FEAST OF THE MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS

"Behold this heart, which, notwithstanding the burning love for man with which it is consumed and exhausted, meets with no other return from the generality of Christians than sacrilege, contempt, indifference, and ingratitude."  Our Lord to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the year 1690.

Today we honor the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, our Redeemer. This is the Heart that has loved much, and, at the same time, is being misused and abused all over the globe by ungrateful souls who don't know what they doing or what they are giving up. This is why we pray for those who do not know what they are doing. In recent weeks, we have experienced the Death and Resurrection of Jesus; worshiped the Divine Trinity; the feast of Corpus Christi; and now, we acknowledge the Heart where all of our forgiveness comes from. His side was opened up after He died on the Cross, so that we may now start loving the Heart, and thus, maybe start to understand more about Jesus and His Church with its teachings.  (When His Heart was opened with the lance by Longinus, it showed us what we need to be saved.  His Blood, and the water representing Baptism)  Remember, first we believe, then things will be made clear to us if we ask. As our beloved Abbot Gueranger says concerning this day:

Though the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is of great antiquity in the Church, yet it was reserved to the holy Margaret Mary Alacoque, of the Order of the Visitation, to make this devotion public. During the Octave of Corpus Christi, in the year of 1690, our Blessed Lord appeared to His devoted handmaid, and disclosing to her His Heart, said: "Behold this Heart, which, notwithstanding the burning love for man with which It is consumed and exhausted, meets with no other return from the generality of Christians than sacrilege, contempt, indifference, and ingratitude." (See, the respect He deserves and doesn't receive has been going on for quite a while. See the Angel's prayer at the right>>>>, which says pretty much the same thing in 1916 to the children at Fatima, Portugal. He definitely deserves better than He gets! We should do a better at thanking Him for all He has given us. Do it at least for those who don't want to be bothered.)'There is a mysterious connection between these three feasts; of the blessed Trinity, Corpus Christi, and the Sacred Heart. The aim of the Holy Ghost, in all three, is to initiate us more and more into that knowledge of God by faith, which is to fit us for the face-to-face vision in heaven. We have already seen how God, being made known to us, by the first, in Himself, manifests Himself to us, by the second, in His outward works; for the Holy Eucharist is the memorial, here below, in which He has brought together, and with all possible perfection, all those His wondrous works. But by what law can we pass so rapidly, so almost abruptly, from one feast, which is all directly regarding God, to another, which celebrates the works done by Him to and for us? Then again: how came the divine thought, the eternal Wisdom, from the infinite repose of the eternally blessed Trinity, to the external activity of a love for us poor creatures, which has produced what we call the mysteries of our redemption? The Heart of the God-Man is the solution of these difficulties; it answers all such questions, and explains to us the whole divine plan.'

St. Gertrude, who got the whole thing started concerning the Sacred Heart in the 13th century, states that 'It is the one only organum; the one only instrument which finds acceptance with the Most High. Through It must pass all the inflamed praises of the burning Seraphim, just as must the humble homage paid to its God by inanimate creation. By It alone are to come upon this world the favours of heaven. It is the mystic ladder between man and God, the channel of all graces, the way whereby man ascends to God, and God descends to man.'

St. Augustine says that the Evangelist (St. John) made use of a word which has a special import, when he said: 'the soldier opened Jesus' side with a spear. He did not say struck the Side, or wounded the Side, or anything else like that; but he said he opened Jesus' Side. He opened it; for that Side was like the door of life; and when it was opened, the Sacraments (the Mysteries) of the Church came through it...This was predicted by that door which Noe was commanded to make in the side of the Ark, through which were to go those living creatures which were not to be destroyed by the deluge; and all these things were a figure of the Church.'

Blessed Margaret-Mary continued to carry the torch of having this Heart richly honored a couple of centuries later, and, after approx. 15 years, finally getting this Feast instituted by the Church, died shortly after. I guess her work was done here on earth.

Let us honor this Sacred Heart of Jesus, both today on the Feast, and forevermore. Maybe some day we can get called to eternal peace. Amen.



A partial indulgence is granted to those who recite the following prayer
A plenary indulgence is granted if it is publicly recited on the feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
This prayer was prescribed to be recited on this feast by Pope Pius XI.

Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart / Actus reparationis Most sweet Jesus, whose overflowing charity for men is requited by so much forgetfulness, negligence and contempt, behold us prostrate before Thee, eager to repair by a special act of homage the cruel indifference and injuries to which Thy loving Heart is everywhere subject.

Mindful, alas! that we ourselves have had a share in such great indignities, which we now deplore from the depths of our hearts, we humbly ask Thy pardon and declare our readiness to atone by voluntary expiation, not only for our own personal offenses, but also for the sins of those, who, straying far from the path of salvation, refuse in their obstinate infidelity to follow Thee, their Shepherd and Leader, or, renouncing the promises of their baptism, have cast off the sweet yoke of Thy law.

We are now resolved to expiate each and every deplorable outrage committed against Thee; we are now determined to make amends for the manifold offenses against Christian modesty in unbecoming dress and behavior, for all the foul seductions laid to ensnare the feet of the innocent, for the frequent violations of Sundays and holy days, and the shocking blasphemies uttered against Thee and Thy Saints. We wish also to make amends for the insults to which Thy Vicar on earth and Thy priests are subjected, for the profanation, by conscious neglect or terrible acts of sacrilege, of the very Sacrament of Thy Divine Love; and lastly for the public crimes of nations who resist the rights and teaching authority of the Church which Thou hast founded.

Would that we were able to wash away such abominations with our blood. We now offer, in reparation for these violations of Thy divine honor, the satisfaction Thou once made to Thy Eternal Father on the Cross and which Thou continuest to renew daily on our Altars; we offer it in union with the acts of atonement of Thy Virgin Mother and all the Saints and of the pious faithful on earth; and we sincerely promise to make recompense, as far as we can with the help of Thy grace, for all neglect of Thy great love and for the sins we and others have committed in the past. Henceforth, we will live a life of unswerving faith, of purity of conduct, of perfect observance of the precepts of the Gospel and especially that of charity. We promise to the best of our power to prevent others from offending Thee and to bring as many as possible to follow Thee.

O loving Jesus, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mother, our model in reparation, deign to receive the voluntary offering we make of this act of expiation; and by the crowning gift of perseverance keep us faithful unto death in our duty and the allegiance we owe to Thee, so that we may all one day come to that happy home, where with the Father and the Holy Spirit Thou livest and reignest, God, forever and ever. Amen.

"Come to Me, and I will refresh you." There's also a plenary indulgence if attending Mass on this day.

Below is a selection from 'Caritate Christi Compulsi', Pope Pius XI's encyclical from 1932 wherein he exhorted the bishops to provide expositions of the Blessed Sacrament for devotion to the Sacred Heart:


"Let the faithful hasten in large numbers to the eucharistic board, hasten to the foot of the altar to adore the Redeemer of the world, under the veils of the Sacrament, [and] let them pour out to that Merciful Heart that has known all the griefs of the human heart, the fullness of their sorrow, the steadfastness of their faith, the trust of their hope, the ardor of their charity." - Caritate Christi Compulsi

The feast and month of the Sacred Heart is not just a time for “simple” prayer. Rather, it has always been tied to the spirit of sacrifice, with reparation made for the offenses against Our Lord. As faithful, therefore, we should prepare to participate in this month fully, with our external actions, penances, and holy hours playing a vital role. But as with all the practices of Holy Mother Church, this is not just a one-dimensional feast of penance and reparation. There is plenty of space within this month to approach the Sacred Heart of Our Lord with sentiments of love and gratitude. Gratitude especially that He has opened His heart: literally almost two millennia ago, and figuratively every day that a faithful soul asks Him to.

"Here is the Heart that so loved man."