The sanctuary of the Sacred Heart in Fontana is celebrating 100 years of the canonisation of Sr Margaret Mary Alacoque.

She was declared saint by Pope Benedict XV on May 13, 1920. To commemorate this event Canon Geoffrey George Attard will lead a concelebrated Mass on Sunday at 4.30pm.

Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque was a French Roman Catholic Visitation nun and mystic. She received several private revelations of the Sacred Heart, the first on December 27, 1673 and the final one 18 months later.

The visions revealed to her various forms of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, including the Holy Communion on the First Friday of each month, eucharistic adoration on Thursdays, and the celebration of the solemnity of the Sacred Heart on Friday after the feast of Corpus Christi.

Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque was initially rebuffed by her mother superior and was unable to convince theologians of the authenticity of her visions. A noted exception was the Jesuit Saint Claude de la Colombière, who supported her.

The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was officially recognised 75 years after Alacoque’s death.

Fontana sanctuary boasts three paintings of the saint by Lazzaro Pisani, R. Caruana Dingli and Giovanni Battista Conti and a statue by Gozitan statuarian Agostino Camilleri.

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