The Link between God and Me

 St. Charles de Foucauld wrote a prayer that more or less says he's such a sinner, he can't see how he will ever get to heaven.  Near the end of the prayer, he sees the heart of Jesus beating his name.  It's Jesus love that will draw us to Him and heaven.  

                                                Act of Confidence in the Sacred Heart of Jesus

As bad as I am, as great a sinner as I may be, I must hope that I'll go heaven, You forbid me to despair.

You forbid me to ever be discouraged, in front of my misery--You won't let me tell myself; "I can't go any farther--the road to Heaven is too steep--I'm going to give up and slide back down to the bottom."  Faced with my continually renewed faults, for which I ask Your pardon each day, and which I repeatedly fall into, You forbid me to tell myself: "I can never correct myself--holiness is not for me.  What have I in common with Heaven?  I am not worthy to enter there."  In light of the infinite graces You've heaped upon me, and the unworthiness of my present life, You for bid me to say to myself, "I have abused so many graces--I should be a saint and I am a sinner; I can't correct myself; it's too difficult; after all that God has done for me, I'm full of vices and pride; there is nothing good in me; I'll never go to Heaven."  You  tell me to hope in spite of everything.  I must believe that I will have enough grace to be converted and one day be with You in glory.  What is there in common between the perfection of Heaven and my miserable self? 
    This is Your Heart, Lord Jesus--Your Heart is the link between these two things which are so unlike one another.

Friday After the Second Sunday After Pentecost

Today is the Friday After the Second Sunday After Pentecost or Friday in the Octave of the Feast of Corpus Christi/the Body of Christ or the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Just think, today is the day we celebrate the Sacred Heart.

  

From as far back as human minds can remember, the heart has been a symbol of love.  I like to think that is because when you are in love it is an indescribable feeling from very deep inside of you.  What is deep inside you?  What constantly beats life into us?  My answer is the heart.  It is the heart that beats life.  IOW, the heart is God way of giving us His love.  He gives us life with a heart.  It only seems fitting that we think of God's heart when we think of His love for us.  That's my meditation on His Sacred Heart.

This Heart full of Love may have existed forever but the promotion for reverence towards His Heart is credited to two Visitation Sisters, i.e., Margaret Mary Alacoque and Anne-Madeline Remuzat.  Margaret Mary had visions to promote devotion to the Sacred Heart and Anne-Madeline continued her work.

In the 18th century, the Bubonic Plague was devastating to the population.  Processions and consecrations dedicated to the Sacred Heart are credited with ending this pandemic. 

Let us pray that we all respond to the Love of Jesus.

Let us pray that the love of Jesus' heart may touch the world with healing and peace.

MEK's Sacred Heart of Jesus

You know how I have a special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (well I do, if you don't) well I just came across one of Mick's (cloistered brother) drawings.  Wow!

My Christmas Present

A Christmas present to myself.





















When I was a child, the movie, Song of Bernadette was around and everyone was wearing a miraculous medal.  I don't really remember the movie but the beautiful medal left an impression on me.  It wasn't just a silver or gold medal; it was blue.  I have always wanted one.  I have many silver medals but not one with blue enamel. Well, this Christmas, I bought one for myself.

The front of the medal is exactly as Catherine saw Our Lady, standing on a globe, with dazzling rays of light streaming from her outstretched hands. Framing the figure was an inscription: “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”  All these words are hard to distinguish, but they're there.

The detail on the back is even harder to see. The vision then seemed to turn to show the reverse of the Medal: the letter M surmounted by a cross with a bar at its base; below this monogram, the Sacred Heart of Jesus crowned with thorns, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary pierced with a sword. This is there.

However, on the back, at the very bottom are at least two words that are indecipherable.  I guess the words are telling us where the medal was made.

This medal is called the Miraculous Medal because of so many miracles that occurred when people wore it.  I was attracted to it as a child, and now, once I saw that the back has the Sacred Heart of Jesus on it, I was determined to get one for myself. Why?

The story of the Miraculous Medal is here.    

The Jesuits and the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Now that I've digested Leo XIII, Annum Sacrum and Pius XII, Haurietis Aquas, I read the letter Pope Benedict XVI wrote on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the encyclical Haurietis Aquas. This letter reaffirms that this particular devotion hold importance in the lives of Christians. 

What interested me was that this letter was addressed to the Superior General of the Jesuits.  Why?  There are religious orders that arose to honor this particular devotion. The Fathers of the Sacred Heart, for one.  There are others.  Why was this letter addressed to the Jesuits?

After some google research, I learned that the Jesuits have been the historical custodians of the devotion to the Sacred Heart.  Also, in one of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque's visions, she mentions the Jesuits in particular, to spread the devotion.  Of course, Jesus' Sacred Heart is for all.

Today we need to draw closer to His Heart.  There are Divine treasures of grace bestowed on those who unite themselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, come into our hearts!

Haurietis Aquas

Haurietis Aquas is an encyclical that Pius XII wrote on the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  The title "haurietis auas" is Latin for "You will draw waters."  This encyclical explains all the water we can receive from the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  Since prophecies in the Old Testament, the precious heart of God has given His children nourishment:

With joy you will draw water

at the fountain of salvation, 

and say on that day:

Give thanks to the Lord, 

acclaim His name;

among the nations make 

known His deeds,

proclaim how exalted

is His name.

Sing praise to the Lord

for His glorious achievement;

let this be known throughout 

all the earth.

Shout with exultation, O

city of Zion,

for great in your midst

is the Holy One of Israel.  Isaiah 12: 3-6

Pius XII goes through the history of Christianity, pointing out saints who called attention to Jesus' sacred heart.  For example, St. Augustine, St. Gertrude, and of course St. Margaret Mary Alocoque who had visions of the Sacred Heart and spoke to Jesus.
   It seems that some Masses were celebrated dedicated to the Sacred Heart, but in 1670 these masses were given episcopal approval.  These celebrations were popular in Poland, Austria, Spain, and France. Then in 1856, Pius IX made the Feast of the Sacred Heart obligatory for the whole Church.
    Haurietis Aquas was written on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Pope Pius IX, May 15, 1956.
     What the image of the Sacred Heart brings to my mind are expressions using the word "heart:" I give you my heart.  My heart belongs to you. Cross my heart and hope to die.  You broke my heart. Follow your heart.  From the bottom of my heart. Eat your heart out.  Have a change of heart. He's all heart. I'm baring my heart.  Bleeding hearts. Do your heart good. Faint of heart. Win their hearts and minds.  My heart skipped a beat. Lose heart. Sick at heart. Etc.
     And with the human preoccupation with human hearts, how much more so should we honor Jesus' Sacred Heart?

Reasons for Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Haurietis Aquas, an encyclical by Pius XII, gives six reasons why the Church gives the highest form of worship to the Heart of Jesus.

1. We recognize that His Heart is hypostatically united to the Person of the Divine Word. This is an article of faith defined in the general Council of Ephesus and the Second Council of Constantinople. 
2. Jesus' Heart, more than all the other members of His body, is the natural sign and symbol of His boundless love for us. Leo XIII told us it is "the symbol and express image of the infinite love of Jesus Christ that moves us to love in return."
3. God's love for us is proclaimed and insisted upon in the Old and New Testaments by the kind of images which strongly arouse our emotion.
4. Jesus had a human body and heart but Jesus Christ is hypostatically united to the Word with divine charity and infinite love itself which Jesus shares with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
5. It is the perfect symbol of divine love.
6. Since, therefore, Sacred Scripture and the official teaching of the Catholic faith instruct us that all things find their complete harmony and order in the most holy soul of Jesus Christ, and that He has manifestly directed His threefold love for the securing of our redemption, it unquestionably follows that we can contemplate and honor the Heart of the divine Redeemer as a symbolic image of His love and a witness of our redemption and, at the same time, as a sort of mystical ladder by which we mount to the embrace of "God our Savior."     Paragraph 58

The Litany of The Sacred Heart: A Loving Prayer of Reparation to Our Lord

The Litany of The Sacred Heart: A Loving Prayer of Reparation to Our Lord: The Litany of the Sacred Heart is an important part of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in which we make reparation through adoration for the offenses committed against Our Lord’s Sacred Heart.

You know I'm a religious nut, already.  Well, if you don't, this should give you a hint.  I'm studying the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  Why?  Because Frank Kelly told me that if I don't have a devotion to Margaret Mary Alacoque's spirituality to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, I will.



So, I'm reading Haurietis Aquas          and Annum Sacrum

Promises:

In the apparitions to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Jesus gives these twelve promises for those who are devoted to His Sacred Heart.

The Twelve Promises of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary for those devoted to His Sacred Heart:

1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
2. I will establish peace in their families.
3. I will console them in all their troubles.
4. They shall find in My Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour of their death.
5. I will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in My Heart the source of an infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.
9. I will bless the homes where an image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored.
10. I will give to priests the power of touching the most hardened hearts.
11. Those who propagate this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be effaced.
12. The all-powerful love of My Heart will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under my displeasure, nor without receiving their Sacraments; My heart shall be their assured refuge at that last hour.

"Look at this Heart which has loved men so much, and yet men do not want to love Me in return. Through you My divine Heart wishes to spread its love everywhere on earth."



.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus

Quite a while ago, a prophet once told me that I would have a great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

I was sort of put off by that prophecy.  Some pictures depicting the sacred heard of Jesus are too gory.  I guess that was the artistic style of the times.  Other pictures are too sappy: doe eyed Jesus, effeminate Jesus, just ridiculously silly.

So the pictures didn't turn me on.  Maybe the story of the devotion would draw me into Jesus' heart.  It starts with a Visitation Sister, Margaret Mary Alacoque, in the seventeenth century.  She was blessed with heavenly visions.  And she was so blessed by Jesus giving her His heart and teaching her what it meant (His unmitigated love, compassion, and suffering for humanity) and asking her to tell others of His heartfelt love.

Over the years, the devotion has grown.  I have an image of the sacred heart in my bedroom and I sometimes meditate on it.  Today, the nineteen day after Pentecost is the Feast of the Sacred Heart and I'm going to try and make the nine first Fridays as the following Promises describe.

Promises of the Sacred Heart[edit]

Basilica of the Sacred Heart inKoekelberg, Brussels, Belgium

Sacred Heart Basilica, Paris.

Jesus Christ, in his appearances to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, promised these blessings to those who practice devotion to his Sacred Heart. This tabular form of promises was not made by Saint Margaret Mary or her contemporaries. It first appeared at 1863. In 1882, an American businessman spread the tabular form of the promises profusely throughout the world, the twelve promises appearing in 238 languages. In 1890, Cardinal Adolph Perraud deplored this circulation of the promises in the tabular form which were different from the words and even from the meaning of the expressions used by St. Margaret Mary, and wanted the promises to be published in the full, authentic texts as found in the writings of St. Margaret Mary.^[29]

1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
2. I will give peace in their families.
3. I will console them in all their troubles.
4. I will be their refuge in life and especially in death.
5. I will abundantly bless all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall rise speedily to great perfection.
9. I will bless those places wherein the image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and venerated.
10. I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.
11. Persons who propagate this devotion shall have their names eternally written in my Heart.
12. In the excess of the mercy of my Heart, I promise you that my all powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and my Heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour.

The last promise has given rise to the pious Roman Catholic practice of making an effort to attend Mass and receive Communion on the first Friday of each month.

Great efficacy of converting people has been attached to the use of the image of the Sacred Heart.

"Even at the hour of death, incredulous, indifferent, hardened souls have been converted by simply showing them a picture of the Sacred Heart, which sufficed to restore these sinners to the life of hope and love, in a word, to touch the most hardened. It would, indeed, be a great misfortune to any apostolic man to neglect so powerful a means of conversion, and in proof of this I will mention a single fact which will need no comment. A religious of the Company of Jesus had been requested by the Blessed Margaret Mary to make a careful engraving of the Sacred Heart. Being often hindered by other occupations, there was much delay in preparing this plate. ' This good father,' writes the saint, 'is so much occupied by Mon- signor d'Autun in the conversion of heretics, that he has neither time nor leisure to give to the work so ardently desired by the Heart of our Divine Master. You cannot imagine, my much-loved mother, how greatly this delay afflicts and pains me. I must avow confidently to you my belief that it is the cause of his converting so few infidels in this town. I seem constantly to hear these words : ' That if this good father had acquitted himself at once of his promise to the Sacred Heart, Jesus would have changed and converted the hearts of these infidels, on account of the joy He would have felt at seeing Himself honoured in the picture He so much wishes for. As, however, he prefers other work, even though to the glory of God, to that of giving Him this satisfaction, He will harden the hearts of these infidels, and the labours of this mission will not be crowned with much fruit.' ^[30]

Scapular of the Sacred Heart[edit]

The devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus also involve the Scapular of the Sacred Heart. It is a Roman Catholic devotional scapular that can be traced back to Saint Margaret Marie Alacoquewho herself made and distributed badges similar to it.^[31] In 1872 Pope Pius IX granted an indulgence for the badge and the actual scapular was approved by the Congregation of Rites in 1900. It bears the representation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on one side, and that of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Mother of Mercy on the other side.

Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus[edit]

Dates for the Feast of the Sacred Heart, 2009-2020

Year	Date
2012	June 15
2013	June 7
2014	June 27
2015	June 12
2016	June 3
2017	June 23
2018	June 8
2019	June 28
2020	June 19

V. Lord, have mercy on us.
R. Christ, have mercy on us.
V. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
R. Christ, graciously hear us.
V. God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, Son of the Eternal Father, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, formed in the womb of the Virgin Mother by the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, united substantially to the Word of God.
Heart of Jesus, of infinite majesty.
Heart of Jesus, holy temple of God.
Heart of Jesus, tabernacle of the Most High.
Heart of Jesus, house of God and gate of heaven.
Heart of Jesus, glowing furnace of charity.
Heart of Jesus, vessel of justice and love.
Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love.
Heart of Jesus, abyss of all virtues.
Heart of Jesus, most worthy of all praise.
Heart of Jesus, King and center of all hearts.
Heart of Jesus, in whom art all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Heart of Jesus, in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead.
Heart of Jesus, in whom the Father was well pleased.
Heart of Jesus, of whose fullness we have all received.
Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills.
Heart of Jesus, patient and rich in mercy.
Heart of Jesus, rich to all who call upon Thee.
Heart of Jesus, fount of life and holiness.
Heart of Jesus, propitiation for our offenses.
Heart of Jesus, overwhelmed with reproaches.
Heart of Jesus, bruised for our iniquities.
Heart of Jesus, obedient even unto death.
Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance.
Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation.
Heart of Jesus, our life and resurrection.
Heart of Jesus, our peace and reconciliation.
Heart of Jesus, victim for our sins.
Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who hope in Thee.
Heart of Jesus, hope of those who die in Thee.
Heart of Jesus, delight of all saints.

V. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
R. spare us, O Lord.
V. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
R. graciously hear us, O Lord.
V. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
R. have mercy on us.

V. Jesus, meek and humble of Heart,
R. Make our hearts like unto Thine.

Let us pray.

Almighty and everlasting God, look upon the Heart of Thy well-beloved Son and upon the acts of praise and satisfaction which He renders unto Thee in the name of sinners; and do Thou, in Thy great goodness, grant pardon to them who seek Thy mercy, in the name of the same Thy Son, Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, world without end.

h/t: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Heart