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not only in prayer, but also in the conduct of everyday life they should advance always in the spiritof simplicity, abandoning and completely surrendering their soul, their actions and theiraccomplishments to God%u2019s will. And to do so with a love marked by perfect and absolute trust,abandoning themselves to grace and to the care of the eternal love that divine Providence feels forthem%u201d. [109]118. For this reason, when looking for a symbol to convey his vision of spiritual life, Francis deSales concluded: %u201cI have thought, dear Mother, if you agree, that we should take as our emblem asingle heart pierced by two arrows, the whole enclosed in a crown of thorns%u201d. [110]A NEW DECLARATION OF LOVE119. Under the salutary influence of this Salesian spirituality, the events of Paray-le-Monial tookplace at the end of the seventeenth century. Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque reported a remarkableseries of apparitions of Christ between the end of December 1673 and June of 1675. Fundamentalto these was a declaration of love that stood out in the first apparition. Jesus said: %u201cMy divine Heartis so inflamed with love for men, and for you in particular, that, no longer able to contain in itselfthe flames of its ardent charity, it must pour them out through you and be manifested to them, inorder to enrich them with its precious treasures which I now reveal to you%u201d. [111]120. Saint Margaret Mary%u2019s account is powerful and deeply moving: %u201cHe revealed to me thewonders of his love and the inexplicable secrets of his Sacred Heart which he had hitherto kepthidden from me, until he opened it to me for the first time, in such a striking and sensible mannerthat he left me no room for doubt%u201d. [112] In subsequent appearances, that consoling message wasreiterated: %u201cHe revealed to me the ineffable wonders of his pure love and to what extremes it hadled him to love mankind%u201d. [113]121. This powerful realization of the love of Jesus Christ bequeathed to us by Saint Margaret Marycan spur us to greater union with him. We need not feel obliged to accept or appropriate everydetail of her spiritual experience, in which, as often happens, God%u2019s intervention combines withhuman elements related to the individual%u2019s own desires, concerns and interior images. [114] Suchexperiences must always be interpreted in the light of the Gospel and the rich spiritual tradition ofthe Church, even as we acknowledge the good they accomplish in many of our brothers andsisters. In this way, we can recognize the gifts of the Holy Spirit present in those experiences offaith and love. More important than any individual detail is the core of the message handed on tous, which can be summed up in the words heard by Saint Margaret Mary: %u201cThis is the heart that soloved human beings that it has spared nothing, even to emptying and consuming itself in order toshow them its love%u201d. [115]122. This apparition, then, invites us to grow in our encounter with Christ, putting our trustcompletely in his love, until we attain full and definitive union with him. %u201cIt is necessary that the27