A Jesuits Heritage Revisited

At the end of February 1675—exactly 350 years ago—the Jesuit from Lyon Claude La Colombière SJ was sent to Paray-le-Monial, entrusted among other missions with serving as confessor to the Visitandine sisters.

He soon met the young Visitation nun Marguerite-Marie Alacoque, who was experiencing the major apparitions of the Heart of Jesus. While the community’s superior and novice mistress questioned the psychological and spiritual balance of their sister, La Colombière quickly reassured her and confirmed the authenticity of her experience. His discernment did not stem from extraordinary graces, but from the light of the Spiritual Exercises and the deep interior formation he had just completed during the Third Probation, including the full 30-day retreat. It was this Ignatian grounding that allowed him to accompany her with clarity and assurance.

By the end of the 17th century, Claude La Colombière had become known as “the apostle of trust” and “the apostle of the Heart of Jesus.” Thanks to his discernment, the decisive spiritual experience of the young Visitandine was recognised; and after his death, his spiritual notes helped to spread the messages and calls of the Lord transmitted through St Margaret Mary.

A Renewal of Jesuit Commitment to the Sacred Heart

In 2024, two major events highlighted once again this spiritual dynamic so deeply rooted in the Society of Jesus and still relevant for JCEP and the wider Church today.

• On 22 September 2024, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Fr Arturo Sosa SJ, made a pilgrimage to Paray-le-Monial. In the Chapel of the Apparitions, he renewed the consecration of the entire Society to the Heart of Jesus, a gesture that resonates deeply with the European provinces and their mission of reconciliation and hope.

• One month later, Pope Francis published the encyclical Dilexit nos, a landmark document reminding the whole Church of the fundamental importance of the Heart of Jesus. The Pope explicitly highlights the intrinsic connection between Ignatian spirituality and the spirituality of the Heart:
  “It is important to note how, in the spirituality of La Colombière, we find a beautiful synthesis between the rich and magnificent spiritual experience of Saint Margaret Mary and the very concrete contemplation of the Ignatian Exercises.” (Dilexit nos, §128)

A Spiritual Heritage for Today’s Mission

This link—often unknown today—offers a fresh opportunity to rediscover a rich spiritual tradition meant for everyone and oriented toward the good of all. For JCEP and the European Jesuit provinces, this anniversary is an invitation to revisit a heritage that continues to nourish discernment, accompaniment, and mission in an increasingly complex world.

As the Vatican wrote in a message to the bishops of France gathered on 4 November 2024, the Heart of Jesus remains “the only key to the future.”
This providential convergence of events and anniversaries invites us, once again, to draw from the same source.