Margaret was born on July 22, 1647 at L’Hautecour, in the province of Burgundy, France. She was the fifth of seven children of Claude and Philiberte Alacoque. Margaret was sent to the Poor Clares School at Charolles on the death of her father, when she was eight years old. She loved the peace and order of the convent life, and the nuns were so impressed by her devotion that she was allowed to make her First Communion at the age of nine. She was bedridden with rheumatic fever from the age of 11 to 15. At this time she was known as an ardent devotee of the Blessed Sacrament.
