St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690)

Born in France, she studied with the Poor Clares. In 1671 she entered the Visitation convent at Paray-le-Monial. From age twenty she experienced visions of Christ. In 1673 she experienced a series of revelations that lasted for eighteen months. In these, Christ told her that she was to be the means of spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart. Rebuffed by her superior, she eventually won her over but was unable to convince a group of theologians. She received the support of St. Claude La Colombiere, the community’s confessor, who declared that the visions were genuine. She later became Novice Mistress, and the convent began to observe the feast of the Sacred Heart privately in 1686. In 1688, a chapel was built for the Sacred Heart. Observation of the feast spread to other Visitation convents. Margaret Mary was canonized in 1920. She, St. John Eudes, and Blessed Claude La Colombiere are called the “Saints of the Sacred Heart”; the devotion was officially recognized and approved by Pope Clement XIII in 1765. In 1856 Pope Blessed Pius IX made it a universal feast.

(From Catholic online).