The devotion to the Heart of Our Blessed Lord could be said to have begun on Calvary, when His Heart was pierced by a lance, and His Precious Blood issued forth. The devotion in it’s current form began in the late seventeenth century, when Our Blessed Lord appeared to a Visitation nun in a small French village called, Paray-le-Monial. There he gave four great revelations to the French nun for us all. They are listed here below:

The First Great Revelation

The first of the four Great Revelations took place on the Feast of St. John the Evangelist, 27th December, 1673.
Margaret Mary, having finished her work in the infirmary, went to adore her Divine Master in the Blessed Sacrament, exposed on the high altar. All at once she became ‘invested’ (to use her own expression) with the Divine Presence. The impression made upon her was so overpowering that it made her forget everything else — the place where she was, the passage of time, even her own personality.

Thus wrapt in ecstasy, she heard Our Lord inviting her to take the place at His side which St. John had occupied during the Last Supper. She says: ‘He made me lean for a long time on His divine breast, while He revealed to me the marvels of His love and the inexplicable secrets of His Sacred Heart — things which hitherto He had always hidden from me, but now disclosed for the first time. But He did it in so plain and so effective a manner as to leave no room for doubting it, such were the results that this grace produced in me, who am always afraid of deceiving myself with regard to what I assert to take place within me.’

“(This is how it seemed to me that the matter occurred) — He said to me: ‘My Divine Heart is so inflamed with love for men and for thee in particular, that being unable any longer to contain within Itself the flames of Its burning Charity, It must spread them abroad by thy means, and manifest Itself to them in order to enrich them with the precious treasures which are revealed to thee. These treasures contain the graces of salvation and sanctification necessary to draw men out of the abyss of perdition. I have chosen thee as an abyss of unworthiness and ignorance for the accomplishment of this great design, in order that everything may be done by Me’ .”

So it was that the King of Infinite Love made a humble nun of the Visitation at Paray-le-Monial the special object of His love, so that through her might become known the love of His Sacred Heart for men.

Christ completed this first Revelation by asking Margaret Mary for her heart — the organ associated with love in every language and culture, from time immemorial. It was, and is, the language of the Heart of Christ that Margaret would transmit to those who would open their hearts to receive it.

Infinite Love redeemed us by means of His human nature. The floodgates of that Infinite Love were opened on Calvary by the sword of Longinus. Now, seventeen centuries later, Margaret Mary Alacoque was being commissioned to make known to a world grown cold in its sinfulness, the marvels of that same Infinite Love — the centre of which is the Heart of Jesus Christ, God-made-man.

St, John had witnessed the opening of the floodgates of the Infinite — and created — Love of his Divine Master, on Calvary. The centuries from his time to that of St. Margaret Mary had given us the great Saints and Doctors of the Church, who were united in proclaiming that the Church received its Divine Life from the opened Heart of the Saviour. That same Divine Life is conveyed by means of the Sacraments to the souls of men.

So the Saint of the Visitation was not introducing a new doctrine: nothing new could be added to the Deposit of Faith which closed with the death of St John the Evangelist. She was commissioned by Christ to put before us, in a new and radiant light, the profoundly marvellous nature of the infinite and created love of His Sacred Heart for men.

From the moment the Incarnation took place, and for all eternity, the love of the God-man remains the same. The revelations which took place at Paray-le-Monial simply describe that Love in a new and intensely wonderful manner. The purpose? To appeal to the coldness and ingratitude of men towards Him Who has loved us so much.

The Second Great Revelation

The days following the first Great Revelation were difficult days for Margaret. The Divine influence on her was such that her every-day life demanded an extraordinary effort on her part. 

The spiritual taking of her heart by Christ and placing it within His own, and its subsequent return to her all aflame with Divine love — this extraordinary spiritual 

transaction caused her intense suffering. The physical proof that this had taken place was a closed wound in her side, which opened on the First Friday of each month. This physical phenomenon left no doubt in her mind as to the truth of the first Great Revelation. 

The second Great Revelation took place not long after the first — a few weeks perhaps, but not more than two months. There are grounds for believing that it took place on a Friday early in the year 1674. In a letter written to Fr. Croiset on 3rd November, 1689, Margaret Mary describes this second Revelation: 

“The Divine Heart was shown to me on a throne of flames; it was more resplendent than the sun and transparent as crystal; it had its own adorable wound, and was surrounded by a crown of thorns, signifying the stings caused by our sins, and there was a cross above it, implying that from the first moment of the Incarnation, that is to say, as soon as the Sacred Heart was formed, the Cross was planted in it, and it was filled from the first instant of its existence with all the bitterness of the humiliations, poverty, sorrow and contempt which the Sacred Humanity was to endure during the whole course of Its life, and in His Sacred Passion. 

“He showed me, also, that the ardent desire that he had of being loved by men and of rescuing them from the path of perdition where Satan drags them in crowds, had made him form the design of manifesting His Heart to them, with all the treasures of love, of mercy, of graces, of sanctification and salvation which It contains, in order that He might enrich all who were willing to render to it, and procure for it, all the love, honour, and glory in their power, with the profusion of these Divine treasures of the Heart of a God from which they spring. 

“He told me that this Heart was to be honoured under the form of heart of flesh, the picture of which he wished to be exposed and worn by me on my heart, in order to impress its love upon my heart, and fill it with all the gifts with which this Heart is full, and so destroy all irregular movements within it. He said that wherever this picture (or image) should be exposed and honoured, he would lavish his graces and blessings. 

“This was, as it were, a final effort of his love; He wanted to bestow upon men during these final centuries such loving redemption in order to snatch them from the control of Satan, whose influence he intended to destroy. He willed to place us under the sweet freedom of the dominion of his love, which he wished to re-establish in the hearts of all those willing to practise this devotion.” 

During the first Great Revelation to Margaret Mary in 1673, our Divine Lord laid the foundation of devotion to the Sacred Heart by revealing to her the source and origin of the devotion, which is his love for mankind — a love so passionately intense that He is unable, any longer, to contain it within Himself. In this way He desires, through His servant Margaret Mary, to make it known to the world with all the infinite treasures it offers to men. 

On the occasion of the second Great Revelation, Christ goes a step further and reveals to the Saint the Object of this devotion, and the pious practices accompanying it. The Object is His Heart of flesh, the centre and symbol of His love, on which are visible the instruments of His Passion. The Cross implanted on the top, the thorns encircling it, and the wound — all speak of His sufferings, embraced for love of men. 

The response He requires is a love which will express itself in acts of reparation. A reminder of our commitment to this love and reparation is the wearing of a badge or medal or representation of His Sacred Heart. This serves to help the wearer, as well as the beholder, of the love He bears to us and the response He longs for from us. Love and suffering, sin and the need for reparation — these are the all-important facts which our Saviour put before His humble messenger, St. Margaret Mary. 

But this was only part of the sublime message to Mankind. Two more Revelations would follow. These would complete the designs of of His Sacred Heart: to draw the multitudes to the “Fount of Love and Mercy”.

The Third Great Revelation

The date of the third Great Revelation is uncertain. St. Margaret Mary tells us only that it took place when the Blessed Sacrament was exposed, and seems to suggest that it took place on a Friday. That Friday was probably within the Octave of Corpus Christi, early in June, 1674. The following is her own account of what happened: 

“On one occasion, whilst the Blessed Sacrament was exposed, I felt wholly drawn within myself by an extraordinary recollection of all my senses and powers. Jesus Christ, my gentle Master, presented Himself to me, all resplendent with glory, His five wounds shining like so many suns. From His sacred Humanity issued flames 

on all sides, especially from His adorable Breast, which resembled a furnace, and which was open, disclosing to me His most loving and most lovable Heart, the living source of these flames. 

“It was then that He discovered to me the unspeakable wonders of His pure love, and to what excess He had gone in loving men, from whom He received only ingratitude and neglect, ‘which I feel much more (He said) than all that I suffered in my Passion. If only they made Me some return for my love, I should think but little of all that I have done for them, and should wish, if it were possible, to do even more. But they have only coldness and rebuffs to give Me in return for all my eagerness to do them good. Do thou at least give Me consolation by making up for their ingratitude as far as thou art able’’. 

“I reminded him of my weakness, and He replied: ‘Here is what will make good all that is wanting in thee’. At the same time, His Sacred Heart being opened, there issued from it a flame so hot that I thought to be consumed by it, for I was penetrated by its heat, and being no longer able to endure it, I besought Him to take pity upon my weakness. ‘I will be thy strength’ was His reply, ‘fear nothing, but listen to My voice and attend to what I require of thee to fit thee for the accomplishment of My designs. 

‘In the first place, thou shalt receive Me in the Blessed Sacrament as often as obedience will allow thee, no matter what mortifications and humiliation may result to thee, but they must be regarded as Pledges of My love. Moreover, thou shalt receive Me in Holy Communion on the First Friday of each month, and every Thursday night I will make thee share the heavy sorrow that it was My will to feel in the Garden of Olives. This sadness will bring thee, without thy comprehension, to a state of agony, harder to bear than death. 

‘‘In order to be with me in that humble prayer which I then offered to My Father in the midst of My agony, thou shalt rise between eleven o’clock and midnight, so as to lie prostrate with Me for an hour, with thy face on the ground, both to appease God’s anger, and ask mercy for sinners, and also to sweeten in some measure the bitterness that I felt when abandoned by My Apostles, who forced Me to reproach them with not being able to watch with Me one hour. During this hour thou shalt do what I will teach thee. 

‘But listen, my daughter, and do not lightly believe or trust every spirit, for Satan is eager to deceive thee. Wherefore do nothing without the approval of those who guide thee, in order that, having the authority of obedience, thou mayst not be misled by him, for he hath no power over those who are obedient’.” (All quoted from St. Margaret Mary by Monsignor Demimuid, D.Litt.) 

The Fourth Great Revelation

“I have longed to eat the Passover with you before I suffer” (Luke VI: 15) 

The first three Great Revelations had followed one another at comparatively short intervals, but a whole year elapsed between the Third and Fourth. St. Margaret Mary says that it took place within the Octave of Corpus Christi, in the year 1675, and we know that on that year the Feast fell on 13th June. Therefore the Revelation took place sometime between 13th and 20th June, 1675. St. Margaret Mary gives us the following account of this final Revelation: 

“Being on one occasion before the Blessed Sacrament, one day during its Octave, I received from my God excessive tokens of his love, and felt myself desirous to make some return and to render Him Love for love; then he said to me: ‘Thou canst not make Me any better return than by doing what I have so often asked of thee’. Then, uncovering His Divine Heart, He said: ‘Behold this Heart which hath so much loved men, that It hath spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming Itself, in order to give them testimony of Its love, and in return I mostly receive only ingratitude, through their irreverence and sacrilege, and through the coldness and scorn that they have for Me in this Sacrament of love. What causes Me most sorrow is that there are hearts consecrated to Me who treat me thus. Therefore I ask of thee that the first Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christi be set apart for a special Feast in honour of My Heart, by communicating on that day, and by making it solemn reparation and honourable amends to make good the insults that It receives during the time when it is exposed on the altars. I promise thee also that My Heart shall deign to shed abundantly the influence of Its Divine love upon those who render It this honour and induce others so to honour it’.” (Quotation from St. Margaret Mary by Monsignor Demimuid, Doctor of Literature.) 

(Taken from: Father Denis J. Cronin’s, The Love of Christ as made known at Paray-le-Monial, 1983.)