Our Pilgrimage Saints
Margaret Mary Alocoque
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647–1690) is best known as the chosen messenger of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Born in Burgundy, France, she was marked from childhood by deep devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and a strong interior call to religious life. After entering the Visitation convent at Paray-le-Monial in 1671, her hidden life of prayer and suffering prepared her for the extraordinary mission entrusted to her.
Between 1673 and 1675, Jesus appeared to Margaret Mary in a series of profound visions, revealing His Sacred Heart burning with love for humanity yet wounded by indifference and sin. The most famous apparition took place in June 1675, when the Lord showed her His Heart encircled with thorns and surmounted by a cross, saying: “Behold this Heart which has so loved men, and yet is so little loved in return.” He asked for a feast in honour of His Sacred Heart, with Holy Communion on the First Fridays, as acts of reparation and love.
Despite opposition, Margaret Mary, with the support of her confessor St. Claude de la Colombière, faithfully spread devotion to the Sacred Heart. She died in Paray-le-Monial in 1690, and her mission bore fruit a century later when Pope Pius IX established the Feast of the Sacred Heart for the universal Church.
Today, pilgrims to Paray-le-Monial can visit the Visitation Chapel where the apparitions occurred, pray before the reliquary of St. Margaret Mary, and contemplate the mystery of Christ’s burning love. The town has become a worldwide centre of Sacred Heart devotion, inviting every visitor to rediscover the mercy of Jesus and to respond with trust, reparation, and love.
St. Bernadette Soubirous: From Lourdes to Nevers
St. Bernadette Soubirous (1844–1879) was born into a poor miller’s family in Lourdes, France. Frail in health and unable to read or write well, she lived a hidden and humble life. On 11 February 1858, at the age of 14, while gathering firewood with her sister and a friend, Bernadette experienced the first of 18 apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the grotto of Massabielle.
During these encounters, the “beautiful Lady” revealed herself as the Immaculate Conception and asked for prayer, penance, and processions. She also pointed to a spring of water that has since become a source of healing for countless pilgrims. Despite initial scepticism and much questioning, Bernadette’s simplicity, honesty, and steadfastness convinced the Church of the authenticity of her testimony. Lourdes soon became one of the most important Marian shrines in the world.
Desiring to remain hidden, Bernadette entered the Sisters of Charity of Nevers in 1866. In the quiet convent, far from the attention of Lourdes, she embraced a life of service and prayer. Though she never returned to the grotto, she carried within her the grace of those encounters with Our Lady. Suffering from asthma, tuberculosis, and chronic pain, she offered her illness as a sacrifice of love.
Bernadette died at Nevers on 16 April 1879 at the age of 35. Her body, discovered incorrupt during the exhumations, rests today in a glass reliquary at the Chapel of St. Gildard in Nevers. Pilgrims who visit can pray before her, encountering the same humility and faith that marked her life.
St. Bernadette reminds us that holiness is found not in great deeds, but in simplicity, obedience, and trust in God. Nevers, where she lived and died, remains a place of quiet grace for pilgrims seeking deeper faith.
