Today, we celebrate The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus; also the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests is celebrated on the Friday after the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. This suggests to us that the Eucharist (Corpus Christi) is none other than the Heart of Jesus Himself, of the One who “takes care of us” with His “heart”. The liturgical Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is celebrated the first Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi, or 19 days after Pentecost Sunday. This devotion is especially concerned with what the Church deems to be the long-suffering, love, and compassion of the HEART of Christ towards humanity.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is one of the most popular Catholic devotions. Although it was beloved in previous centuries, this general devotion arose first in Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries of that time, especially in response to the devotion of St. Gertrude the Great. On 20 October 1672, Father Giovanni Eudes, a priest from Normandy, celebrated this feast for the first time. But there had already been several German mystics that had begun cultivating devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Middle Ages: Mechtild of Magdeburg (1212-1283), Mechtilde of Hackeborn (1240-1298) and Gertrude of Helfta (1256-1302) – and the Dominican, Blessed Henry Suso (1295 – 1366). But specific devotions became popularized when St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690), a Visitation nun of the convent of Paray-le-Monial contributed greatly. She had a personal revelation involving a series of visions of Christ as she prayed before the Blessed Sacrament. St. Margaret Mary had entered the French convent in Saône-et-Loire in 1671. She already had the reputation of being a mystic when on December 27, 1673 she received the first vision of Jesus who invited her to take John’s place, the only apostle who physically rested his head on Jesus’s chest, among those present at the Last Supper. “My Divine Heart is so passionately in love with humanity that it can no longer contain within itself the flames of its ardent love. It must pour them out. I have chosen you for this great plan,” Jesus told her. The following year, St. Margaret had two other visions. In the first, Jesus’s heart was on a throne enveloped in flames brighter than the sun and more transparent than crystal, surrounded by a crown of thorns. In the other, she saw Christ shining in glory. Flames of fire were coming out of every part of his chest to the point that it looked like a furnace. Jesus spoke to her and asked her to receive Communion every first Friday for nine consecutive months and to prostrate herself on the ground for an hour the night between Thursday and Friday. This is how the practice of the nine first Fridays originated and the Holy Hour of Adoration. Then in a fourth vision, Christ asked for the institution of a feast to honour his Heart and to make reparation through prayer for offenses received.
St. Margaret Mary wrote, “He disclosed to me the marvels of his Love and the inexplicable secrets of his Sacred Heart.” Christ emphasized to her His love — and His woundedness caused by Man’s indifference to this love. When Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in 1673, showing her a vision of the now-famous image of His Sacred Heart, surrounded by flames. He said to her: “My Heart is so full of love for men that It can no longer contain the flames of Its burning love. I must discover to men the treasures of My Heart and save them from perdition.” She was given the special mission to spread devotion to His Sacred Heart throughout the Church. Jesus gave St. Margaret Mary many promises associated with this devotion, and requested that a feast day in honor of His Sacred Heart be instituted on the Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christi. In 1856, the Feast of the Sacred Heart was spread to the Universal Church and Pope Pius IX made it an obligatory feast throughout the universal Church and in 1899 Pope Leo XIII solemnly consecrated all mankind to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, calling it “the great act” of his pontificate. In 1995, Saint John Paul II instituted the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests on this same day so that the priesthood might be protected in the hands of Jesus, rather in his heart, so it could be open to everyone.
Our Lord Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary on many occasions, and explained to her the devotion to His Heart. Jesus also made 12 specific promises to those who would honor His Sacred Heart:
- I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.
- I will give peace in their families and will unite families that are divided.
- I will console them in all their troubles.
- I will be their refuge during life and above all in death.
- I will bestow the blessings of Heaven on all their enterprises.
- Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
- Tepid souls shall become fervent.
- Fervent souls shall rise quickly to great perfection.
- I will bless those places wherein the image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored and will imprint My love on the hearts of those who would wear this image on their person. I will also destroy in them all disordered movements.
- I will give to priests who are animated by a tender devotion to my Divine Heart the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
- Those who promote this devotion shall have their names written in my Heart, never to be effaced.
- I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who communicate on the First Friday in nine consecutive months, the grace of final penitence: they will not die in my disgrace, nor without receiving their Sacraments. My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.
To receive the promises Jesus made to St. Margaret Mary, there are a few requirements: Receiving Communion Frequently; Going to Confession and receiving the Eucharist on the first Friday of each month, for nine consecutive months. (If it isn’t offered at your parish, you can go to Confession & offer your prayers for the Holy Father’s intentions).
Celebrating the Feast of the Sacred Heart has also been established by Saint Pope John Paul II as the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests. On this day, let’s especially remember our Priests – and the challenge made to us all in Jesus’ message to St. Margaret Mary: to love everyone, faithfully, with the endless love of Jesus. Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you. Amen🙏🏽
PRAYER: Divine Heart of Jesus, I offer you through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Mother of the Church, in union with the Eucharistic Sacrifice, my prayers, actions, joys and sufferings of this day in reparation for sins and for the salvation of all people, in the grace of the Holy Spirit for the glory of the Heavenly Father. Amen🙏🏽
SACRED HEART PRAYER: I give myself and consecrate to the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, my person and my life, my actions, pains and sufferings, so that I may be unwilling to make use of any part of my being other than to honor, love and glorify the Sacred Heart. This is my unchanging purpose, namely, to be all His, and to do all things for the love of Him, at the same time renouncing with all my heart whatever is displeasing to Him. I therefore take You, O Sacred heart, to be the only object of my love, the guardian of my life, my assurance of salvation, the remedy of my weakness and inconstancy, the atonement for all the faults of my life and my sure refuge at the hour of death.
Be then, O Heart of goodness, my justification before God the Father, and turn away from me the strokes of his righteous anger. O Heart of love, I put all my confidence in You, for I fear everything from my own wickedness and frailty, but I hope for all things from Your goodness and bounty. Remove from me all that can displease You or resist Your holy will; let your pure love imprint Your image so deeply upon my heart, that I shall never be able to forget You or to be separated from You. May I obtain from all Your loving kindness the grace of having my name written in Your Heart, for in You I desire to place all my happiness and glory, living and dying in bondage to You. Amen🙏🏽
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you ~ Amen🙏🏽
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