Thommy and John
Good morning
I love you
Ejaculation by St. Margaret Mary
O Heart of love, I place my trust entirely in You.
Though I fear all things from my weakness,
I hope all things from Your goodness!
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I offer you this day, all my thoughts, words, desires, and actions. Help me do everything for you.
10-13-07
Saturday, Panera’s with annoying classical violin musak playing to cover over the babble of customers the shouting of staff and the whine of the various machines…
I started today rolling out of bed in time to go to the 0830 Mass. The chapel is always full on Saturday morning – mostly white hairs [or recolored white hair] – still we have people of all ages. Mostly the same folk – the latest variation on the theme is the new curate aka associate pastor. A new priest, probably thirtysomething. A genuine nerd. I wish our church had more priestly men of heart, men with stories, men who did not need woodpecker therapy. Oh well, I guess that’s one reason it’s a mystery?!
I went to the hospital to make an appearance. Surprising some. Being received appreciably by some. I enjoy meandering around the place at the different pace of the weekend. I also get the time to talk with parents and patients as well as staff. And get to leave the tie at home; and wear my Notre Dame sweatshirt….
One of my habits at Saturday mass is to look ahead in the misslette to see who our upcoming saints are. This week we get Luke [and feeloughts back to Sister Luke! A feast day. Her sisterly birthday. A reminder to give back, send a check, say a prayer, do a good deed in her name.] and John de Brebreuf , Isaac Jogues, and their martyr confreres and the Jesuits [see last week’s OSV for a tabloid history – including the era in which I was playing in their world (1963-1969).
But before these is Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque. Feast day October 17. b. 1647 d. 1690 c. 1920. She of the initiation of the Feast of the Sacred Heart and the Nine First Fridays. She along with the Jesuit blessed Claude la Colombier and, the patron saint of parish priests, John Eudes. Some trio.
Daughter of Claude Alacoque and Philiberte Lamyn. We are our parents’ children. Inescapable. The more we run away from them, the closer we are bound to them. If our efforts are to be NOT-THEM, it is the them who become the center of our lives, the focus of our efforts – forcing us to always look back or over our shoulder, to get away instead of grow up, go forward, be who God made us to be qua son of our parents.
Margaret was born on July 22, 1647. Uncle Frank was born on July fourth and told us that the fireworks were for his birthday party – I remember that, of course, because I believed it – and now whenever I revel in the fourth’s fireworks, Uncle Frank is always on my mind, and in my heart. Not to mention he is Grandpa’s older brother and my Godfather – a USArmy pilot, NYC police captain, and then a lawyer who’s clients would have been the target of his efforts from his perch as one of New York’s finest. …. My cousin Marty was born on July 18, 1948. The son of Grandma’s only sister. We always stayed with him when we went to the City. He and his mother lived with us for a year. Aunt Putsie aka Julia was crazy as a bed bug: and my Godmother. [some parallels for you in the Godparent arena] His father, a silver star recipient as a sergeant in The War worked for the post office his entire career. A mountain man with the greatest sense of humor. I was in Tuscaloosa when he died – as usual, Grandpa was the caller with the news of an important event in our lives. I asked when the funeral would be. He said I didn’t have to go – so far, so expensive – but I did have to go! Then I cried for a long time. Marty also did a tour with Uncle Sam in the army. He’s a fire inspector from the insurance co. side of things. His wife, Linda, a nurse – the night I met her, new year’s eve, at one of Marty’s annual bashes at his place, I wondered how he found her!? She was cleaning up ash trays, mopping the kitchen floor, keeping the place spotless in a monster bash. Maybe she was a memory of his mother? Not unlike yours is of mine? …. I too was born in July.
Born at L'Hautecour, Burgundy, France. Where you are from is second in importance to whom you are from. How you see the world depends on where you stand, where you sit [one of the reasons I like to move around in a classroom or a meeting room; to the dismay of some of the other participants whose seat I take (Their seat? Reserved? Their name on it? Another reason I like to move around)], where you are from, whom you are from do shape how you see the world, experience the world – from the moment of contact until forever…. Irish Catholic from NYC. Irish Catholic (and what other components?) from Nashville.
Margaret Mary Alacoque was sent to the Poor Clares school at Charolles on the death of her father, a notary, when she was eight years old. The ‘was sent’ is the operative here. Children are sent to school; not choose their school – at least until you are paying your own tuition, room and board. And the people who choose for you are obligated to ensure success. And those who receive you are also obligated to your success. And, third, you are responsible for your success….
Sent to the Poor Clares school. Good Catholic that her family was. There is the Catholic obligation – duty to God in thanks for the gift as well as to the gift, i.e., child, from God. And the finances are not unimportant. I was sent to St. Patrick’s in Albany. And, it seems, that because the school would not accept sufficient responsibility for my brains almost being spilt on their playground, my father sued the school/diocese. I can imagine how he righteously responded to the sisters and to the parish priest and, ultimately, to the diocesan functionary. And the threats – can’t quite excommunicate but can make persona non grata, dismiss from the school, close the doors to the other schools. And my father did what was right for our family, for his sons. And, for Catholics to take on the Church in 1955 was unheard of! Impertinent! And the Church lowered the hammer – and lost the suit [or because lost the suit?]. Try to imagine the discussions between my parents. My mother a devout Catholic – almost a redundancy for women of her upbringing in her era. She must have feared for her soul; not to mention the fear of the excruciatingly painful ostracization. And still, she stood with her husband. Being together as husband and wife is essential for parenting – for the marriage, for the family, and for the children [as well as for the Church and Community]. [Contrast that with your mother’s reaction in siding against your father when your school mis-served you and your parents. Life’s circle does repeat itself. I suggest you prepare for more of the same; worse actually. Or discern more wisely and choose better. You are downhill from failures in three previous generations. Good luck.] …. When we moved to Portland, Ken and I were sent to Sacred Heart School. Try to imagine how in 1958 we lived to learn the rites and rituals of the Church, including the novena of the Nine First Fridays and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. And after the fifth grade, we moved to the other side of town. I went to Longfellow and Lincoln. At the time and until just this insight, I believed it was a financial decision. But maybe not? I was sent to Cheverus and began my Jesuit journey. When we returned to NYC, I was sent to Molloy [my father pulling some strings with the Brooklyn bishop to get me in – I haven’t a clue how he had any pull in that arena.] So, was the 6,7,8 grades a financial decision? Both of my parents worked when we lived on Alba street – the only time I remember my mother’s working – until Jimmy was born. Ken stayed in public school when we moved to NYC – going to Aviation High School, to fulfill his vocation [since I can remember, forever and always, Ken wanted to be a pilot]. … You were sent to Catholic grammar schools until your mother took you out of the Catholic tract.
Margaret Mary Alacoque was eight years old when she lost her father. Her family did not have substantial money but were greatly endowed with faith. The little girl was given over to the Poor Clares to educate and to protect.
She was bedridden for five years with rheumatic fever until she was fifteen. What does a ten year old do in bed hour after hour, day after day, week after week, month after month – in bed, wiped out by rheumatic fever, a potentially fatal condition. The vibrancy of youth subdued by the grim reaper who pulls the child to the threshold of death. What does the ten year old do? The eleven year old? The twelve year old? The thirteen year old? The fourteen year old? The little girl as she develops from latency to adolescence? Five bedridden years! In a convent school. In seventeenth century France. Draw the picture – use the web to help with the visuals, take a walk through the cloisters, watch a period movie – get the picture in your mind, put your arms around it, and imagine five years, in bed, in the convent school. Imagine the other students – who are banned from your room because you are carrying a deathly disease: and the few, close friends maybe, who sneak in to see how you’re doing (out of curiosity or palship; to see for themselves or to be able to report to the other girls). Imagine the good sisters caring for you – wondering if you’re malingering, afraid in their hearts of catching your illness, showing authentic love of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph for a true child of God: all of that from the same saintly nun or each personified in the various women and girls sent to care for you. …. Be gestalt-like: imagine yourself the twelve year old Margaret Mary Alacoque; or be the snoopy little girls sneaking by; or see the situation from mother superior’s eyes – administrative and practical as well as holy and spiritual eyes; or come into the room with a basin of water and cloth to give the patient a tender bathing; or be the crucifix on the rough finished cold stone wall….
Margaret Mary Alacoque early developed a devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. What devotion did you adopt early? To whom have you given your DEVOTION? Not to what. Devoted to God? To Jesus? To the Spirit – a divine leprechaun. Are you devoted to Mary? [An excellent choice at least twice/year in her special months. The daily rosary – a decade as you walk to class.] Devoted to Joseph? [I got close to him as my substitute-for-Christopher confirmation patron. A fortuitous choice for a guy who became a father.] Your other patron saints? John. Kenneth. William. Thomas. Even Uriel. Devotion!.... Margaret Mary Alacoque was born into a virtuous and honorable family. She responded to the call of, the allure of (?), the blessed sacrament – Jesus body and soul, human and divine, present in the consecrated host. So, the devotion, at mass, carried home within her heart, the raising of the Blessed Sacrament at the Consecration, the peeling of the church bells, the devotion of her parents’ receiving Jesus…. To devote yourself to another person – starting with God, parents, siblings, family – is a necessary fulfillment of our humanity. To give of ourselves fully in love and thanksgiving. ….
Margaret Mary Alacoquet preferred silence and prayer to childish amusements. When we saintify a person, I wonder how much of their earlier life do we re-frame to fit the conclusion at the end of their lives; and how much of the conclusions are from primary sources – their own words [always an edited version of reality, even self delusion as self perception maybe], records left by others who knew them. What record of our childhood still remains: yours or mine? Imagine trying to reconstruct what you preferred as an eight year old? Could you even do that? And how credible, from 18 or 20 is your report of the reality of what you preferred as a six year old vs the agenda, the persona you wish to portray today? Preferred silence? Maybe she was shy and deathly afraid of social interaction but would have preferred to play with the girls nearby? Maybe she got the message from her parents to stay inside and be quiet because they feared for her safety outside? Margaret Mary Alacoque did spend time in silence and prayer – and that she preferred to do that within the options she had at those times should be a reasonable conclusion. How much silence and prayer do you give yourselves? And offer that gift to God. Silence and prayer to listen to God and His messengers? To pursue your vocation requires that you hear His calling. …. You may [think you have] rejected your father as a/the referent point for developing your self. That you may [think you have] rejected The Father as the referent point for developing your self is a tragic possibility. Silence and prayer puts God at the core; Jesus as the model; Spirit as the inspiration – of who you are and whom you shall become.
One summary of Margaret Mary’s early life recounts that after her first communion at the age of nine, she practiced in secret severe corporal mortifications, until paralysis confined her to bed for four years. [First communion at nine would have been uncommon in the 17th c. Still, in the Poor Clares’ convent school, it may well have happened.] Today, the kinds of corporal mortifications that the latency aged child would have done would have likely gotten her taken to the psychiatric hospital – the stories our patients tell tear your heart our – not so much what they’ve done to themselves but how it is that their minds and hearts got them to such horrific conclusions and self deprecating actions. Corporal mortifications were common practices within our church – but even the Poor Clares admonished moderation and age appropriateness. [Sidebar – what corporal mortifications do you use to keep mind-body-spirit in proper order, to enhance your holiness? If only daily exercise as a start.] If you must keep your acts secret there are, necessarily, one of two problems – the thing you are doing is inherently wrong or the people from whom you are keeping it secret do not hold God’s purpose for you. Secret mortifications should not be secret from your dearest loved ones or from your confessor or spiritual advisor. Severe by itself is not inappropriate; but secret severe is; and it’s also dangerous for your body and your soul. This author attributes the years confined to bed to the paralytic outcome of the secret severe mortifications – the easier to attribute the recovery to a holy vow and miraculous cure. The rheumatic fever version does not necessarily preclude either the vow or the miraculous nature of the recovery. We do know that Margaret Mary was confined to bed for about five years: that she was a devout, maybe excessively so, girl: that she lived her life after rising off her pallet as a holy and virtuous and driven religious. So, maybe the explanation of severe corporal mortifications, paralysis, a vow to the Blessed Virgin to consecrate herself to religious life, and her instantly being restored to perfect health [not good or natural but perfect health] tells the story in a more effectual way. Be inspired by her life, not so much our interpretation of it; our humble efforts to explain the infinite of it. Find your vocation and, duh, follow it. Be devoted – first to God and then all devotions attached to that, embraced by that fundamental first cause will also be sanctified. [Best yet, read the primary sources yourself.]
Margaret Mary Alacoque’s devotion and her sanctity are not, however, a story of a bed of roses. Even so far, and we’re only up to her 24th year, she’s lost her father, her family became impoverished, she went off to the convent school, she was stricken [or self inflicted] sufficiently to be bedridden for five years, and as a young woman she’s ‘refusing’ marriage and on the threshold of entering the convent as a postulate seeking to fulfill what she discerns as her vocation…. And it gets tougher – in a realm that one might think would nurture such a woman’s efforts at holiness….
Margaret Mary Alacoque refused marriage and in 1671 [24 years old] she entered the Visitation convent at Paray-le-Monial and was professed the next year. The girl grew up in the convent school of the Poor Clares – her father long since dead when she blossomed past adolescence and grew beyond marriageable age. 17th c France, 17th c anywhere, was not a place for a single career woman [maybe 21st c anywhere is the same? ]. Maybe refused is too strong a word. Although each choice, each path taken, is the refusal of the infinite other possibilities offered to us; consciously or not, to pick one apple is to refuse all the others. If we were to delve into her life we might discover the details – did she reject a suitor? Did mother superior, taking the young woman under her wing, brush off the importunings of the family of a tailor? Was Margaret Mary rejecting marriage or seeking, responding to, a different vocation? …. When Paul Weisberg was teaching us how to teach preschoolers [and at every level of our learning we are in a preschooler phase for some period of time] concepts, I learned the importance of being sure the child learned what was Not in the concept’s set: e.g., what was not-under was as important to understand in order to learn what under means. To refuse marriage, one must appreciate what marriage is; and marriage is more than not-religious life, although it definitely is not the religious life. In the same way, when I am not-my-father that does not tell me who I am; nor does it mean that I am the anti-my-father. … as you transition through adolescence [by some authors your stage is being now called ‘odyssey’] into adulthood, discern your vocation – hear what God is calling you to do; go for the gold and don’t look back. Follow the voice of God – try Elisha’s experiences: first hear the voice of God in your life, respond to Him, negotiate with him [Moses and the prophets did; Jesus did – His prayer in the garden, on the threshold of fulfilling his vocation, still negotiated with the Father], with always the caveat ‘but Thy will be done’ or ‘not my will but yours’. Who knows best? [I’m so sorry you missed the tv show Father Knows Best. Pater noster qui est in coelis….
From the time she was twenty, Margaret Mary Alacoque experienced visions of Christ, and on December 27, 1673, she began a series of revelations that were to continue over the next year and a half. In them Christ informed her that she was His chosen instrument to spread devotion to His Sacred Heart, 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.
What do we do with our visions of Christ? We have each closed our eyes and seen him. We have been in silence and heard his voice – maybe not in silence, His voice piercing our awareness in the midst of doing good, cheering us on, thanking us for our amplifying His grace; or His whispering in our ear or shouting at our indiscretions when we’re on the wrong side of goodness. It is impossible for any Irish Catholic Boy to not have visions of Christ – and, likely of God the Father [maybe the Michelangelo version?] and the Spirit [qua leprechaun?] and, most certainly, Mary, plus probably Joseph, and any number of angels and saints. These visions we commonly attribute to our own imagination as an effort to enhance or facilitate fruitful prayer. These visions are not for attribution – to go tell our parents, hey, Dad, Jesus just told me I need to take dance lessons or my college days will be unnecessarily lacking in social opportunities!
Margaret Mary Alacoque’s visions were obviously of much greater substance, far deeper impact. [command hallucinations? The devotions of a young woman captive in the convent since 8 years old now run amuck, a chance to set her free, to be somebody, the only way a poor girl qua Poor Clare could do it, as a instrument of Christ? Be careful what you tell people, especially those you trust [how oxymoronic that advice is! Or simply outrageously moronic?!]. If she had only kept the visions to herself! If her visions had guided her personal devotion to the Sacred Heart. No big deal.
Margaret Mary Alacoque was a devoutly devout religious and the visions were not private, meant only to affect her personal holiness. Jesus told her that she was to be His new handmaiden, not unlike His mother carried Him in her womb, Margaret Mary was told, not by the Archangel Gabriel but by Jesus Himself, that she was His choice to carry His Sacred Heart into the world and help the Church, the Body of Christ, the People of God to pray to Him in a very special way: with extraordinary promises made to the person and the world if such prayers were offered. What else could Margaret Mary Alacoque do or say except – be it done unto me according to your word?! She constitutionally could not shy away from His choosing her. Hers was no longer going to be a world of silence and prayer. She was being called to speak for Jesus to the world: to call the world for Him. – of course, we are each called to be Jesus’ spokesman; to speak for him to our family, our church, our friends, our community. We are each called to step out of the chapel and replace the prayer shawl with the prophet’s staff and speak up, speak out, if only by how we like, unmistakably like Christ. Don’t you know?
Not only to pray the Holy Hour – can you not pray with me even for One Hour?
Not only to do the novena of the Nine First Fridays.
But also, to persuade Holy Mother Church to establish the Feast of the Sacred Heart.
Mother de Saumaise, rebuffed her efforts to follow the instruction she had received in the visions. Margaret Mary Alacoque eventually won her over but was unable to convince a group of theologians of the validity of her apparitions, nor was she any more successful with many of the members of her community. A prophet in her own country…. So, what to do? Surely persist. And, do so in accord with her religious vows and within the Church. Play the cards you are dealt. Build this new feast, one convert at a time.
Claude la Colombiere, S.J. confessor to the convent at this time. b. 1641 d. 1681 bl. 1929
Claude la Colombiere was the third child of the notary Bertrand la Colombiere and Margaret Coindat – notary? Margaret? Destined to cross paths with and be an advocate for MMA?
His parents supported Claude’s education – including rhetoric and philosophy in Lyon. Don’t skip the basic philosophy classes and pick up some rhetoric along the way as well – college is not a trade school, let yourself be educated.
At 17, Claude entered the Jesuit novitiate at Avignon. [One of our advantages with Jesuit saints is the Society’s penchant for keeping comprehensive records about every thing and every one. Ignatius directed Jesuits to report up to him about their vocation, their mission, their lives and activities: a tradition in place still to this day. Even within this immense library of Jesuit life and lives, it’s impossible to get all the facts mam, nothing but the facts mam.] Claude wrote early on that he "had a terrible aversion for the life embraced". This from a young university student who was very close to his family and friends and much inclined to the arts and literature and an active social life. He was also not a person to be led primarily by his sentiments. Both and. [When I left Cheverus for NYC and Molloy, I wanted to become a Jesuit. To be a teacher. To be a priest. To be like the men who taught me at Cheverus. To be a member of the Pope’s marines. To make a difference in the lives of boys. To serve my church. To fulfill my obligations. Because the Jesuit spirituality brought me closer to God; made me more likely to do good and right. Because the Jesuit community lifted me up and protected me and brought the best of me to the fore. I wonder what I said to the priests at Cheverus, the vocations director in NYC, the interviewees, including crusty loveable Fr Burke, in Boston (what if I had sought entrance into the NY province rather than New England?)? (I am sure the records of my application materials and the results of the interviews and their conferences are still extant in a Jesuit file somewhere.) And my aversion, in the spring of 1969, to the constrictions within the vow of obedience, how might Fr Colombiere have advised me?]
After Fr Colombiere pronounced his first vows and completed his studies in philosophy, he was professor of grammar and literature at Avignon for another five years. In typical Jesuit progression, Fr Colombiere went to the College of Clermont in Paris for his studies in theology. Already noted for his tact, poise and dedication to the humanities, Claude was assigned by superiors in Paris the additional responsibility of tutoring the children of Louis XIV's Minister of Finance, Jean Baptiste Colbert. Fr Colombiere returned to Lyon to teach at the college, to preach and for a time to be moderator of several Marian congregations.
1674, at 33 years old, was the year of Fr Colombiere’s Third Probation at Maison Saint-Joseph in Lyon. [From novitiate to first vows through philosophy then scholasticate and to theology and then in preparation for final vows in the Society – the Jesuit training is a comprehensive and arduous process of discernment for both the man and the Society.] His spiritual notes from this period allow one to follow step-by-step the battles and triumphs of the spirit, so extraordinarily attracted to everything human, yet so generous with God.
In 1675 he pronounced his solemn profession and was named rector of the College at Paray-le-Monial. What was that about?! With extraordinary talent and connections; with demonstrated wisdom and holiness. Why was this man with such potential sent by his superiors to such an out of the way place? Because the word was already out about Margaret Mary Alacoque. In Paray, in an unpretentious Monastery of the Visitation, the Lord was revealing the treasures of his Sacred Heart. As Margaret Mary Alacoque wrote, she was waiting for the Lord to fulfill his promise and send her "my faithful servant and perfect friend" to help her realize the mission for which He had called her. So, you think you know why you’re doing what you’re doing now? Do you think Fr Colombiere, as he finished his superb training at Lyon had a clue about what was in store for him? What he did know for certain was that he had prepared himself to listen for God’s call and to be ready to say ‘yes!’ to whatever God asked of him – God directly, not likely a phone call from heaven. But God in the person of his messengers – parents, teachers, boss, superiors, priests, or, maybe, the occasional angel or saint of vision. How are you preparing for your call? You see, to be true to Himself, God does not let up, does not accept no for an answer. The secret of a father’s love, The Father’s love, handed down to us fathers to make our own.
Margaret Mary opened her spirit to him and told him of the many communications she believed she had received from the Lord. Fr Colombiere assured her he accepted their authenticity and urged her to put in writing everything in their regard [how Jesuitical ]. He became convinced that Christ wanted the spread of the devotion to his Heart. Fr Colombiere’s own Ignatian spirituality, Ignatius’ devotion to the Heart of Christ, the young priest’s personal contemplation of the Heart of Christ as the symbol of Jesus’ love all prepared this Jesuit to be the right man at the right place in service to the right woman and God’s will. Fr Colombiere did all he could to orient and support her in carrying out the mission received. And his network was not inconsequential. The Jesuits were, in the 17thc a major influence within the Church. Not unlike Fr Colombiere’s experience with France’s minister of finance, being confessors to kings was what the Jesuits set out for themselves to become – they had influence in the Courts of the land. Fr Colombiere marshaled no small amount of spiritual, ecclesiastical, and secular influence in support of the veracity of Margaret Mary Alacoque’s visions and mission. Fr. Colombiere stayed with Margaret Mary Alacoque for a year and half in Paray, before being appointed preacher to the Duchess of York in 1676.
During the summer of 1681 he returned to Paray, in very poor condition. On February 15th 1682, the first Sunday of Lent, towards evening Claude suffered the severe hemorrhage which ended his life.
In 1929 Pope Pius XI beatified Claude La Colombière, whose charism, according to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, was that of bringing souls to God along the gospel way of love and mercy which Christ revealed to us.
John Eudes, b. 1601, d. 1680, c. 1925
John Eudes, in support of Mary Margaret Alacoque and in concert with Claude la Colombier, made the third leg of the stool on which we came to recognize the place of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Pick any point in life, a convergence of people and place in history. Then try to construct how that event happened. How was it that the seemingly unconnectable trajectories of three very different people came together in one spot – and did so much with that opportunity. [Not unlike that day in 1979 when your mother was moving into the office that I had just recently vacated in Bidgood and I appeared at the door? You can’t ever say that God does not have a sense of humor!]
John Eudes was born in the Huguenot overrun Argentan in Normandy. He was educated, by the Jesuits, in Caen. John’s father had once desired to be a priest but found his vocation elsewhere – so, was supportive of his first born’s vocation. [I never considered that my parents would not support a vocation to the priesthood – and they supported me wholeheartedly, though my mother cried at the steps of the novitiate, not unlike the mothers of freshmen off to college these days, I suppose. I wonder how it was that they imbued in me the duty and inclination for discernment, to seek the will of God? I wonder if Ken’s vocation to be a pilot, announced not as a vocation but as a certainty before he even started school, came to him in a similar fashion. Not likely. We are each called in a unique way. Each year when we came to NYC from Albany and then Portland, I had a different answer to “what are you going to be when you grow up?” Ken always had the same answer. I suppose he grew up long before I did. It is possible that I have not grown up yet – I would give yet another answer if I were asked today.]
John Eudes joined the recently formed Oratory of Philip Neri and received his spiritual direction from two of the best of the time. The persistent theme of his prayer, his preaching, and his writings was the redemptive Incarnation of the Son of God through the intermediary of His Immaculate Mother. Very French. Existentially Marian. And so controversial in Huguenot France, among the people who had relegated Mary to an insignificant role in our salvation history.
The young priest served Caen through its pestilence. John Eudes was then named the superior of the Oratory at Caen even though his effectiveness as a preacher and influencer for re-conversions was highly valued and greatly needed. From 1638-42, John Eudes brought his missionary zeal throughout the region, especially in the manner of Vincent de Paul, to the poor; and he was appreciated by the bishops for his effectiveness.
By 1658, John Eudes had left the Oratory which he loved to establish a group of priests without religious vows, to create seminaries for men to be ordained to serve parishes, the common people, the poor. The Congregation of Jesus and Mary (Eudists) had responsibility for sixteen seminaries and minor seminaries; John Eudes also founded the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity (to raise poor girls).
This vast network of servants of God, with a deep foundation in theology and pastoral duties, plus his personal devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the love in Jesus’ Heart was John Eudes’ personal foundation to be of great assistance to Margaret Alacoque. John Eudes assimilated this devotion to the Sacred, disseminated it through his seminaries and convents, with the men and women he trained, and advocated for its official acceptance and recognition within the church. [Perhaps, our greatest role is to be the megaphone for some one else’s message?]
So back to Margaret Mary Alacoque’s story….
Within her community at Paray-le-Monial, opposition to the efforts to express devotion to the Sacred Heart ended in 1683 when Mother Melin was elected superior and named Margaret Mary Alacoquet her assistant and later mistress of novices. Margaret Mary Alacoque’s obedience, her humility, and invariable charity towards those who persecuted her, finally prevailed, and her mission, accomplished in the crucible of suffering, was recognized even by those who had shown her the most bitter opposition. OR, even within our religious communities, it comes down to who you know? Or, as for anything else, it’s 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration? The visions and the vocation notwithstanding, unless Margaret Mary Alacoque persisted, Jesus’ message would not have come through to us. You cannot know what lies over the next ridge, beyond the peak of the mountain it feels like you’re climbing. Ours is to do and die, not to wonder why. To persist: to pursue God’s will no matter what: to respond to God’s love with a comparable love of our own, since it is His Love to begin with.
The discussion of the mission and virtues of Margaret Mary continued for years. All her actions, her revelations, her spiritual maxims, her teachings regarding the devotion to the Sacred Heart were subjected to the most severe and minute examination, and finally the Sacred Congregation of rites passed a favorable vote on the heroic virtues of this servant of God.
I’ve inserted here some of the encyclopedic information on the Feast of the Sacred Heart and our Devotion to the Sacred Heart. Study is a supplement to our devotion….
In the divine Heart of Our Savior don’t imagine an inanimate heart, separated from the person of Christ, but the living heart of the God-Man, the center of all His affections, the fountain of all His virtues, the most touching emblem of His infinite love. The personification of the childlike hearts we draw for Valentine’s day; the cosmic version of our vow to give our heart to our loved one.
We have doctrinal and historical considerations within the Tradition of Church for the devotion of the Sacred Heart.
I. DOCTRINAL EXPLANATIONS
Devotion to the Sacred Heart is but a special form of devotion to Jesus.
(1) Special object of the devotion to the Sacred Heart
Heart. What do you conjure up when you hear heart? [I include the plumbing that’s been done to mine. In Nashville. In Winston Salem. Lonely journeys to reinvigorate and reinforce it’s functioning – not only for me but also in my service to family and community.]
(a) The word heart - intimately connected not only with our own physical, but with our emotional and moral, life. Symbol. Sign. Metaphor. Do you see the role of philosophy in our theology? The place of words in our spirituality?
(b) The material, the metaphorical, and the symbolic sense of the word heart. Worship is rightly paid to the Heart of flesh, inasmuch as the latter symbolizes and recalls the love of Jesus and His emotional and moral life.
In the devotion, there are two elements: a sensible element, the Heart of flesh, and a spiritual element, that which this Heart of flesh recalls spiritual element, that which this Heart of flesh recalls and represents. Devotion to the Sacred Heart may be defined as devotion to the adorable Heart of Jesus Christ in so far as this Heart represents and recalls His love. In two sentences we get the distilled wisdom of two millennia of our traditions of spirituality. Ponder the rich potential here and know why having a spiritual director, a Catholic spiritual director, is so valuable, essential, for us. .
(c) The symbolism is admirably completed by the representation of the Heart as wounded. Since the Heart of Jesus appears to us as the sensible sign of His love, the visible wound in the Heart recalls the invisible wound of this love.
(d) In thus devoting oneself to Jesus all loving and lovable, one cannot fail to observe that His love is rejected. One of the essential phases of the devotion is that it considers the love of Jesus for us as a despised, ignored love. He Himself revealed this when He complained so bitterly to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.
(2) Foundations of the devotion
(a) Historical foundations
The devotion was propagated chiefly under the influence of the movement started at Paray-le-Monial; Margaret Mary Alacoque’s visions were most critically examined by the Church, whose judgment in such cases does not involve her infallibility but implies only a human certainty sufficient to warrant consequent speech and action.
(b) Theological foundations
The Heart of Jesus, like all else that belongs to His Person, is worthy of adoration, but this would not be so if It were considered as isolated from this Person and as having no connection with It.
(c) Philosophical and scientific foundations
The symbolism of the heart is a fact and every one feels that in the heart there is a sort of an echo of our sentiments.
(3) The proper act of the devotion
This act is required by the very object of the devotion, since devotion to the love of Jesus for us should be pre-eminently a devotion of love for Jesus.
II. HISTORICAL IDEAS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DEVOTION
(1) From the time of St. John and St. Paul there has always been in the Church something like devotion to the love of God, Who so loved the world as to give it His only-begotten Son, and to the love of Jesus, Who has so loved us as to deliver Himself up for us. But there is nothing to indicate that, during the first ten centuries, any worship was rendered the wounded Heart.
(2) It is in the eleventh and twelfth centuries that we find the first unmistakable indications of devotion to the Sacred Heart.
(3) From the thirteenth to the sixteenth century, the devotion was propagated as a private, individual devotion of the mystical order.
(4) It appears that in the sixteenth century, the devotion took an onward step and passed from the domain of mysticism into that of Christian asceticism.
(5) From that time everything betokened an early bringing to light of the devotion. Ascetic writers spoke of it, especially those of the Society of Jesus, Alvarez de Paz, Luis de la Puente, Saint-Jure, and Nouet, and there still exist special treatises upon it such as Father Druzbicki's (d. 1662) small work, "Meta Cordium, Cor Jesu". The image of the Heart of Jesus was everywhere in evidence, which fact was largely due to the Franciscan devotion to the Five Wounds and to the habit formed by the Jesuits of placing the image on their title-page of their books and the walls of their churches.
(6) The devotion remained an individual or at least a private devotion. It was reserved to Blessed Jean Eudes (1602-1680) to make it public, to honour it with an Office, and to establish a feast for it. Here and there it came into contact with the devotion begun at Paray, and a fusion of the two naturally resulted.
(7) It was to Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690), a humble Visitandine of the monastery at Paray-le Monial, that Christ chose to reveal the desires of His Heart and to confide the task of imparting new life to the devotion. Jesus permitted Margaret Mary, as He had formerly allowed St. Gertrude, to rest her head upon His Heart, and then disclosed to her the wonders of His love, telling her that He desired to make them known to all mankind and to diffuse the treasures of His goodness, and that He had chosen her for this work. Jesus asked for a devotion of expiatory love -- frequent Communion, Communion on the First Friday of the month, and the observance of the Holy Hour. At his death, 15 February 1682, there was found in Fr Colombiere’s journal of spiritual retreats a copy in his own handwriting of the account that he had requested of Margaret Mary, together with a few reflections on the usefulness of the devotion. This journal, including the account and a beautiful "offering" to the Sacred Heart, in which the devotion was well explained, was published at Lyons in 1684.
(8) The death of Margaret Mary, 17 October 1690, did not dampen the ardor of those interested; on the contrary, a short account of her life published by Father Croiset in 1691, as an appendix to his book "De la Dévotion au Sacré Cœur", served only to increase it. Nevertheless it took Holy Mother Church until 1899 to proclaim a universal feast in honor of the Sacred Heart.
Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart
From the writings of St. Margaret Mary
"On Friday during Holy Communion, He said these words to His unworthy slave, if I mistake not: I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that its all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on nine first Fridays of consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they will not die under my displeasure or without receiving their sacraments, my divine Heart making itself their assured refuge at the last moment."
With regard to this promise it may be remarked:
(1) that our Lord required Communion to be received on a particular day chosen by Him;
(2) that the nine Fridays must be consecutive;
(3) that they must be made in honor of His Sacred Heart, which means that those who make the nine Fridays must practice the devotion and must have a great love for our Lord;
(4) that our Lord does not say that those who make the nine Fridays will be dispensed from any of their obligations or from exercising the vigilance necessary to lead a good life and overcome temptation; rather He implicitly promises abundant graces to those who make the nine Fridays to help them to carry out these obligations and persevere to the end;
(5) that perseverance in receiving Holy Communion for nine consecutive First Firdays helps the faithful to acquire the habit of frequent Communion, which our Lord eagerly desires; and
(6) that the practice of the nine Fridays is very pleasing to our Lord since He promises such great reward, and that all Catholics should endeavor to make the nine Fridays.
The Nine First Fridays
"I promise you, in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the first Friday for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance; they shall not die in my disgrace nor without receiving tile sacraments; my divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in that last moment." — from the Promises of our Lord to Saint Margaret Mary
Conditions required:
To make nine Holy Communions;
on the first Friday of the month (confession required within eight days);
for nine consecutive months, without interruption;
with the proper disposition;
with the intention of making reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and to obtain the fruit of this great promise.
THE PROMISES OF
THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS
TO ST. MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE
Many are the promises that the Sacred Heart of Jesus has made to His Servant St. Margaret Mary, in favor of His devoted ones, as is evident from her writings. The principal ones are as follows:
I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
I will give peace in their families.
I will console them in all their troubles.
I will he their refuge in life and especially in death.
I will abundantly bless all their undertakings.
Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
Tepid souls shall become fervent.
Fervent souls shall rise speedily to great perfect ion
I will bless those places wherein the image of my Sacred heart shall be exposed and venerated.
I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.
Persons who propagate this devotion shall have their names eternally written in my Heart.
In the excess of the mercy of my heart, I promise you that my all powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and my Heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour.
[finished writing 10/13/07 1505]
