Over the course of the two days, more than 1,200 faithful from throughout the diocese and beyond came to venerate the relics and spend time with the Lord in prayer. Having the opportunity to venerate these relics, seek St. Margaret Mary’s intercession, and learn about her life, revealed to many that sainthood isn’t out of reach.  

“It was a great blessing for our parish to host these relics,” said Father Anthony Ustick, pastor of St. Timothy Catholic Church. “Often, we can think of saints as so much greater than ourselves and separated in so many ways. Opportunities like this one can make the individual saint more ‘real’ to us, but it also gives us the opportunity to see holiness as something which is possible.”

As the relic visit began with morning Mass, there was something deeply special about the opportunity to participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass while in the presence of the relics of someone who spent her entire life living in and living out the love of Jesus. The readings that morning described putting on the armor of God and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque is a prime example of someone who did that well.  

“She faced a lot of criticism, faced a lot of strong misunderstandings even from her own sisters and superiors, but she knew He holds onto the truth,” said Father Tamil Selvam, parochial vicar at St. Timothy Catholic Church. “She knew Jesus was on her side. She put on the armor of Christ.”

In St. Margaret Mary’s life, she was surrounded by difficulties. As a child, she and her mother dealt with severe illness. When she later desired to enter religious life, she received extreme pushback from her family as they continuously tried to talk her out of it or push her to communities that were not where the Lord was calling her. Following her entrance into the Order of the Visitation nuns when she was 24, she received criticism and harsh correction from her fellow sisters and superiors. Even as she received visions from Christ, she was met with unbelief, claims that she was delusional, and consistent reports that she was an impostor. Nevertheless, she persisted out of love for the Lord.

The Sacred Heart is not simply an image she received, but rather an invitation. It is an invitation to receive the love of God and the mercy He wishes to bestow on the faithful. Everything St. Margaret Mary saw in her visions began with the Eucharist – where the Heart of Jesus is present here on earth. Each vision she received came while in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. She often spoke of the Eucharist being a source of peace and one of the requests Jesus made to her was to frequently and lovingly receive Holy Communion and to pray a weekly holy hour. In recognition of this important element, all were invited to stop in the chapel for adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.

On the second evening of the relic visit, the parish hosted a Mercy Night, a time to focus on the mercy of God through personal testimonies, music, adoration, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It is in the mercy of God that the love of Christ is poured out, and this was an opportunity to encounter this deep love.

“He’s going through the suffering of the cross and I think He is just begging for his side to be opened,” Paul Perez reflected at the beginning of Mercy Night. Paul and his wife, Anne, are members of the Emmanuel Community, a lay international Catholic community focused on prayer and evangelization, and they coordinated with the Knights of Columbus as well as those in charge of the relics in France to bring these to Florida. “He wants His mercy, His blood and water – where the sacraments come from, where His love comes from – to be poured out onto those He loves.”

The night continued into a time of Eucharistic adoration and confessions were offered. Talk of mercy and encountering the Lord resonated with those present as many were moved to tears and dozens lined up to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The relics remained available to be venerated and those present spent time before them seeking St. Margaret Mary’s intercession.

Many remarked as they concluded their time at the parish over the two-day relic visit that the experience was “beautiful,” “eye-opening,” “a remarkable encounter,” and “makes [them] want to pray more and reflect on the mercy of the Sacred Heart.”

This wasn’t just an encounter with a saint; this was an encounter with Jesus that reminded everyone of what loving the Lord is really about: nothing grandiose but simply choosing Him over and over.

“The gift, the opportunity, the challenge of that mercy is that we become ones who are willing to encounter it, especially when we don’t want to,” said Father Ustick. “To make choices for God at times when it may not be convenient.”  

While everyone has moments of not choosing God, the sacrament provides the opportunity to begin again.  

It was this time of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament that was the heart of St. Margaret Mary’s life and the heart of the night.  

“My greatest joy is to be before the Blessed Sacrament, where my heart is, as it were, in its center,” St. Margaret Mary said in her writings.

“She understood and saw the Eucharist for what it truly is,” explained Father Ustick. “She shows us what could be possible if we can begin to understand and see the Eucharist for what it really is as well.”

St. Margaret Mary’s love for Jesus and understanding of His Sacred Heart provide a framework for the way that the faithful today can do the same. Her holiness didn’t come from being better than those around her, but rather from the repeated decision to follow Christ – something everyone can strive to do. Adoration and Mass are available every day of the week, and there is always an opportunity to choose to spend time with the Lord. One doesn’t stumble into holiness; it’s an intentional choice.

The relics may no longer be present in our diocese, but that doesn’t mean the impact of St. Margaret Mary goes away. By nature of being a saint in heaven, she is someone whose intercession can be sought at any time. We can ask for her intercession that we can draw close to Christ and love Him as she did. We can receive Communion and pray before the Blessed Sacrament in adoration frequently, go to confession regularly, and allow our hearts to be transformed by Jesus as we strive for sainthood, even if it isn’t easy.

“My prayer for this has been and is that people encounter the Sacred Heart and have that experience of His great mercy along with understanding that holiness is real and is something God is calling them to,” said Father Ustick.

As St. Margaret Mary said in the final moment of her life, “I need nothing but God, and to lose myself in the heart of Jesus.”

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