SR. MARIE DE JESUS (1797-1854)
STATUS:
apparently she was approved by the Archbishop of Paris Mgr de Quélen
(1778-1839)
(Image: a
nun at work at the old convent des Oiseaux in the Rue de Sèvres
where Sr. Marie entered religious life. Image Credit: Paris Musées
Website Online Collection)
Sr. Marie de Jesus' visions of the
Sacred Heart as well as those of St. Margaret Mary became instrumental in inspiring France to build
the great basilica of Sacre Coeur in Paris when the Jesuit priest and
theologian, Fr. Marin de Boylesev, wrote a pamphlet entitled 'The
Triumph of the France by the Heart of Jesus' recounting the visions of the Sacred Heart to the two mystics.
Few in Belgium where Fr. Boylesve was stationed had even heard of the request by the Sacred Heart regarding a national consecration of France and the call to build a national shrine -- his booklet sold 330,000 several thousand copies, meaning it was a huge bestseller of the times. It rapidly spread devotion to the Sacred Heart and the call to build the Basillica.
Few in Belgium where Fr. Boylesve was stationed had even heard of the request by the Sacred Heart regarding a national consecration of France and the call to build a national shrine -- his booklet sold 330,000 several thousand copies, meaning it was a huge bestseller of the times. It rapidly spread devotion to the Sacred Heart and the call to build the Basillica.
I have not fond many details on St.
Marie herself, she was compelled under obedience to write her
autobiography, but I have not found a copy of it, it is possible it
was not widely published, however, there are short biographies of her
on French sites and a synopsis of the important vision.
Laure (her
baptismal name) was born in Bougival March 15, 1797 and grew up in a
poor family in the Paris suburbs, surrounded by her six brothers and
sisters. Orphaned at eight years old, she was taken in by
one of her aunts in Paris, Mme Denys, and her husband, who brought her up in
the Faith. In the account of her life which she wrote later out of
obedience, she revealed that from an early age she was favoured with
extraordinary graces, adding to her great piety an exemplary charity.
She made her First Communion at eleven years old, young for the
time,and soon she was allowed to take Communion every month, then
every fortnight, and finally several times a week.
Very
assiduous in the offices celebrated in his parish, she was entrusted
with the direction of the choir. She also experience five years of
spiritual trials, from darkness, desolation,and violent temptations,
after which she fell seriously ill. She would tell her confessor
Father Ronsin (1771-1846) that throughout this period, she only found
help in Holy Communion, during which the Lord: "appeared to her
soul all radiant with glory. She saw him in the midst of a dazzling
light, which only allowed her to perceive His Divine Face full of
gentleness and majesty; and, in His breast, His adorable Heart,
surrounded by fiery flames and all burning with love ".
This
attraction for the Heart of Jesus was revealed in 1814, when she
discovered the 'Consecration of
France to the Sacred Heart of Jesus', a prayer attributed to
Father Lambert which circulated at that time throughout the country,
and she began to devoutly recite it everyday. A few years later,
when the city of Poitiers was consecrated to the Sacred Heart, it is
said that she sighed: "Ah! If the whole of France could enjoy
the same happiness!" This became her one hope and desire for
France.
In August 1822, still seriously ill, she entered the Confrérie du Sacré-Coeur. (Confraternity of the Sacred Heart). The graces she receives from Heaven intensify. Father Ronsin described one of her ecstasies:
“Sunk in an ocean of light, she clearly saw in it the desires of this adorable Heart all aflame with love for men, and the particular designs of Its mercy for France. It was said to her and often repeated to her by Jesus Christ himself, in her ecstasies, that the vow of Consecration of France to the Sacred Heart attributed to Louis XVI, was truly his; that it was he himself who had composed and pronounced it. The Divine Saviour had added that He ardently desired that this wish be carried out, that is to say that the King consecrated his family and his whole kingdom to His Divine Heart, as Louis XIII formerly to the Blessed Virgin; that he should have the feast celebrated solemnly and universally every year, on the Friday after the octave of the Blessed Sacrament, and that finally he had a chapel built and an altar erected in His honour."
While she miraculously recovered in January 1823, Fr. Ronsin proposed to the Rev. Mother Sophie, Superior of the Maison des Oiseaux, to receive her for a few days, which is how she entered this convent in rue de Sèvres on January 27, and soon asked to join the Community. On February 10, she was admitted as a postulant, and took the name of Mary of Jesus. On June 21, a new revelation from the Lord confirms the request received the previous year:
“France is always very dear to my Heart, and it will be consecrated to it. But it must be the King himself who consecrates his person, his family and his whole kingdom to My Divine Heart; and that he have done for It, as I have already said, raise an altar like one raised in honour of France of the Blessed Virgin. I am preparing for France a deluge of graces, when it will be consecrated to my Divine Heart.”
One year later, on June 24, 1824, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, she made her final vows. Under her humble radiance, devotion to the Sacred Heart extends to the whole monastery, while physical suffering never leaves her. Appointed sacristan after 1830, Mother Marie de Jesus did not leave this job until a year before her death. His spiritual guide, and Mgr de Quélen (1778-1839), Archbishop of Paris, will agree to recognize in her soul the action of the Spirit of God. Father Varin SJ wrote about her: "It is without comparison like the Blessed Virgin: not only can we look at her, but we must look at her, because it is not a physiognomy of the earth". She died on January 15, 1854, after a short but sweet agony.
Of
importance,we see The Sacred Heart declares France will not have the Reign
of the Sacred Heart, the promised graces and Age of Peace until the
King himself consecrates France himself and the royal family to the
Sacred Heart. In the meantime, Christ allowed the Republic build
Sacre Coeur, but it must be the King of France who accomplishes the actual
consecration of the nation. No president can do this! However, we
see through the visions of Marie-Julie Jahenny, Ven. Josepha of
Bourg, the 'Ecstatic of Tours' and Sr. Marie Lataste, that the Sacred
Heart has already chosen the king destined to fulfil His wishes
for France and that this king will be 'returned'.
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