10/23/2023
On display The Simon Kramer Cancer Institute.
Art by Martin Heffron.
Marguerite Marie Alacoque 1647~1690
Was a French Roman Catholic visitation Nun & mystic whose apparitions promoted the devotion to the sacred heart of Jesus Christ.
In her visions she was directed by Christ to arouse in the church the realization of God‘s love for mankind as symbolized by the exposed burning heart of Jesus. She devoted herself to charitable works, visiting the sick and poor at home offering care and prayer, as was expected of a cloistered nun, All while living a life of sickness and enduring her own suffering and past painful home situation.
St. Margaret Mary was canonized by Pope Benedict XV in 1920 and in 1929 liturgical commemoration was included in the Roman catholic calendar of saints with a feast day designated for October 16. She is considered the patron saint of those devoted to the Sacred Heart, of Polio-patients and against the death of parents.
“Nothing can make me happy here {in mortal life}, except to see the divine heart of my Lord Jesus Christ loved, honored and glorified, and to have the good fortune of being able to be consumed and suffering for his love“
Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in writing about her many visions felt as if she was “invested with the presence of God, and that she needed nothing but God,
and to lose herself in the heart of Jesus”the Sculpted depiction here at the Simon Kramer Cancer Institute’s Chapel is a dramatic visual reminder of her visions of God’s love for us and hopefully it encourages everyone regardless of religious affiliation, culture or heritage that through an intentional, devotional approach to love for God and everyone we share this life with, all things are possible.
Martin Heffron
Artist/Sculptor
16 Oct.2023
