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1 | Sacred Heart of Jesus

THE FEAST OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS Celebrating Christ’s Love for all Mankind

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus goes back at least to the 11th century, but through the 16th century, it remained a private devotion, often tied to devotion to the Five Wounds of Christ.

The Feast of the Sacred Heart is one of the most popular in the Catholic Church; it is celebrated in the spring on a different date each year.

Date: 19 days after Pentecost Sunday

Type of Feast: Solemnity

Readings: Hosea 11:1, 3-4, 8c-9; Isaiah 12:2-3, 4, 5-6; Ephesians 3:8-12; John 19:31-37

According to the Gospel of John (19:33), when Jesus was dying on the cross "one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water." The celebration of the Sacred Heart is associated with the physical wound (and the associated sacrifice), the "mystery" of both blood and water pouring from Christ's chest, and the devotion God asks from humankind.

Pope Pius XII wrote about the Sacred Heart in his 1956 encyclical, Haurietis Aquas (On Devotion To The Sacred Heart):

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is devotion to Jesus Christ Himself, but in the particular ways of meditating on his interior life and on His threefold love: His divine love, His burning love that fed His human will, and His sensible love that affects His interior life.


History of the Feast of the Sacred Heart

The first feast of the Sacred Heart was celebrated on August 31, 1670, in Rennes, France, through the efforts of Fr. Jean Eudes (1602-1680). From Rennes, the devotion spread, but it took the visions of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690) for the devotion to become universal.

In all of these visions, in which Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary, the Sacred Heart of Jesus played a central role. The "great apparition," which took place on June 16, 1675, during the octave of the Feast of Corpus Christi, is the source of the modern Feast of the Sacred Heart. In that vision, Christ asked St. Margaret Mary to request that the Feast of the Sacred Heart be celebrated on the Friday after the octave (or eighth day) of the Feast of Corpus Christi, in reparation for the ingratitude of men for the sacrifice that Christ had made for them. The Sacred Heart of Jesus represents not simply His physical heart but His love for all mankind.

The devotion became quite popular after St. Margaret Mary's death in 1690, but, because the Church initially had doubts about the validity of St. Margaret Mary's visions, it wasn't until 1765 that the feast was celebrated officially in France. Almost 100 years later, in 1856, Pope Pius IX, at the request of the French bishops, extended the feast to the universal Church. It is celebrated on the day requested by our Lord-the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi, or 19 days after Pentecost Sunday.

Source:

ThoughtCo. "The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus." ThoughtCo, Nov. 15, 2018, thoughtco.com/feast-sacred-heart-of-jesus-542482.


Novena to Sacred Heart of Jesus at St. Joseph Church

To have more opportunities for people to visit and

adore the Blessed Sacrament, St. Joseph Church has

opened a new Adoration Chapel (December 23, 2018).

The chapel is open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament is still held on

Fridays at 11:00 am while the adoration on First Friday

evenings may, instead, done in the new adoration

chapel. Thus, at the start of year 2019, first Fridays

are now dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus with

Novena, Sacrament of Reconciliation and Mass.


O SACRED HEART! O LOVE DIVINE

O Sacred Heart! O Love Divine! Do keep us near to Thee; And make our love so like to Thine That we may holy be. Heart of Jesus hear! O heart of Love Divine! Listen to our Prayer; Make us always Thine. O Temple pure! O House of gold! Our heaven here below What sweet delight, what wealth untold, From Thee do ever flow. Heart of Jesus hear! O heart of Love Divine! Listen to our Prayer; Make us always Thine. O Wounded Heart, O Font of tears!

O Throne of grief and pain! Whereon for the eternal years, Thy love for man does reign. Heart of Jesus hear! O heart of Love Divine! Listen to our Prayer; Make us always Thine. Ungrateful hearts, forgetful hearts, The hearts of man have been, To wound Thy side with cruel darts Which they have made by sin. Heart of Jesus hear! O heart of Love Divine! Listen to our Prayer; Make us always Thine


Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus This novena prayer is attributed to St. Margaret Mary Alocoque

who widely promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

It is said that St. Padre Pio recited this novena daily for all those

who requested his prayers. This novena (repeating the same

prayer for nine consecutive days for a particular intention or

devotion) can be prayed at any time, though it is a tradition to

begin on the traditional feast of Corpus Christi (Thursday after

Trinity Sunday) leading up to the Feast of the Sacred Heart of

Jesus. On the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus itself it is a

tradition to pray the Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart.

To be recited daily for 9 consecutive days:

O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, ask and

you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it

will be opened to you." Behold I knock, I seek and ask

for the grace of ______ (name your request here).

Our Father . . . Hail Mary . . . Glory Be . . .

Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, if you

ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it

to you." Behold, in your name, I ask the Father for the

grace of ______ (name your request here).




O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, heaven

and earth will pass away but my words will not pass

away." Encouraged by your infallible words I now ask

for the grace of______ (name your request here).



O Sacred Heart of Jesus, for whom it is impossible not

to have compassion on the afflicted, have pity on us

miserable sinners and grant us the grace which we ask

of you, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart

of Mary, your tender Mother and ours.

Hail Holy Queen . . .

St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray for us. Amen.

Sacred Heart of Jesus Novena Prayer

Divine Jesus, You have said, "Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you." Behold me kneeling at Your feet, filled with a lively faith and confidence in the promises dictated by Your Sacred Heart to Saint Margaret Mary. I come to ask this favor: (mention your request).

To whom can I turn if not to You, Whose Heart is the source of all graces and merits? Where should I seek if not in the treasure which contains all the riches of


Your kindness and mercy? Where should I knock if not at the door through which God gives Himself to us and through which we go to God? I have recourse to You, Heart of Jesus. In You I find consolation when afflicted, protection when persecuted, strength when burdened with trials, and light in doubt and darkness.

Dear Jesus, I firmly believe that You can grant me the grace I implore, even though it should require a miracle. You have only to will it and my prayer will be granted. I admit that I am most unworthy of Your favors, but this is not a reason for me to be discouraged. You are the God of mercy, and You will not refuse a contrite heart. Cast upon me a look of mercy, I beg of You, and Your kind Heart will find in my miseries and weakness a reason for granting my prayer.

Sacred Heart, whatever may be Your decision with regard to my request, I will never stop adoring, loving, praising, and serving You. My Jesus, be pleased to accept this my act of perfect resignation to the decrees of Your adorable Heart, which I sincerely desire may be fulfilled in and by me and all Your creatures forever.

Grant me the grace for which I humbly implore You through the Immaculate Heart of Your most sorrowful Mother. You entrusted me to her as her child, and her prayers are all-powerful with You. Amen.


Novena of Confidence to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

O Lord Jesus Christ, To your most Sacred Heart, I confide this intention: (mention your intention here) Only look upon me, And then do what your Sacred Heart inspires. Let your Sacred Heart decide; I count on it, I trust in it. I throw myself on Your mercy, Lord Jesus! You will not fail me. Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in You. Sacred Heart of Jesus, I believe in Your love for me. Sacred Heart of Jesus, Your Kingdom come. O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I have asked you for many favors, But I earnestly implore this one. Take it. Place it in Your open, broken Heart; And, when the Eternal Father looks upon It, Covered with Your Precious Blood, He will not refuse it. It will be no longer my prayer, But Yours, O Jesus. O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You. Let me not be disappointed. Amen.


Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (A partial indulgence is granted to those who recite this 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).

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 holydays, 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 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.

Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

(A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful who piously recite

this Act of Consecration of the Human Race to the Sacred Heart

of Jesus. A plenary indulgence is granted if it is recited publicly

on the feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King.)

O most sweet Jesus, Redeemer of mankind, behold us

prostrate most humbly before Thy altar. To Thee we

belong; Thine we wish to be; and, that we may be

united to Thee most closely, we dedicate ourselves

each one of us today to Thy most Sacred Heart.


Many have never known Thee, many, despising Thy

commands, have rejected Thee. Have pity on them,

most merciful Jesus, and draw all men to Thy Sacred

Heart. Rule, O Lord, not only over the faithful who

never have gone away from Thee, but also of the

prodigal children who have abandoned Thee, and

make them return quickly to their Father's house, lest

they perish of misery and hunger. Rule over those who

have been misled by error, or separated by schism,

and call them back to the haven of truth and the unity

of faith, so that there may be soon be one fold and

one Shepherd.

Lastly, rule over all who are sunk in the old

superstition of the Gentiles, and vouchsafe to bring

them out of darkness into the light and kingdom of

God. Give to Thy Church, O Lord, safety and sure

liberty; give to all nations peace and order; and grant

that, over the whole earth from pole to pole, may

resound the words, "Praise be to the Divine Heart

through which was brought to us salvation, glory and

honor be it forever." Amen.

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