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The Month of June is Dedicated to

The Sacred Heart of Jesus

Modern times have seen a decline in the practice of piety such as the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, with some people fearing that these devotions smack of a nineteenth-century overly emotionalistic piety. Such a decline in devotion to the Sacred Heart has been compounded with the mistaken view that it is founded solely upon the private revelations made to St Margaret Mary Alacoque, a simple and humble seventeenth-century French nun. Sadly, this has meant that many people now view the devotion as something incompatible in some sense with the spirit and culture of ecclesiastical life in the wake of Vatican II. Nothing could be further from the truth!

When Pius XII wrote the encyclical Haurietis aquas (15 May 1956), the devotional form though certainly still strong was nonetheless in crisis. Moves towards liturgical reform sought an extreme sobriety in expression, together with a theological mindset that sought to steer entirely by Scripture and the Fathers. Pius XII sought to display the enduring significance of Sacred Heart devotion, deeply linked as he saw it to the central mystery of Christ. Joseph Ratzinger would later point out that the questions addressed in Haurietis aquas were presupposed, rather than superseded, in the liturgical reform of Vatican II.

Pius XII begins with the prophetic words of Isaiah 12:3, of which Jesus proclaims himself the fulfillment in his Easter mystery in John 7:37–39. This, he writes, comes naturally to mind when recalling the reasons for the institution of this feast throughout the Church by Pius IX. Haurietis aquas seeks to prove that Sacred Heart devotion is not invented by Margaret Mary Alacoque; rather, the revelation she received yields nothing new. It was because the private revelation received by her was so in keeping with theological tradition that the devotion revealed to her was promulgated. Pius XII writes: “the devotion […] to the love of God and to Jesus Christ for the human race by means of the revered symbol of the pierced heart of the crucified redeemer has never been altogether unknown to the piety of the faithful, although it has become more clearly known […] in quite recent times.” Thus, devotion to the Sacred Heart is deeply rooted in Scripture and patristic theology, a worship of the love with which God, through Jesus, loved us, and at the same time, an exercise of our love by which we are related to God and to other people.

The essence of this devotion is a veneration of the person of Jesus Christ from the perspective of his divine and human love. This love was revealed through his sacred humanity, and is symbolized by his wounded physical heart. In the words of Pius XII: “When we adore the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, we adore in it and through it both the uncreated love of the divine Word and His human love , […] because both loves moved our Redeemer to sacrifice Himself for us and for the whole Church, his spouse.”

Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

O most Sacred Heart of Jesus, fountain of every blessing, I adore you, I love you and with true sorrow for my sins, I offer You this poor heart of mine.

Make me humble, patient, pure and wholly obedient to Your will. Grant, good Jesus, that I may live in You and for You.

Protect me in the midst of danger, comfort me in my afflictions, give me health of body, assistance in my temporal needs, Your blessing on all that I do, and the grace of a holy death. Amen.

"If you live not in the body which is Christ, you are none of His. Whose, then, are you? You have been cut off and will wither, and like the branch pruned from the vine, you will burn in the fire - an end which may God's goodness keep far from you. So little does the Roman Church stand alone, as you think, that in the whole world any nation that in its pride dissents from her is in no way a church, but a council of heretics, a conventicle of schismatics, and a synagogue of Satan." [ Pope Saint Leo IX ]

"To use the words of the fathers of Trent, it is certain that the Church 'was instructed by Jesus Christ and His Apostles and that all truth was daily taught it by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.' Therefore, it is obviously absurd and injurious to propose a certain 'restoration and regeneration' for her as though necessary for her safety and growth, as if she could be considered subject to defect or obscuration or other misfortune. Indeed these authors of novelties consider that a 'foundation may be laid of a new human institution,' and what Cyprian detested may come to pass, that what was a divine thing 'may become a human church.'" [Pope Gregory XVI, Mirari Vos, August 15, 1832.]

"Blind they are ...they pervert the eternal concepts of truth ...they are seen to be under the sway of a blind and unchecked passion for novelty ...despising holy and Apostolic Traditions they embrace other and vain, futile, uncertain doctrines, condemned by the Church." [ Pope Gregory XVI, Singular Nos, June 25, 1834. ]