Catholic Fire

"Could you but realize what happiness it is to love the Sacred Heart of Jesus, you would despise all else to love but It alone." ~Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, Life and Writings, II, 678

This was the brilliant and saintly priest of the Society of Jesus who was the spiritual director and complete support of Saint Margaret Mary in establishing devotion to the Sacred heart of Jesus. He died eight years before Saint Margaret Mary, when he was only forty-one years old, but he let her know how pleasing to God was her work, to propagate devotion to the Sacred Heart, and also told her how welcome she would be in Heaven. In one of the apparitions of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary, Our Lord referred to Blessed Claude de la Colombiere as "My faithful servant and perfect friend." (Via St. Michael Center.) Despair Prayer (Prayer for God's Mercy and Pardon for Sin) Lord, I am in this world to show Your mercy to others. Other people will glorify You by making visible the power of Your grace by their fidelity and constancy to You. For my part I will glorify You by making known how good You are to sinners, that Your mercy is boundless and that no sinner no matter how ...

To read St. Margaret Mary's biography and the twelve promises of the Sacred Heart, go here to last year's post. Here are a couple of my favorite quotes from St. Margaret Mary: "What a weakness it is to love Jesus Christ only when He caresses us, and to be cold immediately once He afflicts us. This is not true love. Those who love thus, love themselves too much to love God with all their heart." "The Divine Heart is an ocean full of all good things, wherein poor souls can cast all their needs; it is an ocean full of joy to drown all our sadness, an ocean of humility to drown our folly, an ocean of mercy to those in distress, an ocean of love in which to submerge our poverty."

"What a weakness it is to love Jesus Christ only when He caresses us, and to be cold immediately once He afflicts us. This is not true love. Those who love thus, love themselves too much to love God with all their heart." ~ St. Margaret Mary Alacoque