“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

— Matthew 11:29, RSVCE

+JMJ+ June is the month devoted in the Church to the Sacred Heart. I remember hearing the words “Sacred Heart of Jesus” long before I became a Catholic, but I had no idea really what they meant. The devotion to the Sacred Heart used to be a popular practice in the Church.(1) But long before I discovered the Church such things had virtually disappeared. They came to be considered “old fashioned” and were hastily (and foolishly!) discarded. When I looked for a parish that still offered the First Friday devotion, I had to go to a parish a couple of cities away.(2) 

One can still find Sacred Heart statues in many, many parishes, but the devotion seems to have become, lamentably, private, or, more correctly (terminology-wise), personal, which has come to mean, practiced on one’s own. (I’ll give some thoughts about that in another post, another time.)

I’ve provided some sources at the end of this post so you can learn more about the Devotion and its practice, and I’ve linked a couple of videos below.

Video: Sacred Heart of Jesus, sermon by Fr. Chad Ripperger.

Video: Scott Hahn on the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Thank you for visiting and reading. Until next time, whoever and wherever you are, please stay safe and well. May the Lord bless and keep you and yours, and may His peace be always with you. +JMJ+

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Notes and Links

1. At least, in the West. I don’t know about the East. That’s something to put on my to-find-out list, which stretches halfway to Alpha Centauri by now. My Eastern studies are very much in the early stages as of now. For all I know they’ve practiced the Sacred Heart devotion in one way or another since the earliest days of the Church and never stopped. I don’t know but now I’m curious. Will let you know.
2. That was years ago and it was a rough area then. I don’t know if they still do the devotion there. The parish numbers were dwindling, but there was a Latin Mass there that may have helped build the numbers up by now. If they still do that there, too. Another entry on my to-find-out list.
3. Sacred Heart of Jesus, sermon by Fr. Chad Ripperger, video.
4. Scott Hahn on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, video.
5. Get a free PDF copy of Devotion To The Sacred Heart Of Jesus, by Fr. John Croiset, SJ, at archive.org.
6. Where Did Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Come From? Article by Kathy Schiffer, in the National Catholic Register.
7. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (and First Fridays Devotion), article at FishEaters.

Image: Vision of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St Margaret Mary, by Antonio Ciseri. WikiArt. Public domain.

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