Solemnity of the Sacred Heart

On Friday 11 June 1611, (Friday in the Octave of Corpus Christi that year) St. Francis de Sales addressed a letter to (St.) Mother de Chantal, Sr. Jeanne Charlotte de Brechard and Sr. Jacqueline Favre. The content of this letter was a description of an inspiration which he received about the coat of arms for the Order of the Visitation. He suggested a heart pierced by two arrows, surrounded by a crown of thorns. This "inspiration" became the design for the seal of every monastery of the Visitation.

Well over 50 years later, St. Margaret Mary, a Visitation nun in our monastery of Paray-le-monial, received revelations of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. The date later set for this Solemnity is currently the Second Friday after Trinity Sunday (which ends up being the Friday after Corpus Christi -- we just don't have an Octave of Corpus Christi any more.)

St. Francis de Sales spoke poignantly when he remarked, in that letter concerning our coat of arms, "...our little congregation is a work of the heart of Jesus and Mary. The dying savior gave birth to us through the wound of his Sacred Heart."

"But above all preserve peace of heart. This is more valuable than any treasure. In order to preserve it there is nothing more useful than renouncing your own will and substituting for it the will of the divine heart. In this way his will can carry out for us whatever contributes to his glory, and we will be happy to be his subjects and to trust entirely in him. "

St. Margaret Mary