St. Margaret Mary Alacoque is one of the most extraordinary visionaries in the history of the Church. As the apostle of devotion to the Sacred Heart, her visions not only have full validation as authentic in virtue of their papal approval and her canonization, but have also experienced universal adoption in the Church with the promulgation of the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and widespread promotion of the First Fridays devotional practice, as well as the Thursday night Holy Hour. Her fascinating life is detailed in these pages, written by her own hand—a rare gift to the Church indeed.

Devout from youth, St. Margaret Mary vowed at a young age to become a nun, but she delayed until she was 24 and could no longer withhold herself from Christ. She suffered much in her life, but she was gifted with visions of Our Lord, visions which became the basis of her promotion of the Sacred Heart devotion. In addition to the harsh (and at times seemingly excessive) penances she placed on herself, she received opprobrium from her sisters, who doubted the authenticity of her visions and mission, and much opposition from others in the Church, too. Through it all, her mission from the Lord's Sacred Heart triumphed, and she became the ultimate advocate of the furnace of Divine Charity beating for souls in Our Lord's breast.

For anyone who wishes to know more about the Sacred Heart of Jesus and how to adore It, The Autobiography of Saint Margaret Mary—the source—is one of the best ways.