. Fragile health, elderly or widows are just as welcome as young girls in full force of age. Emphasis is placed on humility, charity, patience and gentleness, austerity mainly taking the form of mutual aid, and allowing welcome to all. The order now has more than 3,000 nuns spread in 155 monasteries all over the world. The motto: “Everything out of love, nothing out of force. »
In anticipation of the celebrations of the year jubilee marking 350 years of apparitions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to Paray-le-Monial, the sisters of the Visitation immersed themselves in all the writings of Saint Margaret Mary (1647-1690). They are working to establish a digital edition of her texts, to find the authentic teaching that she wanted to transmit and facilitate the research of all the curious. Motivated by the wealth of information that has aired about Marguerite-Marie and the spirituality of the Sacred Heart, they intend to put some order in it to rediscover the essential: what Christ wanted to arouse by his appearances.
“The spirituality of the Sacred Heart responds to the requests of Christ not to let him alone, to render love for love, said Sister Marguerite-Marie, Visitandine of Paray monastery. The Lord seeks to get in touch. He likes men. He expresses his love for all men and wants to connect with everyone. »
THE REST OFFERED TO EVERY MAN
It must be realized that at century of Louis XIV, marked by the wars of religion, the Counter-Reformation and Jansenism, the faith was reduced often simply for the sake of being in order with the laws of God to avoid hell. Who would have imagined entering into a direct relationship with God ! “Yet there is nothing extraordinary to accomplish in order to closer to God, confirming, reassuring, Sister Marguerite-Marie. God is there, who watches our gaze towards him, our movement. Saint Margaret Mary was not such a great mystic imagine it: head lost in the clouds! The Lord also chooses most incongruous moments to appear, like that day when her service was to sweep the cloister of the monastery… Indeed, while she was performing even the most thankless tasks, her heart was all turned to the Lord. »
The spirituality of the Sacred Heart is indeed the rest offered to every man, intimately, on the “divine chest” of Jesus. It is to discover “the wonders of his love and the inexplicable secrets of his divine Heart, so impassioned with love for men” (first major appearance to Saint Margaret Mary, December 27 1673). This is the message from Paray-le-Monial, who wants to train us to enter into life spiritual, to live with God
Source: TEXT ALEXANDRE MEYER