Page:A Dictionary of Saintly Women Volume 2.djvu/41

29 ST. MARIAMNA 29 agamst ecstatic nans in general, and Margaret came in for a share of the popular dislike and persecution, but her perseverance was rewarded with increase of grace. "Such wonderful things are recounted of this illustrions virgin," says the Biografia Ecdesiastica, there is no doubt she would be placed in the category of the saints." Da^a and dn Monslier speak of her as " Blessed " and ** a holy virgin." B. Margaret (34), abbess of Val de Grace in Paris, Aug. 16, 1580-1626, was bom at Yillemont; daughter of Gilbert de Veynes d'Arbouze, of the ancient house of Yillemont, and Jeanne de Pinac, daughter of Peter, viceroy of Burgundy. Margaret took the veil at St. Peter's at Laon. Seeking for the severest rule, she first joined the Capu- chinesses or Passionists, then the bare- footed Carmelites ; afterwards the Bene- dictine nnns of Mont des Martyrs. Louis XIII. heard of her sanctity and, in 1618, appointed her abbess of Yal de Grace. She obeyed the royal behest somewhat unwillingly. When she ar- rived at her new house and was ioangu- rated, she found that a room had been handsomely and comfortably fitted up for her. She sent for a ladder and began at once to pull down all the silken hangings, and banished from her cell everything but the plainest and most necessary articles. She practised in her own person all the austerities she required of those under her rule and soon reformed the convent. Her holiness was rewarded with the gifts of prophecy and miracles. She resigned her post in 1626 and died at S6ry in Berri, the same year. Catherine, princess of Lorraine, abbess of Bemiremont, was her disciple and the authority for many of the facts recorded of her. Bncelinus. Hugo Menard. Biografia Ecclesiastica, B. Margaret (35) Mary Alacoque, Oct. 17, 1647-1690. Founder of the devotion to the Sacred Heart. Eepre- sented holding a heart, or a picture of a heart, encircled with a wreath of thorns and surmounted by a cross. She was bom at Lauthecour, in Charolois, Bur- gundy. She was christened Margaret, to which at her confirmation she added the name of Mary. She was for a time discontented with her station, desiring riches and distinction for herself, but she found that nothing but the love of Christ could bring her any satisfaction. At twenty-three, she became a nun at Pa- ray-le-Monial, in Charolois, of the Order of the Yisitation, founded by Jane ( 1 9). She was for a long time mistress of the novices and was much beloved by them. She was the first to establish a general devotion to the heart of Jesus as a special object of worship; she did so in consequence of visions and revela- tions, which are described at great length by her biographer. The object of this devotion is to acknowledge the love of Christ to His people and to make amends to Him for the indignities to which He submitted for their sake during His life on earth, and to which He is still subject in the Sacrament; and to make up, by the greater love of His devotees, for the ingratitude of those who forget and neglect Him. The festival is held on the Friday after the octave of Corpus Cbristi. She met with great opposition, es- pecially in her own convent and diocese, which were the last in France t ) receive the Sacred Heart as a separate object of devotion. Immediately after her death, she was regarded as a saint, and miracles were performed at her tomb. She was beatified in 1864. In 1726, three hundred societies of the Sacred Heart had been established in difierent parts of Europe and in India and China. Saints and Servants of Ood, published by the Fathers of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. Analecta, St Mariamna (i), Feb. 17, Y. Sister of St Philip the apostle. She is not commemorated in the Western Church, but honoured in the Menea with the title of "Equal of the Apostles." After the ascension of the Lord, dhe accompanied her brother and St. Bar- tholomew to Hierapolis, in Phrygia, where idols were worshipped in magni- ficent temples. In one of these temples a viper was kept in a shrine and re- ceived divine honours. The preaching of the three saints put a stop to idol
 * that if they were properly proven,