Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine.

The importance of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

During Holy Week, I made a diversion from my usual practice on Holy Friday… Instead of my Traditional Latin Mass Parish Church, I went to the Holy Friday Liturgy at a Byzantine Catholic Church which did not disappoint. One thing that is very different there is that rather than venerate the cross, they venerate the shroud. In the case of this Church, you approach the shroud on your knees, make the (Eastern) sign of the cross and kiss the five wounds of Christ on the beautifully embroidered shroud. It was a nice way to spend the evening focusing on the five wounds and for me in particular, the wound on His side where His Sacred Heart was pierced.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is something I have been close to ever since I became a Catholic - probably because I went to a Catholic elementary school called Sacred Heart. The not-so-great photo at the very end of this essay is a beautiful mosaic of the Sacred Heart at Philadelphia’s Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul. It is there where I officially came into Holy Mother Church but even before that happened, there was something about this large mosaic wall on one of the side altars that drew me in.

This essay advocating the Sacred Heart is one I have been meaning to write for some time. That time is now.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, Andrew Dunn. 2020. Private Collection.

Why focus on the Heart of Jesus?

Think about the heart organ for a moment. The more you think about its function and symbolism, the more you realize what a special organ it is compared to the rest of the body – even the brain. Our hearts, in addition to being the Grand Central Station for our body’s circulatory system, speak for the emotional part of our being, while the brain speaks for our intellect. As the representative for our emotions, the heart in essence speaks for our souls. Think about all the times you’ve heard “he has a good heart,” “she has a heart of gold,” and similar. That’s not the same as “he’s brilliant” or “she’s the smartest of smart women.” It’s actually the utmost of compliments, for one can say that an endless supply of the most wicked people in history had smarts and brilliance, but the lack of love within their hearts cancelled out whatever intellectual talents they may have had.

Now let’s shift over to Our Lord, Jesus Christ, true God and true man. True God and true man in itself is a mystery. How can something that is and always has been eternal, be born into the world as you and I, and age from an embryo to 33 years of adulthood that expired at the crucifixion? That’s not for us to “scientifically conclude.” Some things are gloriously mysterious and are intended to stay that way. I went off on a little tangent but Our Lord DID take on a mortal life, in addition to His glorious, eternal life in Heaven. And lest we dare feel any sense of loss, He’s still on earth for us, hidden in the Blessed Sacrament: and that includes His real Heart, as evidenced time and time again by scientific analyses on Eucharistic Miracles. His Heart is both a human Heart and a divine Heart. Unlike ours, His Heart beats and stimulates beyond our human sentiments: It beats emotionally with the affections of God for us, His children.

At that time: The Jews (because it was the Parasceve), that the bodies might not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away… One of the soldiers with a spear opened His side, and immediately there came out blood and water. And he that saw it hath given testimony… For these things were done that the Scripture might be fulfilled: You shall not break a bone of Him. And again another Scripture saith: They shall look on Him Whom they pierced.

- John 19:31-37

In other Gospel passages and beautifully illustrated in Mel Gibson’s film, The Passion of the Christ, the centurion who took a spear to Our Lord’s Heart fell to his knees and anointed with the water and Precious Blood, repented and testified that He was indeed the Son of God. We can therefore discuss the veneration owed to the Cross on which He died, the nails that pierced His Hands and Feet, the thorns that punctured His Head, the burial shroud and tomb into which His Body was placed. But, not to discount those precious relics, isn’t there an even greater reason to honor with a very special devotion His Heart if one considers it as the most noble part of His Sacred Humanity?

Cruelly pierced by a spear, it returned such violence with His redeeming Precious Blood and water. It therefore is the most precious organ in which His blessed soul loved us and wanted to suffer and die for us, in order to redeem us.

The love factor can’t be under-estimated

A few short months ago was Valentine’s Day and I don’t need to go into examples of pretty-shaped hearts on cards and chocolate candies as an expression of love for significant others. I don’t know when the heart became a secular icon for love and affection but it doesn’t matter. Historically as Catholics, it happened at the aforementioned piercing of Our Lord’s Sacred Heart by the repentant Longinus.

History of the devotion

Following the crucifixion, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was practiced in the early centuries of the Church, and afterwards by many saints.

More widespread devotion was given to the world by Christ Himself in the last third of the 17th century through His apparition to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690), a Visitation nun in France. On repeated occasions, He appeared to Sister Margaret Mary, showing her His Heart with the insignia of the cross, the crown of thorns, and the spear wound, charging her, together with Father Claude de la Colombiere of the Society of Jesus, to propagate the devotion to the Sacred Heart throughout the Christian world. The following twelve promises were made to the faithful 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. Lukewarm 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 devotees of My Heart 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.

A powerful weapon against the revolutionary spirit

Think for a moment about Longinus. This soldier of Caesar had witnessed an angry, blood-thirsty mob of locals, gleefully crucify by proxy a helpless man. Then, after he had witnessed the final breaths of Our Lord, an apocalyptic storm erupted with an earthquake that destroyed the temple of that blood-thirsty mob. No doubt in a state of shock following those events, he’s ordered to ensure the three dead are actually dead and doing his part, receives the shock of his life when he, unworthy as unworthy comes, is suddenly baptized in the most awesome type of way. A revolution had taken place and that revolution was abruptly defeated in the most unconventional way… by the contents of a Divinely human heart.

Fast forward to 17^th Century France and St. Margaret Mary. She received the mission from Our Lord Himself, in the name of His Sacred Heart, to ask King Louis XIV to consecrate France to His Sacred Heart, and to put the Heart of Jesus on the France’s coat of arms. The sun king ignored the request, carrying on with his frivolous lifestyle and priorities. Fifty years later, his devout grandson Louis XVI would be martyred by a satanic revolutionary movement that has spread like cancer throughout the kingdoms of the world, destroying them one by one to the detriment of the world, including the last Catholic monarchy, the Holy See.

Would things have been different had Louis XIV embraced the directive from Heaven? Yes. Does that mean that the Sacred Heart of Jesus devotion failed and should be looked upon as a nice but historical prayer? Absolutely not.

The (evil) spirit of revolution exists to this day and not just with secular political movements. Our own souls are surrounded by sinful temptations that want them. God’s mercy is a very real thing but so is His justice, and we can’t take His mercy for granted. At the end of the Litany of the Sacred Heart prayer is this beautiful close:

Jesus, meek and humble of heart. Make my heart like unto Thine.

Indeed.

If you aren’t devoted to the Sacred Heart, I invite you to get closer to It. Now is a great time, following Holy Week and the Octave of Easter.

Sacred Heart mosaic, Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul, Philadelphia, PA