Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Montevideo (Agenzia Fides) - The relics of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque are scheduled to arrive in Uruguay on Monday, March 31, and will spend 3 months travelling through the country, bringing messages of love and hope. The Church in Uruguay has been preparing for this great event for months, in collaboration with the Sisters of the Visitation Order, of which Saint Margaret Mary was a member. The saint’s relics will be escorted by the Superior of the Chaplains of the Sanctuaries at Paray-le-Monial, Father Edouard Marot, and the main collaborator and organizer of these visits, Sister Alicia Beauvisage.
The relics of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque have been on a world tour since 2002, proclaiming to the nations the love of God that is present in us and penetrates us to the very depths of our being. Since then, they have been visiting various countries throughout Europe (Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Poland, Ireland, and France), Oceania (Australia), and the Americas (Mexico, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, Colombia, and the United States). Many of these trips included consecrations of the country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in the presence of the relics.
Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque was a cloistered nun of the Visitation Order at the Monastery of Paray-le-Monial (France) in the 17th century. She received revelations from the Lord, entrusting to her the mission of spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart within the Universal Church, establishing its feast on the Friday following the octave of the Feast of Corpus Christi, and the practice of the nine first Fridays, as well as the Holy Hours. Following a life of complete dedication to the fulfillment of what the Lord asked of her, she returned to the Father’s House on October 17, 1690, at 43 years of age. She was beatified by Blessed Pius IX on September 18, 1864 and canonized by Pope Benedict XV on May 13, 1920. Her liturgical feast is October 16. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 27/3/2008; righe 25, parole 331)
