The Autobiography of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Description

I used to have no attraction to the Sacred ♥ devotion, but when I learned that Jansenists opposed it (Council of Pistoia*) and saw dogmatic theology manuals discuss it, I read Pius XII's encyclical Haurietis Aquas (on the centenary of Pius IX making the feast for the Universal Church), which cleared up my suspicions that it's only a women's devotion or sentimentalism; it's certainly not! It's based on the Catholic teachings of the Hypostatic Union, Incarnation, the adorability of Christ's human nature, and the worship of icons (the Sacred Heart is one of the greatest icons).

*2662 1562 62. Doctrina, quae devotionem erga sacratissimum Cor Jesu reicit inter devotiones, quas notat velut novas, erroneas aut saltem periculosas; intellecta de hac devotione, qualis est ab Apostolica Sede probata: - falsa, temeraria, perniciosa, piarum aurium offensiva, in Apostolicam Sedem iniuriosa.

I liked the part at the beginning of St. Margaret's Autobiographie where she took a vow of chastity as a child, not even knowing what "vow" or "chastity" meant! And she had a devotion to St. Hyacinth, O.P.! She knows what's good, like St. Teresa of Àvila for Dominicans, too. ☺ ** The part on not exceeding what was commanded her was good, too; reminded me of St. Thérèse's "little way":

Having on one occasion finished taking the discipline for the space of an Ave Maris Stella, as I had been ordered, He said to me: “This is My share,” but as I still continued, He added: “And that is the devil’s,” which made me cease at once.

Cor Iesu sacratissime, miserere nobis.

And the heart is not only a symbol of love but of knowledge. We say in English: "Deep down in your heart, you know…"

From the feast's introit (Ps. 32:11,19):

Cogitatiónes Cordis ejus in generatióne et generatiónem: ut éruat a morte ánimas eórum et alat eos in fame.

Also, Col. 2:2-3 (cf. St. Thomas's commentary: "Instructio ergo sapientiae consolatur contra mala temporalia."):

ut consolentur corda ipsorum, instructi in caritate, et in omnes divitias plenitudinis intellectus, in agnitionem mysterii Dei Patris et Christi Jesu : in quo sunt omnes thesauri sapientiæ et scientiæ absconditi.

Very fascinating the relation between knowledge and consolation (like Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy).

It was thought memory resides in the heart, too (and passion in the kidneys, renes).

Cor Iesu in quo sunt omnes thesauri sapientiæ et scientiæ absconditi, m. n.

Ultimately of the three faculties which, taken together, are truly coessential to and coextensive with human nature (memory, intellect, and will), making them properly central to it, as is the physical heart in relation to the whole body it irrigates, continuously pumping and sending the blood without which the body could not function. Furthermore, these three cardinal faculties constitutive of the rational soul as its heart are analogously associated with the Three Divine Persons: memoria /mens -> Pater ; intellectus /notitia -> Filius ; voluntas /amor -> Spiritus Sancti.

As the tripartite center of man’s nature is wholly spiritual, it befalls the physical heart at the center of man’s body to be like the core symbol of the invisible faculties of memory, intellect, and will at the heart of man’s quiddity.

The unsentimental biblical heart (לב) demonstrably stands for this centrality of mens , notitia , et amor relative to human nature. Hence, the prominent instance of Our Blessed Virgin Mary (Lk 2:19) keeping

“all these matters/words/things, pondering them [מפחמא, συμβάλλουσα, conferens] in her heart [literally, in Greek: “ sym-bolizing ”= bringing together = comparing together = inwardly (in Latin) considering/contemplating these matters in her intellect].”

מרים דין נטרא הות כלהין מלא הלין ומפחמא בלבה

η δε μαριαμ παντα συνετηρει τα ρηματα ταυτα συμβαλλουσα εν τη καρδια αυτης

Maria autem conservabat omnia verba haec, conferens in corde suo.

בלבה/εν τη καρδια αυτης/in corde suo = in the contemplative application of her intellect.

Cor mundum [לֵב טָהוֹר] crea in me, Deus...

Intimate insights from the [Visitation (founded by St. François de Sales & St. Jeanne de Chantal) nun] saint to whom Our Lord gave the Sacred Heart revelations. Includes Our Lord's own words to her and tells how she sought out suffering for the love for God. A very famous book and one of only six saint's autobiographies in existence.