Oct. 16
This French saint, who increased devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, spent her life in Burgundy. A pious child, Margaret was bedridden from ages 9 to 15 with a rheumatic illness.
She gradually understood a call to religious life and already had a mature prayer life when she entered a Visitation convent near Lyon in 1671. Between 1673 and 1675, she received four visions of Christ’s heart in flames, burning with love for humanity, with instructions to promote a special feast and First Friday devotions.
Margaret, aided by a Jesuit priest, overcame disbelief and jealousy within her own convent and saw the feast celebrated there and in other French Visitation convents in her lifetime. She was canonized in 1920.
She is the patroness of St. Margaret Mary Parish in Bullhead City and St. Margaret Maria Alacoque Parish in Tempe.
