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The Autobiography of Saint Margaret Mary
Intimate insights from the 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.
154 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1698
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297 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Mary Alacoque
11 books8 followersSaint Margaret Mary Alacoque, VHM.
Sister of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary (VHM).
Pronounced Venerable in 1824 by Leo XII, declared Blessed in 1864 by Pius IX, and canonized a Saint by Benedict XV in 1920.
Patron saint of people suffering with polio, devotees of the Sacred Heart, and of people who have lost their parents.
Sister of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary (VHM).
Pronounced Venerable in 1824 by Leo XII, declared Blessed in 1864 by Pius IX, and canonized a Saint by Benedict XV in 1920.
Patron saint of people suffering with polio, devotees of the Sacred Heart, and of people who have lost their parents.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
October 30, 2024
My teenaged years were much like those of the poor Margaret Mary, alas.
Excruciatingly uncomfortable in social situations, I told my girlfriend Jane - when asked what I wanted to do in life at eighteen - that I wanted to be a saint.
Well, postmodernism peremptorily pooh-poohs such presumptuous notions. And so, a mere two years later, I was labelled for life.
And very nearly trashed.
But what was a young Aspie to do, in an age that hadn’t yet RECOGNIZED that some kids keep clinging to their innocence like a favourite tried-and-True teddy bear?
Just roll with the punches, is what!
So I never really grew up into an outré world. “Dis-moi si je n’suis pas Joyeux!” No, for in my dotage I live in an introspected world of quiet joy.
So I’m FOREVER grateful to this saint for her visions of the Heart of God.
For that’s life for me.
It’s full of heartache, but if heartache is set like a ruby in the brilliant gold of quiet joy it really says it all.
The heart of the Lord is the heart of our religion.
Without it, your life is either desultory, endless seeking or death-in-life itself.
A stillborn baby bird trapped in its shell.
So, if you want a glimpse of something better -
The confidences of Margaret Mary will open a gateway to that brief vision.
Excruciatingly uncomfortable in social situations, I told my girlfriend Jane - when asked what I wanted to do in life at eighteen - that I wanted to be a saint.
Well, postmodernism peremptorily pooh-poohs such presumptuous notions. And so, a mere two years later, I was labelled for life.
And very nearly trashed.
But what was a young Aspie to do, in an age that hadn’t yet RECOGNIZED that some kids keep clinging to their innocence like a favourite tried-and-True teddy bear?
Just roll with the punches, is what!
So I never really grew up into an outré world. “Dis-moi si je n’suis pas Joyeux!” No, for in my dotage I live in an introspected world of quiet joy.
So I’m FOREVER grateful to this saint for her visions of the Heart of God.
For that’s life for me.
It’s full of heartache, but if heartache is set like a ruby in the brilliant gold of quiet joy it really says it all.
The heart of the Lord is the heart of our religion.
Without it, your life is either desultory, endless seeking or death-in-life itself.
A stillborn baby bird trapped in its shell.
So, if you want a glimpse of something better -
The confidences of Margaret Mary will open a gateway to that brief vision.
September 5, 2008
The Autobiography of St. Margaret Mary
I'll just come right out and say it: this book is disturbing. I'm not sure how else to sum up the reaction I have to this autobiography, though it is "offensive to pious ears" (as the theological notes would put it). Allow me to qualify this assessment: "disturbing" can be said in many ways. It is certainly disturbing on the level of spectacle; the saint performs some outrageous penances to overcome her sensitive nature, one of which was struck from the record as unfit to mention. Yet her story also stirs up something in me that justly accuses me of complacency, of coldness to the love of God and the unfathomable desire of the Sacred Heart to unite humanity to itself. I believe Margaret Mary is a saint and is now enjoying the fruits of reward tilled by a lifetime of confusion and suffering that perpetually conformed her to her suffering savior, but part of me wants to hold back from completely ratifying it as worthy of general consumption. Perhaps Pope St. Gregory the Great's adage applies here:
"Those things are ours that we love in others, even if we cannot imitate them, and what is loved in ourselves becomes the possession of those who love it. Therefore, let the envious consider the power of charity, which gives us credit for the results of another person's work, without any effort on our part."
This "bond of charity," perhaps, is what one must keep in mind when hearing St. Margaret Mary describe the suffering she endured (and sought) in her all-consuming pursuit of perfection at the hands of her Lord.
Now, that being said, in the judgment of the Church, this woman is the recipient of private visitations that have been ratified by popes. My concern here is articulated best by a short piece on self-love by then Cardinal Ratzinger in a little book I highly recommend: The Yes of Jesus Christ. The relevant excerpt:
"Man—every man and woman—is called to salvation. He is willed and loved by God, and his highest task is to respond to this love. He must not hate what God loves. He must not destroy what is destined for eternity. To be called to the love of God is to have a vocation for happiness. To become happy is a ‘duty’ that is just as human and natural as it is supernatural. When Jesus talks of self-denial, of losing one’s own life and so on, he is showing the way of proper self-affirmation (‘self-love’), something that always demands opening oneself, transcending oneself. But this necessity of going beyond oneself, of leaving oneself behind, does not exclude genuine self-affirmation. Quite the contrary: it is the way of finding oneself and ‘loving’ oneself. When forty years ago I read for the first time Bernanos’s Diary of a Country Priest the last words of this suffering soul made an indelible impression on me: it is not difficult to hate oneself; the grace of all graces would however be to love oneself as a member of the Body of Christ...
The realism of this statement is obvious. There are many people who live in conflict with themselves. This aversion to oneself, this inability to accept oneself and to be reconciled with oneself, is far removed from that self-denial that the Lord wants. Those who cannot stand themselves cannot love their neighbor. They cannot accept themselves ‘as themselves’ because they are against themselves and are bitter as a result, and the very foundation of their life makes them incapable of loving."
What I wanted to convey was that the kind of egoism Ratzinger rightly condemns ought never to seek justification in the lives of saints like St. Margaret Mary. Read her story, but imitate her only out of love of the Lord and not hatred of self.
I'll just come right out and say it: this book is disturbing. I'm not sure how else to sum up the reaction I have to this autobiography, though it is "offensive to pious ears" (as the theological notes would put it). Allow me to qualify this assessment: "disturbing" can be said in many ways. It is certainly disturbing on the level of spectacle; the saint performs some outrageous penances to overcome her sensitive nature, one of which was struck from the record as unfit to mention. Yet her story also stirs up something in me that justly accuses me of complacency, of coldness to the love of God and the unfathomable desire of the Sacred Heart to unite humanity to itself. I believe Margaret Mary is a saint and is now enjoying the fruits of reward tilled by a lifetime of confusion and suffering that perpetually conformed her to her suffering savior, but part of me wants to hold back from completely ratifying it as worthy of general consumption. Perhaps Pope St. Gregory the Great's adage applies here:
"Those things are ours that we love in others, even if we cannot imitate them, and what is loved in ourselves becomes the possession of those who love it. Therefore, let the envious consider the power of charity, which gives us credit for the results of another person's work, without any effort on our part."
This "bond of charity," perhaps, is what one must keep in mind when hearing St. Margaret Mary describe the suffering she endured (and sought) in her all-consuming pursuit of perfection at the hands of her Lord.
Now, that being said, in the judgment of the Church, this woman is the recipient of private visitations that have been ratified by popes. My concern here is articulated best by a short piece on self-love by then Cardinal Ratzinger in a little book I highly recommend: The Yes of Jesus Christ. The relevant excerpt:
"Man—every man and woman—is called to salvation. He is willed and loved by God, and his highest task is to respond to this love. He must not hate what God loves. He must not destroy what is destined for eternity. To be called to the love of God is to have a vocation for happiness. To become happy is a ‘duty’ that is just as human and natural as it is supernatural. When Jesus talks of self-denial, of losing one’s own life and so on, he is showing the way of proper self-affirmation (‘self-love’), something that always demands opening oneself, transcending oneself. But this necessity of going beyond oneself, of leaving oneself behind, does not exclude genuine self-affirmation. Quite the contrary: it is the way of finding oneself and ‘loving’ oneself. When forty years ago I read for the first time Bernanos’s Diary of a Country Priest the last words of this suffering soul made an indelible impression on me: it is not difficult to hate oneself; the grace of all graces would however be to love oneself as a member of the Body of Christ...
The realism of this statement is obvious. There are many people who live in conflict with themselves. This aversion to oneself, this inability to accept oneself and to be reconciled with oneself, is far removed from that self-denial that the Lord wants. Those who cannot stand themselves cannot love their neighbor. They cannot accept themselves ‘as themselves’ because they are against themselves and are bitter as a result, and the very foundation of their life makes them incapable of loving."
What I wanted to convey was that the kind of egoism Ratzinger rightly condemns ought never to seek justification in the lives of saints like St. Margaret Mary. Read her story, but imitate her only out of love of the Lord and not hatred of self.
May 29, 2021
This is a really hard, challenging book to read, and I didn't understand all of it. I can see why the friend who gave it to us instructed me not to read it because I was suffering from scruples at the time. It's just....really HARD. It's not a religious book that gives you warm fuzzy feelings, you know? It's rough. And I can't explain that away.
But I know St. Margaret Mary better now! And the prayers in the back to the Sacred Heart of Jesus are really, really beautiful.
But I know St. Margaret Mary better now! And the prayers in the back to the Sacred Heart of Jesus are really, really beautiful.
June 16, 2019
No faithful soul who reads this account will be left not desiring to honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus more ardently.
March 2, 2015
I've read the larger version of the story of her life, but this is the first time I've read the autobiography. I am SO inspired by reading and hearing of the lives of the Saints, but St. Margaret Mary Alacoque has SO impressed me and touched me by her humility, her DEEP love for the Lord and her profound thanksgiving and love FOR and understanding OF the Lords' Passion and of the great sacrifice He made for us. How cold and indifferent we are to it and Him, and how much we take our Lord for granted! Her heart and thoughts were always on the Lord, and on others - she had such a great burden on her heart to take upon herself anyone else's punishment, to do everything in her power to intercede for those who were suffering in purgatory through offerings of penances suffered on their behalf; and interceding for those who here displeasing/angering the Lord and taking upon herself some punishment/sacrifice for the Lord to forgive them and take them back to Himself. Wow!
July 12, 2014
What can I say? Words fail me for this beauty ... so I think I will leave it to my wife. For we have a website devoted to the Sacred Heart and what she writes of this book I cannot hope to match:
http://corjesusacratissimum.org/2010/...
http://corjesusacratissimum.org/2010/...
May 3, 2023
A difficult read, and an intense encounter with personal revelation and its challenges. This text is indeed disturbing—or at least it was for me and other reviewers here. How are we to draw consolation from St. Mary Margaret’s life of stringent demands and extreme mortifications?
I read this book as part of a deep dive into my own devotional life, trying to understand the relationship between my favorite obscure medieval mystics and modern devotions like the Divine Mercy, all of which orbits the Sacred Heart. And I’m glad I read it in this context, because keeping the revelations of the Sacred Heart to the women of the monastery at Helfta around the turn of the 14th century in mind was immensely helpful for me in confronting the (literally) thornier moments of St MM’s discipleship.
St Gertrude the Great and Mechthild of Magdeburg share with St MM (though at some centuries and several hundred miles remove) a practice of nuptial mysticism embedded in monastic life. In St MM’s autobiography, this context is often taken for granted, but we should not mistake Jesus here for a cruel taskmaster. St MM is compelled to do His will, but compelled by her own freely and lovingly given obedience—obedience to the same tender spouse who disclosed Himself to Gertrude and Mechthild. Remembering Jesus as he made himself known at Helfta (and in the Gospels and the lives of so many other states) helped me to enter a relationship of trust as I approached challenging moments in St MM’s journey.
Leaving aside my initial shock, I was struck by the greatness of Christ’s revelations to St MM. Jesus opens his very heart to her and to the world. There is a much stronger emphasis on sin here than at Helfta, but Jesus makes clear that he opens his heart *because* of the continued disrespect afforded him by the world and even consecrated religious. Jesus responds to the ways we wound his heart by offering it up for reparation and devotion: he gives us the chance to love what we have maimed, continuing the work of the incarnation, passion, and Eucharist.
I read this book as part of a deep dive into my own devotional life, trying to understand the relationship between my favorite obscure medieval mystics and modern devotions like the Divine Mercy, all of which orbits the Sacred Heart. And I’m glad I read it in this context, because keeping the revelations of the Sacred Heart to the women of the monastery at Helfta around the turn of the 14th century in mind was immensely helpful for me in confronting the (literally) thornier moments of St MM’s discipleship.
St Gertrude the Great and Mechthild of Magdeburg share with St MM (though at some centuries and several hundred miles remove) a practice of nuptial mysticism embedded in monastic life. In St MM’s autobiography, this context is often taken for granted, but we should not mistake Jesus here for a cruel taskmaster. St MM is compelled to do His will, but compelled by her own freely and lovingly given obedience—obedience to the same tender spouse who disclosed Himself to Gertrude and Mechthild. Remembering Jesus as he made himself known at Helfta (and in the Gospels and the lives of so many other states) helped me to enter a relationship of trust as I approached challenging moments in St MM’s journey.
Leaving aside my initial shock, I was struck by the greatness of Christ’s revelations to St MM. Jesus opens his very heart to her and to the world. There is a much stronger emphasis on sin here than at Helfta, but Jesus makes clear that he opens his heart *because* of the continued disrespect afforded him by the world and even consecrated religious. Jesus responds to the ways we wound his heart by offering it up for reparation and devotion: he gives us the chance to love what we have maimed, continuing the work of the incarnation, passion, and Eucharist.
October 4, 2021
Oh, a mystic's life is not a happy one... (With apologies to both Margaret Mary and Gilbert and Sullivan)
As always, the autobiography of any mystic must be read within the context of time and place. We can't expect St Margaret Mary to reflect third (or even second) millenium ideas and ideals; she was a product of her time and country, education and background. Let the record show: she didn't want to write all this down; she'd already been seriously misconstrued by the authorities around her, from her superior to her convent's priest to the local nobility. That's why the actual events of her life are sketchily told, whether it's the misery caused by living with a dominating termagant of a grandmother or aunt or her sufferings both physical and spiritual after joining the Visitandines. There's a lot of "well I can't go into that here, this record is already too long"; the person she was writing for had already heard all about it, either under the seal of the confessional or from the authorities who disagreed with her, so she knew she didn't have to go into detail. Like St Teresa of Avila, she was probably afraid that any written record would fall into the wrong hands and be misinterpreted, creating yet more trouble for herself. As St Teresa repeatedly said after describing some mystic experience, "But I am a woman and therefore vile, and if I am mistaken Your Grace must burn this." At that time in that place, women who could read and write were already suspect, never mind literate religious who engaged in mystical prayer!
At the end of the edition I read, there are quotations from what appear to be other writings by St Margaret Mary, though no sources are cited. Wish they had been.
As always, the autobiography of any mystic must be read within the context of time and place. We can't expect St Margaret Mary to reflect third (or even second) millenium ideas and ideals; she was a product of her time and country, education and background. Let the record show: she didn't want to write all this down; she'd already been seriously misconstrued by the authorities around her, from her superior to her convent's priest to the local nobility. That's why the actual events of her life are sketchily told, whether it's the misery caused by living with a dominating termagant of a grandmother or aunt or her sufferings both physical and spiritual after joining the Visitandines. There's a lot of "well I can't go into that here, this record is already too long"; the person she was writing for had already heard all about it, either under the seal of the confessional or from the authorities who disagreed with her, so she knew she didn't have to go into detail. Like St Teresa of Avila, she was probably afraid that any written record would fall into the wrong hands and be misinterpreted, creating yet more trouble for herself. As St Teresa repeatedly said after describing some mystic experience, "But I am a woman and therefore vile, and if I am mistaken Your Grace must burn this." At that time in that place, women who could read and write were already suspect, never mind literate religious who engaged in mystical prayer!
At the end of the edition I read, there are quotations from what appear to be other writings by St Margaret Mary, though no sources are cited. Wish they had been.
February 11, 2023
This is the autobiography of a saint who was hounded by God and who was consumed by the ardent furnace of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Holiness is a terrifying thing for mere humans.
November 20, 2018
My whole life I have heard of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but I really didn't know what it meant. So, in order to learn about it, I thought I would go to the original source - which is St. Margaret Mary. This autobiography of hers is unique among the hagiographies and religious autobiographies I have read. Parts of this book are horrific. There are other reviews on Goodreads which called this book disturbing. Not to be disrespectful to the saint, but I have to agree with that term.
Numerous times in this book, the saint makes clear that she did not want to write her story, but she was compelled to do so by Jesus. Once you read the book, you will understand why she didn't want to write it. In short, she spent her life trying to experience as much abasement and humiliation as she could in order to offer it to Jesus in reparation for sin. At one point, her self-abasement became so terrible that I had to stop reading it for several days. I really questioned the validity of her actions, and it was only after reading that Jesus told her some of her actions were "foolish" that I could continue. So, some of her self-abasement went beyond what was appropriate.
St. Margaret Mary lived in France and wrote this book in the 1600s. This book is a 1924 translation of 1600s french language and is often difficult to follow. It is not well organized. This book is just as she wrote it. It is almost free-form in structure and follows a linear timeline. I reread many parts of the book, and I feel that I still missed a lot of what she was trying to communicate. After rereading and underlining and mulling it over, I still have trouble writing a synopsis. I will have to reread the book yet again.
This book should be read only by the most devout and discerning Catholic. Non-Catholics will not understand this book at all. Some of the saint's activities are beyond the pale, and you must be spiritually mature to recognize this yourself. So, this book is not for the lukewarm Catholic either. However, if you have a lot of discernment and discrimination, you can appreciate why she was canonized. She did have visions of Jesus. She was extremely obedient to Jesus and to the superiors of her religious order. She showed us in the extreme how to make reparation for sins. She passed on to us the devotion to the Sacred Heart.
This is an important book, but it is not easy to read nor enjoyable. For my own edification on the Sacred Heart, I plan to read The Letters of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque: Apostle of the Sacred Heart and The Life of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. Maybe by reading all three I can come to a full appreciation of this saint and this devotion.
Numerous times in this book, the saint makes clear that she did not want to write her story, but she was compelled to do so by Jesus. Once you read the book, you will understand why she didn't want to write it. In short, she spent her life trying to experience as much abasement and humiliation as she could in order to offer it to Jesus in reparation for sin. At one point, her self-abasement became so terrible that I had to stop reading it for several days. I really questioned the validity of her actions, and it was only after reading that Jesus told her some of her actions were "foolish" that I could continue. So, some of her self-abasement went beyond what was appropriate.
St. Margaret Mary lived in France and wrote this book in the 1600s. This book is a 1924 translation of 1600s french language and is often difficult to follow. It is not well organized. This book is just as she wrote it. It is almost free-form in structure and follows a linear timeline. I reread many parts of the book, and I feel that I still missed a lot of what she was trying to communicate. After rereading and underlining and mulling it over, I still have trouble writing a synopsis. I will have to reread the book yet again.
This book should be read only by the most devout and discerning Catholic. Non-Catholics will not understand this book at all. Some of the saint's activities are beyond the pale, and you must be spiritually mature to recognize this yourself. So, this book is not for the lukewarm Catholic either. However, if you have a lot of discernment and discrimination, you can appreciate why she was canonized. She did have visions of Jesus. She was extremely obedient to Jesus and to the superiors of her religious order. She showed us in the extreme how to make reparation for sins. She passed on to us the devotion to the Sacred Heart.
This is an important book, but it is not easy to read nor enjoyable. For my own edification on the Sacred Heart, I plan to read The Letters of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque: Apostle of the Sacred Heart and The Life of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. Maybe by reading all three I can come to a full appreciation of this saint and this devotion.
March 22, 2015
This is the most upsetting book that I have ever read. In a frustratingly unintentional manner, it highlights one of the most disgusting problems with Christianity: it’s a perverse and unnatural religion that values misery and suffering. Instead of inspiring pity or reverence, this book inspired repulsion and anger in me. The woman who wrote this book had severe mental health problems; if she were alive today she would undoubtedly be locked up in a mental instution. However, this mentally-disturbed, masochistic, deiphilic coprophage is recoginized as a saint of the Catholic church. I don’t think it is presumptuous to assume that part of a saint’s role is to be a role model. If you’re a Catholic, please read this book and think about whether or not you can accept Saint Margaret Mary as a role model. Ask yourself how you would feel if your daughter, sister, wife or mother started eating turds in the name of Jesus. Every time you put money into a church collection, you are funding an organization that condones this kind of filth. Think about the brown, soiled lips and the shitty fetid breath of Saint Margaret Mary next time you are receiving holy communion.
July 9, 2016
Most of us cannot comprehend the extreme sufferings that St. Margaret Mary inflicted upon herself through obedience to Our Lord as reparation for sin and because she loved God so purely & selflessly.These penances,at times, are repugnant to our human nature and beyond what we can imagine willing ourselves to do. (Proving she had true conformity to God's holy will.) Her heart beat in His! Most of us will never see sin for what it really is...never see it through God's eyes, and therefore will never comprehend the severity of it and the punishment due to it. If we could...if we were blessed with this grace, we too, would wish to suffer as St. Margaret Mary wished to suffer. This is what I gleaned from the book anyway. Although not a great sufferer like St. Margaret Mary... I learned that I should at LEAST offer up my small daily irritations, anxieties, frustrations, pains, etc... and try to be resigned to God's will both in good times and in bad times.
May 25, 2016
Summary: The life of St. Margaret Mary in her own (reluctant) words.
Why I Read This: I've been exploring mercy during this "Year of Mercy". St. Margaret Mary really started the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Review: I can't say that I enjoyed this book, but I could see and understand how valuable it is. I think that her experiences were sometimes horrifying (maybe often horrifying). I also do not have her instinct for suffering. I did though, pull out some wonderful passages and meditated with them.
Why I Read This: I've been exploring mercy during this "Year of Mercy". St. Margaret Mary really started the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Review: I can't say that I enjoyed this book, but I could see and understand how valuable it is. I think that her experiences were sometimes horrifying (maybe often horrifying). I also do not have her instinct for suffering. I did though, pull out some wonderful passages and meditated with them.
October 22, 2019
I liked this spiritual work. The only thing I would suggest is not to read this on an iPad, Kindle, or other e book devices because you may have a hard time bookmarking your pages. Definitely would read this again in a format better suited for study.
September 18, 2007
Not finished yet. Tell You later
March 8, 2024
I read this with some friends recently and I used the term "harrowing" to describe it.
Not the word most people think of to describe an autobiography of a cloistered nun, but then again, it is they who fight some of the most comprehensive battles against themselves and against the great enemy of man: satan.
St. Margaret Mary's resilience, generosity, and perhaps most importantly, her desire to love and serve Christ enabled her to be shaped as gold in a refiner's fire. And that process of refinement is painful and requires the gold to be reshaped. Lest we think progress in the spiritual life is all sweetness and light, give this book a read.
(quoting Our Lord) "What hast thou, dust and ashes, in which thou canst glory?" (p. 13)
"[N]othing would be pleasing to Him, unless I did it from a motive of love and from obedience." (p. 36)
"But my ardent desire to love God enabled me to overcome all difficulties, and I was, therefore, careful to do whatever was most contrary to my inclinations and for which I felt the greatest repugnance." (p. 37)
"Although my sensitive nature felt keenly all humiliations and mortifications, I nevertheless had an insatiable desire for them." (p. 54)
"Acknowledge that thou canst do nothing without Me." (p. 55)
"Either die or conquer!" (p. 55)
"There must be no reserve in love." (p. 56)
"I wished no longer to be remembered except to be despised, humbled and insulted; for this is all that I deserve." (p. 59)
"All I wish for is Thy love and Thy Cross, that suffices for me to become a good religious, which is all I desire." (p. 61)
"The faults He reproved most severely were a want of respect and attention in presence of the Blessed Sacrament, especially during the Office and Mental Prayer; a want of uprightness and purity of intention, also vain curiosity." (p. 65)
"If would have been a great consolation to me had I been permitted to read aloud my general confession in the refectory, in order thereby to make known the depth of corruption which is in me, so that none of the favours I received might be attributed to me." (p. 69)
"I was to cling to nothing, to empty and despoil myself of everything, to love nothing but Him, in Him and for the love of Him, to see in all things naught but Him and the interests of His glory in complete forgetfulness of myself." (p. 105)
"[A]m I not sufficient for thee, I Who am thy beginning and thy last end?" (p. 107)
"He then went on to say that the cause of his suffering was his preferring his own interests to the glory of God, through too great attachment to his own reputation; secondly, a want of charity towards his brethren; and finally, too natural an affection for creatures, many proofs of which he had manifested in his spiritual dealings with them, thereby greatly displeasing God." (p. 110)
"Strike, my God! Cut, burn and consume all that is displeasing to Thee, spare neither my body, my life, my flesh, nor my blood, provided that Thou save that soul for all eternity." (p. 112)
"[H]ow displeasing to Him is the least want of obedience in the soul of a religious." (p. 116)
"[V]ictims should be innocent, and I am a criminal." (p. 120)
Not the word most people think of to describe an autobiography of a cloistered nun, but then again, it is they who fight some of the most comprehensive battles against themselves and against the great enemy of man: satan.
St. Margaret Mary's resilience, generosity, and perhaps most importantly, her desire to love and serve Christ enabled her to be shaped as gold in a refiner's fire. And that process of refinement is painful and requires the gold to be reshaped. Lest we think progress in the spiritual life is all sweetness and light, give this book a read.
(quoting Our Lord) "What hast thou, dust and ashes, in which thou canst glory?" (p. 13)
"[N]othing would be pleasing to Him, unless I did it from a motive of love and from obedience." (p. 36)
"But my ardent desire to love God enabled me to overcome all difficulties, and I was, therefore, careful to do whatever was most contrary to my inclinations and for which I felt the greatest repugnance." (p. 37)
"Although my sensitive nature felt keenly all humiliations and mortifications, I nevertheless had an insatiable desire for them." (p. 54)
"Acknowledge that thou canst do nothing without Me." (p. 55)
"Either die or conquer!" (p. 55)
"There must be no reserve in love." (p. 56)
"I wished no longer to be remembered except to be despised, humbled and insulted; for this is all that I deserve." (p. 59)
"All I wish for is Thy love and Thy Cross, that suffices for me to become a good religious, which is all I desire." (p. 61)
"The faults He reproved most severely were a want of respect and attention in presence of the Blessed Sacrament, especially during the Office and Mental Prayer; a want of uprightness and purity of intention, also vain curiosity." (p. 65)
"If would have been a great consolation to me had I been permitted to read aloud my general confession in the refectory, in order thereby to make known the depth of corruption which is in me, so that none of the favours I received might be attributed to me." (p. 69)
"I was to cling to nothing, to empty and despoil myself of everything, to love nothing but Him, in Him and for the love of Him, to see in all things naught but Him and the interests of His glory in complete forgetfulness of myself." (p. 105)
"[A]m I not sufficient for thee, I Who am thy beginning and thy last end?" (p. 107)
"He then went on to say that the cause of his suffering was his preferring his own interests to the glory of God, through too great attachment to his own reputation; secondly, a want of charity towards his brethren; and finally, too natural an affection for creatures, many proofs of which he had manifested in his spiritual dealings with them, thereby greatly displeasing God." (p. 110)
"Strike, my God! Cut, burn and consume all that is displeasing to Thee, spare neither my body, my life, my flesh, nor my blood, provided that Thou save that soul for all eternity." (p. 112)
"[H]ow displeasing to Him is the least want of obedience in the soul of a religious." (p. 116)
"[V]ictims should be innocent, and I am a criminal." (p. 120)
June 26, 2022
I deeply love the painting of Jesus showing St. Margaret Mary Alocoque his Sacred Heart (by Carlo Muccioli, 1920, Altar of the Sacred Heart at St. Peter’s Basilica). I like icons but am not particularly over interested in Sacred art- with the exception of this image. It was in a calendar I had one year and I loved it so much I framed it. I was so happy to have seen it in person a few years later in Rome.
I bought this book because of my interest in St. Margaret Mary and the Sacred Heart being instituted through her revelations with Jesus. This book is hard to read- I have had it for many years and only recently was able to finish it (primarily because last summer my family started attending Sacred Heart Parish and now are switching to a Parish named St. Margaret Mary, so I have a renewed interest). She was a soul who loved God so intensely that her scrupulously caused her great suffering and it is hard to read her recount of these trials.
The biggest takeaways for me were 1. how specific the feast of the Sacred Heart is (to be celebrated the Friday after Corpus Christi) and 2. that there are even consecrated religious who are so apathetic to their faith that they are in purgatory or the brink of hell (in which St. MM has revelations of and prays for a Benedictine and a nun intensely to be saved).
I would not recommend this book to anyone who struggles with scrupulosity. I would recommend this to people who feel an interest or devotion to the Sacred Heart as it is helpful to know the origin of which it was instituted- from loving Jesus’ desire for the salvation of mankind.
I bought this book because of my interest in St. Margaret Mary and the Sacred Heart being instituted through her revelations with Jesus. This book is hard to read- I have had it for many years and only recently was able to finish it (primarily because last summer my family started attending Sacred Heart Parish and now are switching to a Parish named St. Margaret Mary, so I have a renewed interest). She was a soul who loved God so intensely that her scrupulously caused her great suffering and it is hard to read her recount of these trials.
The biggest takeaways for me were 1. how specific the feast of the Sacred Heart is (to be celebrated the Friday after Corpus Christi) and 2. that there are even consecrated religious who are so apathetic to their faith that they are in purgatory or the brink of hell (in which St. MM has revelations of and prays for a Benedictine and a nun intensely to be saved).
I would not recommend this book to anyone who struggles with scrupulosity. I would recommend this to people who feel an interest or devotion to the Sacred Heart as it is helpful to know the origin of which it was instituted- from loving Jesus’ desire for the salvation of mankind.
November 24, 2023
The Sacred Heart is a very special devotion to me, and St. Margaret Mary has always felt like a holy sister of mine. But wow, she's intense. Her desire to suffer for Christ is something that will continue to stun you throughout her writings. But the commitment and arduous love she has for her "Sovereign Master" is amazing. It's special reading of the love affair between her and His Most Sacred Heart!
(p.s. short read!!)
(p.s. short read!!)
September 11, 2020
A Catholic classic, something like a compendium of the much later diary of Sister Maria Faustyna, who received the Divine Mercy visions. The image of Christ is common, as well as the theme of the Sacred Heart, the heart that so loves men and yet is treated with continual ingratitude, in particular by souls particularly consecrated to God.
March 20, 2023
I read this book on a whim with no prior knowledge or interest in the person of Margaret Mary Alacoque. However that changed quickly. Reading this I couldn't put the book down and I found her persona so attractive that I couldn't help but love her having read it.
November 10, 2024
A tender, poignant, and yet intense autobiographical account of Saint Margaret Mary in the 1600s and her direct conversations with Jesus Christ and His desire for devotion to His Sacred Heart. A beautiful read and deeply inspiring.
July 13, 2021
The Saint who received the revelation to spread the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
July 13, 2021
The Sacred Heart revelation 👑♥️
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December 3, 2018This book is a very powerful and intimate look at the spirituality of St. Margaret Mary as told by the saint. I hesitate to recommend the book to the casual reader as it is very intense at times and lays out conversations that the Saint has with our Lord that pertain very specifically to life as a consecrated Religious. The book is amazing and beautiful but I would keep that in mind as you read it.
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