S acr e d Heart
The Solemnity of the
SACRED HEART OF JESUS Story by Marty Denzer | Photo by Megan Marley
THE SOLEMNITY OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS, added to the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar in 1856, is celebrated 19 days after Pentecost and always falls on a Friday, this year June 24. Devotion to the Sacred Heart is one of the most widely known and practiced devotions in the Roman Catholic Church. The devotion began with the revelations of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, a French Visitation nun and mystic, who, starting in 1674, received a vision of Christ requesting that his love for humanity be promoted through her. His human heart was to become the symbol of Christ’s divine-human love. Over the next 13 months, she received more revelations of Christ. She also wrote about his revelations and the promises he gave for those souls devoted to his Sacred Heart. Although many of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque’s peers were hostile to her, her confessor, Saint Claude de la Colombiere, SJ believed and supported her. She died in 1690 and was canonized by Pope Benedict XV in 1920.
“His human heart was to become the symbol of Christ’s divine-human love.”
Devotion to the Sacred Heart was ancient, but it was not widespread. When Saint Margaret Mary’s private revelations received Church approval, the devotion spread dramatically. There are numerous devotions to the Sacred Heart — consecration, prayers, novenas, daily or weekly Mass and receiving the Eucharist are but a few. This prayer seems to encompass it all:
“May the Most Holy, Most Sacred, Most Adorable, Most Incomprehensible and Unutterable name of God be always praised, blessed, loved, adored and glorified, in heaven, on earth and under the earth, by all creatures of God, and by the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar. Amen.”
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