Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

On the Feast of the Sacred Heart itself, we can gain a plenary indulgence by making an Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart.

Jun 11, 2021

The heart has always been seen as the “centre” or essence of a person (“the heart of the  matter,” “you are my heart,” “take it to heart,”  etc.) and the wellspring of our emotional lives  and love (“you break my heart,” “my heart  sings,” etc.) Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is devotion to Jesus Christ Himself, but in  the particular ways of meditating on his interior  life and on His threefold love — His divine love,  His burning love that fed His human will and  His sensible love that affects His interior life. Pope Pius XII of blessed memory writes on  this topic in his 1956 encyclical, Haurietis Aquas (On Devotion to the Sacred Heart).

The Friday that follows the Second Sunday in Time After Pentecost is the Feast of the Sacred  Heart which brings to mind all the attributes  of His Divine Heart mentioned above. Many Catholics prepare for this Feast by beginning a  Novena to the Sacred Heart on the Feast of Corpus Christi, which is the Thursday of the week  before. On the Feast of the Sacred Heart itself, we can gain a plenary indulgence by making an Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart.

From the earliest days of the Church, “Christ’s  open side and the mystery of blood and water  were meditated upon, and the Church was beheld issuing from the side of Jesus, as Eve came  forth from the side of Adam. It is in the eleventh and twelfth centuries that we find the first  unmistakable indications of devotion to the Sacred Heart. Through the wound in the side, the  wound in the Heart was gradually reached, and  the wound in the Heart symbolised the wound of  love.” (Catholic Encyclopedia)

This general devotion arose first in Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries of that time,  especially in response to the devotion of St Gertrude the Great, but specific devotions became  popularised when St Margaret Mary Alacoque  (1647-1690), a Visitation nun, had a personal  revelation involving a series of visions of Christ  as she prayed before the Blessed Sacrament. She  wrote, “He disclosed to me the marvels of his  Love and the inexplicable secrets of his Sacred  Heart.” Christ emphasised to her His love —  and His woundedness caused by Man’s indifference to this love. He promised that, in response to those who  consecrate themselves and make reparations  to His Sacred Heart, that:

–– He will give them all the graces necessary  in their state of life. 
–– He will establish peace in their homes. 
–– He will comfort them in all their afflictions. 
–– He will be their secure refuge during life,  and above all, in death. 
–– He will bestow abundant blessings upon  all their undertakings. 
–– Sinners will find in His Heart the source  and infinite ocean of mercy. 
–– Lukewarm souls shall become fervent. 
–– Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high  perfection. 
–– He will bless every place in which an  image of His Heart is exposed and honored. 
–– He will give to priests the gift of touching  the most hardened hearts.
–– Those who shall promote this devotion  shall have their names written in His Heart.

In the excessive mercy of His Heart, His  all-powerful love will grant to all those who  receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays  for nine consecutive months the grace of final  perseverance; they shall not die in His disgrace, nor without receiving their sacraments.  His divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in  this last moment. CNA

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