The story of the Sacred Heart
The Visitation Order and Marguerite-Marie
While Louis XIV was king of France, the bishop Francis de Sales and Mother Juana de Chantal founded the Order of the Visitation of Saint Mary in Annecy (France) in the year 1610. This is a congregation that is closely linked to the Sacred Heart of Jesusas confirmed by the words of the two founders: “Our little congregation is a work of the Heart of Jesus and Mary. The Savior, dying, gave birth to us through the opening of his Sacred Heart.” Therefore, the emblem of the Order is a heart surmounted by a cross, surrounded by a crown of thorns and pierced by two arrows; Inside the heart are engraved the names of Jesus and Mary. In the year 1626 and at the request of the Jesuit Fathers, a convent of sisters of the Visitation in Paray le Monial, and it was in this convent where Saint Margaret Mary of Alacoque became a nun and received the message of the Heart of Jesus, through three main apparitions. There, her spiritual father Saint Claudius the Colombiere he supported her and helped in the work of spreading the message of the Sacred Heart.
The Apostles of the Heart of Jesus in the Church
Later, each of the main spiritual figures gave a new impetus to the adoration of the Heart of Jesus:
The first of these apostles of the Sacred Heart was Benito José Labre, who came to Paray le Monial as a pilgrim and said: “This heart that you gave me, where can I put it better than in yours? It is there where I put it, oh my sweet Jesus, it is there where I want to live and rest”.
The Blessed John-Henry Newmanalso a great apostle of the Heart of Jesus, said: “My God, my Savior, I adore your Sacred Heart; because in this heart reside your most tender affections for us sinners. He is the instrument and the organ of your love; he has fought for us; he has longed for our love; he has suffered painfully for us and for our salvation”.
Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus was impregnated with the message of Paray le Monial. She said: “will your despised love have to remain locked inside your heart? It seems to me that if you found souls that offered themselves as victims of holocaust to Your Love, you would quickly consume them.”
Finally, we can mention the great lovers of the Heart of Jesus: Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Martha Robin, Saint Faustina, Saint Teresa of Calcutta and Saint John Paul II.
What is the message of the Sacred Heart?
The message of the Sacred Heart, which was revealed to Sister Margaret Mary Alacoque, is an invitation to contemplate the Heart of Jesus, to enter into the mystery of Christ’s infinite love for humanity. The Lord knows how difficult it is for people to understand spiritual mysteries, but by showing us his heart, He also wants to reveal his love to us. In fact, the Heart of Jesus is represented with brilliant rays, surrounded by a great light, which shines like a sun, as a symbol of the limitless love that Jesus wants to express to us. His heart is also surrounded by thorns, just as the Immaculate Heart of Mary is pierced by a sword, which shows the suffering that Jesus and Mary they had in loving humanity. We know that Jesus expressed his love through his painful Passion, which he reiterated through his Heart pierced by thorns. Christ made it clear to Sister Margarita María that what makes her suffer the most is not the sin of men but his indifference. In fact, all devotion to the Heart of Jesus is nothing more than an invitation to testify to his love and to contemplate and welcome the immense love of Christ, which has no limits.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has spread throughout the world and today representations of the Heart of Jesus can be found as statues, paintings, images, etc in many churches and sanctuaries. These performances are accompanied by prayers that are prayed in order to enter into an intimate relationship with “this Heart that loved humanity so much”. For example, these invocations can often be repeated: “Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust you”“Sacred Heart of Jesus, may your reign come“. In addition to this there are many brotherhoods of the Heart of Jesus around the world, which have been conceived to live the devotion to the Heart of Jesus in groups.
The Feast of the Sacred Heart
Jesus entrusted to Sister Margaret Mary his request to institute a new party to honor his heart. He insisted on the importance of communion with a special love during that day. In concrete terms, the Feast of the Sacred Heart it is celebrated on Friday, three weeks after Pentecost; it was officially instituted in 1765 and extended to the entire Church in 1856.
Honor the image of the Heart of Jesus
Saint Margaret Mary insisted on Jesus’ request to be honored through the image of his Sacred Heart: “But it is necessary to honor him under the figure of that Heart of Flesh, whose image he wanted to be exposed and that I carry on my heart, to engrave his love on it and fill it with all the gifts of which he was full, and destroy all his untidy movements. And wherever this image was exposed to be honored, it would pour out its graces and blessings”. Sister Margaret Mary evokes the “promises” associated with the practice of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. For example, the use of the scapular of Mount Carmel in which it appears the picture of the Heart of Jesus is a widespread devotion and a source of innumerable graces.
Prayers to the Sacred Heart
Due to the great devotion to the Heart of Jesus throughout the world, there are many beautiful prayers to the Sacred Heart. Here are some of the most important:
The ninths: the novena to the Sacred Heart, the novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Padre Pio
The Litanies of the Sacred Heart
The prayer of consecration to the Sacred Heart
The rosary beads special or crown to the Sacred Heart.