Guard of Honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

At the start of the year, 1687, St. Margaret Mary writes to her brother, Father James, parish priest at Bois-Sainte-Marie. Understandably, she loves her brother and she wants him to be holy. Basic instructions to holiness that St. Margaret Mary offers to her brother, we can apply in our own lives. Holiness is meant for all of us. What does she tell him: this world is a “vale of misery and tears.” St. Margaret repeats the words of the Salve Regina, “to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears…” And all is “vanity and affliction to the spirit” alluding to St. John’s letter (1 John 2:15-17). She restates a basic Biblical teaching taught to us as repeated by the Catholic Church, “only to serve and love God alone.” St. Margaret Mary advises her brother to eliminate three things: 1.) attachment to earthly things, especially, pleasure. She expresses this in terms of “attachments” –she does not say pleasure is bad, rather the attachment to pleasure and she adds gambling, suggesting a weakness of her brother. Gambling represents the category of addictions and so we can think of our own addictions that we need to combat or overcome, whether it being a “shopaholic,” food or social media addict, and the many others… 2.) St. Margaret Mary also talks about everything superfluous in dress and personal habits, distinguishing between the necessary and unnecessary—how many outfits do we need? And she adds that the money that is saved can go to the poor. 3.) Not to be “mixed up” in the things of the world means not to allow any “willful self-indulgence.” In other words, not to be “worldly” and this also echoes St. John’s letter (1 John 2:15-17). Our desires should be directed towards pleasing God rather than what pleases the world. She reminds her brother to devote himself entirely to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. As members of the Guards of Honour of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, this letter is intended for each one of us.