Posted on 10/16/2002 4:40:52 PM PDT by Lady In Blue
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A Brief History of the Devotion
Introduction to the Devotion
A Brief History of the Devotion
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a devotion that focuses attention on the physical Heart is the symbol of His redemptive love. Although tradition often situates the beginning of the practice of the devotion to the year 1000, it might be more accurate to place its birth during the time of the great mystics [St. Anselm and St. Bernard] between 1050 and 1150. By the middle ages, because of a strong emphasis on the Passion of our Lord, and because of the efforts of St. Bonaventure and St. Gertrude the Great, the devotion became popularized as a means of worshipping the mystery of Christ, living in the Church.
This devotion was promoted by great Saints, including St. Albert the Great, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Francis de Sales, as well as the great religious orders, such as the Benedictines, the Dominicans, and the Carthusians. However, it must be recorded that the Saint who is most often associated with this devotion is St. Margaret Mary Alacoque [1647-1690]. After she received the Vision of the Sacred Heart, which popularized the devotion, she was scorned by her mother superior who thought her to be delusional. The Saint took ill. Mother superior told St. Margaret Mary that she would believe the miracle of the vision if the Saint were cured. She was and St. Margaret was able to promote the devotion under the guidance of her spiritual director, St. Claude Colombiere. Several books have been published on her extensive letters, sayings and the revelations given to her by Our Lord.
Her private revelations promoted the establishment of a liturgical feast day and the practice of offering reparation for the outrages committed against the Blessed Sacrament on the First Fridays and the Promises of the Sacred Heart. To read more about the devotion, Catholic Family News publishes a monthly article in serial form.
St. Alphonsus was heavily influenced by St. Margaret Mary in his own devotion to the Sacred Heart.
In modern times it was Pope Pius IX who, in 1856, established the Feast of the Sacred Heart and encouraged the efforts of the Apostleship of Prayer-------a confraternity of faithful Catholics who encourage groups, families, and communities to consecrate themselves to the Sacred Heart.. In 1928 Pope Pius XI issued his encyclical Miserentissimus Redemptor on reparation to the Sacred Heart. In 1956 Pope Pius XII published his encyclicalHaurietis aquas on the nature of devotion to the Sacred Heart.
The devotion is usually practiced in preparation for the Feast of the Sacred Heart following the Second Sunday after Pentecost. It is also practiced in conjunction with the monthly
First Friday observance that is traditional in many parishes.
The devotion of all devotions is love for Jesus Christ. A devout author laments the sight of so many persons who pay attention to various devotions, but neglect devotion to the Sacred Heart. there are are many preachers and confessors who say great things, but speak little of love for Jesus Christ.
The love of Jesus Christ ought to be the principal devotion of a Catholic. Lack of devotion to the Sacred Heart is the reason for frequent relapses into serious sin, because people pay scant attention, and are not sufficiently encouraged to acquire the love of Jesus, which is the golden cord which unites and binds the soul to God. . . The Father will love us in the same proportion as we love Jesus Christ. . . We will never be formed in the image of the Lord, nor even desire to be formed in His image, if we do not meditate upon the love which Jesus Christ has shown us.
For this purpose it is related in the life of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, a nun of the Visitation Order, that our Savior revealed to this servant His wish that the devotion and the Feast of His Sacred Heart should be established and propagated in the Church. In this way, devout believers would, by their adoration and prayer, make reparation for the injuries His Heart constantly receives from ungrateful humanity when He is exposed in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar. It is also related that while this devout nun was praying before the Blessed Sacrament, Jesus Christ showed her His Heart surrounded by thorns, with a cross on the top, and in a throne of flames.
"Behold the Heart," she reports that Jesus spoke to her, "that has loved humanity, and has spared nothing for them, even to consuming itself to give them pledges of Its love, but which receives from the majority of people, no other return but ingratitude, and insults toward the Sacrament of Love."
The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, is nothing more than an exercise of love toward our loving Savior. Therefore, the principal object of this devotion, the spiritual object of this devotion, is the love with which the Heart of Jesus is inflamed toward all. Let us now attempt to satisfy the devotion of those who are enamored of Jesus Christ, and who desire to honor him in the Most Holy Sacrament, by a novena of holy meditations and affections to His Sacred Heart.
Pick and Click Menu:
www.catholictradition.org/sacred-heart3b.htm
My late mother had a tremendous devotion to the Sacred Heart - and in my home there is a picture of the Sacred Heart with a perpetual light underneath.
He's been a good friend to me.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in Thee.
Then in honor of your late mother, another mostly forgotten hymn to the Sacred Heart...with words by Eleanor C. Donnelly, and music by the great Charles Gounod:
1. Sacred Heart in accents burning Pour we forth our love of Thee; here our hopes nad here our yearnings Meet and mingle tenderly. Heart of mercy, ever eager, all our woes and wounds to heal! Heart most patient, Heart most pure! To our souls, Thy Depths reveal.
(Refrain) Sacred Heart of our Redeemer! Pierced with love on Calvary! Heart of Jesus ever loving, make us burn with love of Thee! Praise to Thee! O Sacred Heart!
2. Heart of bounty, Thou art bringing All Thy thirsting children here. Where the living waters springing, tell of hope nad comfort near. O Thou source of ev'ry blessing! Sweetest, strongest, holiest, blest! Be our treasure here on earth, and in heav'n be thou our rest.
Kumbaya ain't got nutting on that!
BTTT on the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, June 3, 2005.
BTTT on the Optional Memorial of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, October 16, 2006!
The Sacred Heart Is The Holy Eucharist(Catholic Caucus)
The Origin of the Sacred Heart Badge
Importance of Devotion to the Sacred Heart
An Awesome Homily on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Father Edmond Kline
Catholic Prayer and Devotion: June the Month of the Sacred Heart
Pope Urges Jesuits to Spread Sacred Heart Devotion
The Sacred Heart and the Eucharist
Homilies preached by Father Altier on the Feast of the Sacred Heart
Daily Recomendation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus powerful prayer!
Catholic Meditation and Devotion: The Sacred Heart of Jesus
Catholic Devotions: Sacred Heart of Jesus
June Devotion: The Sacred Heart
Solemnity Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary
On the Sacred Heart - "We Adore God's Love of Humanity"
HAURIETIS AQUAS (On Devotion To The Sacred Heart) - Encyclical by Pope Pius XII
Sacred Heart a Feast of God's Love, Says John Paul II
The Sacred Heart of Jesus: Symbol of Combativity and the Restoration of Christendom
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus-The Early Church, Middle Ages up to St. Margaret Mary
About Devotion To The Sacred Heart:The Story Of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque
Our scientific-materialistic age cannot "prove" private revelations. Theologians, if pressed, admit that we do not have to believe in them.
But it is impossible to deny the message Margaret Mary heralded: that God loves us with a passionate love. Her insistence on reparation and prayer and the reminder of final judgment should be sufficient to ward off superstition and superficiality in devotion to the Sacred Heart while preserving its deep Christian meaning.
Yet, catholics plow on ahead and continue to pray/worship/venerate to these folks.
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