“When our Lord inspires us with some good deed, He gives the strength to do it.”
~ St. Margaret Mary
What is ‘The Sacred Heart Devotion’?
~ St. Margaret Mary
What is ‘The Sacred Heart Devotion’?
The Sacred Heart is a symbol of God, the Father’s love for each one of us. Because “GOD IS LOVE” (1 John 4:16), the practice of the devotion to His Heart confirms and expresses the following truths: “God is Love. Jesus is God. Therefore, Jesus is Love. We exist because God loves us and the Sacred Heart Devotion is our daily commitment and offering to return that love and make up for ways that our sins cause us to fall short. With this definition it is easy to see that the Sacred Heart devotion is central to our Catholic Faith and is the foundation for all other devotions.
In our times, we say that devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a way of life. It is a practice that infiltrates all of our thoughts and actions as we daily consecrate and abandon ourselves to live in the love of Our Lord, Jesus. We acknowledge His kingship, we welcome His friendship and we embrace His Lordship over our lives. Jesus becomes the central focus of our hearts and in our homes through consecration, reparation, prayer, frequent Mass attendance and Holy hours, observance of First Fridays, honoring His Mother and enthronement.
CONSECRATION and REPARATION
The Foundation
Consecration is the act of setting aside for a sacred purpose. We consecrate ourselves to the Sacred Heart by acknowledging Him as Creator and Redeemer and as having full rights over us as King of Kings, by repenting, and by resolving to serve Him in our daily lives out of love for Him.
St. Margaret Mary said, “There is no surer means of attaining perfection [or salvation] than to consecrate one’s self to the Sacred Heart of Jesus… [The] loving Heart of Jesus will not allow any of those consecrated to it to perish.”
Reparation is the means by which we make up or repair the damage done by our sins and the sins of others. We offer acts of sincere love and sacrifice to Jesus uniting them with His sufferings, out of a desire to console His wounded Heart.
One particular way that Jesus gives us to make reparation to His Sacred Heart is the First Fridays Devotion. To learn about this foundational aspect of the Sacred Heart devotion go to First Fridays Devotion.
One particular way that Jesus gives us to make reparation to His Sacred Heart is the First Fridays Devotion. To learn about this foundational aspect of the Sacred Heart devotion go to First Fridays Devotion.
The Sacred Heart Devotion and Eucharistic Devotion
“The Sacred Heart is the living symbol of the love that led Jesus to institute the Eucharist.… Without devotion to the Eucharist, there isn’t any true devotion to the Sacred Heart…. In fact, we can truthfully say that the Eucharist contains the Heart of Jesus. His heart is not a picture, or a statue, but a living reality, beating out of love for us in the Blessed Sacrament.” (Father Francis Larkin, SS.CC.)
“The Sacred Heart is the living symbol of the love that led Jesus to institute the Eucharist.… Without devotion to the Eucharist, there isn’t any true devotion to the Sacred Heart…. In fact, we can truthfully say that the Eucharist contains the Heart of Jesus. His heart is not a picture, or a statue, but a living reality, beating out of love for us in the Blessed Sacrament.” (Father Francis Larkin, SS.CC.)
The Sacred Heart Devotion and Divine Mercy
The Divine Mercy Devotion is based on the private revelations and apparitions of our Lord to Polish Sister of Our Lady of Mercy, St. Faustina Kowalska from the period of 1931-1938. There are many similarities to the two devotions and one could say that they are two facets to the brilliant diamond that is the Heart of Jesus.
According to Dr. Robert Stackpole, the Director of the John Paul II Institute of Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, the devotions can be explained as follows:
Devotion to the Sacred Heart can be defined as the worship and service of the second Person incarnate of the Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ, because of His love for us, symbolized by His pierced and wounded Heart of flesh. Devotion to the Divine Mercy, on the other hand, is the worship and service of the Triune God, because of His merciful love for us, poured out through the merciful Heart of Jesus.
The Sacred Heart Devotion and the Immaculate Heart of Mary
The Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary are eternally entwined. Mary is after all, the Mother of the Sacred Heart but the devotions are distinct and the Devotion to the Sacred Heart necessarily holds a higher place as all Marian devotions are meant to point us to Jesus. For example, we enthrone the Sacred Heart, while we venerate the Immaculate Heart. Nevertheless, consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is an integral element of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart and often included in the Enthronement ceremony.
“In devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary… love is more the result than the object of the devotion; the object being rather to love God and Jesus by uniting oneself to Mary for this purpose and by imitating her virtues to help one achieve this.”
History of Popular Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
The reason is devotion to the Sacred Heart was practiced for many centuries, but mostly in monasteries and by individual religious. St Margaret Mary's message made the devotion popular among ordinary Catholics worldwide.
Beginning in 1673, in Paray-le-Monial, France, Jesus appeared to a humble and devoted Visitation Nun named Margaret Mary Alacoque. In a series of four major appearances, or apparitions, that unfolded over the course of two years, He spoke of His Divine Heart and lamented the coldness of humanity toward it. Jesus revealed His desire for His Heart to be honored and consoled, and He also revealed the image of His Heart engulfed in flames that we now know and love as the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
St. Margaret Mary responded to this infinite love expressed by the Sacred Heart with a desire to “make-up” for the lack of love shown to Jesus. She embraced a spirit of reparation and promoted the feast day of the Sacred Heart, First Friday Devotion, the Holy Hour of Reparation and the Twelve Promises – a compilation of all of the promises Jesus made during the two years He appeared to her.
The reason is devotion to the Sacred Heart was practiced for many centuries, but mostly in monasteries and by individual religious. St Margaret Mary's message made the devotion popular among ordinary Catholics worldwide.
Beginning in 1673, in Paray-le-Monial, France, Jesus appeared to a humble and devoted Visitation Nun named Margaret Mary Alacoque. In a series of four major appearances, or apparitions, that unfolded over the course of two years, He spoke of His Divine Heart and lamented the coldness of humanity toward it. Jesus revealed His desire for His Heart to be honored and consoled, and He also revealed the image of His Heart engulfed in flames that we now know and love as the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
St. Margaret Mary responded to this infinite love expressed by the Sacred Heart with a desire to “make-up” for the lack of love shown to Jesus. She embraced a spirit of reparation and promoted the feast day of the Sacred Heart, First Friday Devotion, the Holy Hour of Reparation and the Twelve Promises – a compilation of all of the promises Jesus made during the two years He appeared to her.