THE SACRED HEART PART 2

THE MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS

PART 2 

The Visions of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

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The most significant source for the devotion to the Sacred Heart in the form it is known today was Visitandine Nun (Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary) Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647–1690), who claimed to have received visions of Jesus Christ. The revelations were numerous, and the following apparitions are particularly noted:

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1. On December 27, c.1673, on the feast of St. John, Margaret Mary reported that Jesus permitted her, as he had formerly allowed St. Gertrude, to rest her head upon his heart, and then disclosed to her the wonders of his love, telling her that he desired to make them known to all mankind and to diffuse the treasures of his goodness, and that he had chosen her for this work.

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2. In June or July, 1674, Margaret Mary claimed that Jesus requested to be honoured under the figure of his heart, also claiming that, when he appeared radiant with love, he asked for a devotion of expiatory love: frequent reception of Communion, especially Communion on the First Friday of the month, and the observance of the Holy Hour.

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3. During the octave of Corpus Christi, 1675, c.June 16, the vision known as the "great apparition" reportedly took place, where Jesus said, "Behold the Heart that has so loved men ... instead of gratitude I receive from the greater part (of mankind) only ingratitude ...", and asked Margaret Mary for a feast of reparation of the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi, bidding her consult her confessor Father Claude de la Colombière, then superior of the small Jesuit house at Paray. The new devotion was confided to the religious of the Visitation and to the priests of the Society of Jesus.

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A few days after the "great apparition", Margaret Mary reported everything she saw to Father de la Colombière, and he directed her to write an account of the apparition.  Upon his death on February 15, 1682, there was found in his journal the account and an "offering" to the Sacred Heart, in which the devotion was well explained and went on to be published. Margaret Mary finally approved of the book for the spreading of her devotion. Outside of the Visitandines, priests, religious, and laymen promoted the devotion, particularly the Capuchins, and some Jesuits. From this the Jesuit Fr. Croiset also wrote  The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

THE SACRED HEART

THE MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS

The Sacred Heart (also known as Most Sacred Heart of Jesus) is one of the most widely practiced and well-known devotions, taking Jesus' physical heart as the representation of His unmitigated divine love, compassion, and long-suffering towards humanity.

The origin of this devotion in its modern form is derived from a French Roman Catholic nun, Marguerite Marie Alacoque, who said she learned the devotion from Jesus during a mystical experience. Predecessors to the modern devotion arose in the Middle Ages in various facets of Catholic mysticism.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, the Sacred Heart has been closely associated with Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ. In his encyclical  Miserentissimus Redemptor (in short here), Pope Pius XI stated: "the spirit of expiation or reparation has always had the first and foremost place in the worship given to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus". The Golden Arrow Prayer directly refers to the Sacred Heart.

 

The Sacred Heart is often depicted in Christian art as a flaming heart shining with divine light, pierced by the lance-wound, encircled by the crown of thorns, surmounted by a cross and bleeding. Sometimes the image is shown shining within the bosom of Christ with his wounded hands pointing at the heart. The wounds and crown of thorns allude to the manner of Jesus' death, while the fire represents the transformative power of divine love.

The Feast of the Sacred Heart has been in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar since 1856, and is celebrated 19 days after Pentecost. As Pentecost is always celebrated on Sunday, the Feast of the Sacred Heart always falls on a Friday.