MARGARET OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT, VEN.

Discalced Carmelite nun and promotor of the devotion of the Divine Infancy (name in the world, Margarite Parigot); b. Beaune, France, 1619; d. Beaune, May 26, 1648. When she was 11 years old she received her first Holy Communion; she took the Discalced Carmelite habit in the convent of her native city on June 6, 1631, and was professed June 24, 1634, with the name of Margaret of the Blessed Sacrament. The wise and prudent direction of two Oratorians, Fathers Parisot (1637–43) and Blase Chaduc (1643–48), greatly aided her spiritual progress. She was the main apostle of devotion to the Infancy of Jesus that rapidly spread throughout France. She died a holy death; her cause for beatification was immediately introduced. The Congregation of Rites has decreed the heroicity of her virtues (Dec. 10, 1905), the first step toward eventual beatification, which is still under consideration.

Although she wrote nothing, her spiritual message soon had extraordinary success in the Church, especially in France, through the active and intelligent cooperation of her prioress, Mother Elizabeth of the Trinity (Quatreverbes), who gathered her spiritual experiences and confidences for publication (1631–40). This work has been the source of numerous biographies translated into the principal European languages.

Bibliography: d. amelote, La Vie de Soeur Marguerite du Saint Sacrement (Paris 1654). antoine-marie de la prÉsentation, La Vénérable servant de Dieu: Soeur Marguerite du S. Sacrement (Bar-le-Duc 1929). j. auvray, L'Enfance de Jésus et sa famille, honorées en la vie du Soeur Marguerite du Saint Sacrement (Paris 1654). p. fliche, Année de l'Enfant Jésus, d'après les instructions de la Soeur Marguerite du Saint-Sacrement (Paris 1866).

[o. rodriguez]