If
there is one Catholic devotion that is very close to the hearts of every UNO-Rian,
it would be the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Every
first Friday of the month, classes are suspended to gather all UNO-Rians —students,
teachers and non-teaching personnel, in the Oratory of St. Nicholas of Tolentino
for a solemn Eucharistic celebration in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In
the Eucharist, we gather as one community in singing our praises and adoration
and in offering our thanksgiving to our Almighty Father who gave us His only begotten
Son, Jesus Christ whose heart overflows with love and mercy for us all,
sinners.
This
first Friday devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus invites every UNO-Rian to
consecrate their hearts to Jesus so that like Him they may live a life of love,
mercy and compassion, too.
As
a Catholic University, UNO-Recoletos never misses to promote and instill the
beauty and value of this devotion as part of the spiritual and moral formation
of the members of the academic community. Following the great example of Saint
Ezekiel Moreno, one of the University’s patron saints, UNO-Rians are encourage to
devote themselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and implore His mercy and love
for the salvation of their souls and for solidarity, justice, peace and love in
the family, community and the whole world.
But
how and when did the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus originate?
A BRIEF
HISTORY OF THE DEVOTION TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS
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 Medieval Period,
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.
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 encyclical Haurietis 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
FIRST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH
It was the special desire of our Lord Jesus Christ,
revealed to Blessed Margaret Mary, that the first Friday of each month be
consecrated to the devotion to and adoration of His most Sacred Heart.
In
order to better prepare for it, it would be well to read, the evening before,
some book treating of this devotion, or of the Passion of Our Lord, and to make
a short visit to the Blessed Sacrament. On the day itself we should, on
awaking, offer and consecrate ourselves, with all our thoughts, words, and
actions, to Jesus, that His Sacred Heart may be thereby honored and glorified.
We
should visit some church as early as possible; and as we kneel before Jesus,
truly present in the tabernacle, let us endeavor to awaken in our soul a deep
sorrow at the thought of the innumerable offenses continually heaped upon His
most Sacred Heart in this Sacrament of His love; and surely we cannot find this
difficult if we have the least degree of love for Jesus. Should we, however,
find our love to be cold or lukewarm, let us consider earnestly the many
reasons we have for giving our hearts to Jesus. After this we must acknowledge
with sorrow the faults of which we have been guilty through our want of respect
in presence of the Blessed Sacrament, or through our negligence in visiting and
receiving Our Lord in Holy Communion.
The
Communion of this day should be offered by the adorers of the Sacred Heart with
the intention of making some satisfaction for all the ingratitude which Jesus
receives in the Most Holy Sacrament, and the same spirit should animate all our
actions during the day.
As
the object of this devotion is to inflame our hearts with an ardent love for
Jesus, and to repair thereby, as far as lies in our power, all the outrages
which are daily committed against the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, it is
evident that these exercises are not confined to any particular day. Jesus is
equally deserving of our love at all times; and as this most loving Savior is
daily and hourly loaded with insults and cruelly treated by His creatures, it
is but just that we should strive each day to make an the reparation in our
power.
Those
who are prevented from practicing this devotion on the first Friday can do so
on any other day during the month. In the same manner they may offer the first
Communion of each month for this intention, consecrating the whole day to the
honor and glory of the Sacred Heart, and performing in the same spirit all the
pious exercises they were unable to accomplish on the first Friday.
Moreover,
Our Lord suggested another feature in this consoling devotion of the first
Friday, by the faithful practice of which he led Blessed Margaret Mary to
expect the grace of final perseverance, and that of receiving the Sacraments of
the Church before dying, in favor of those who should observe it. This was to make a novena of Communions in honor
of the Sacred Heart on the first Friday of the month for nine successive
months.
THE 12 PROMISES OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS
The
First Friday Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is based on a promise made
by our Lord Jesus Christ during an Apparition to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.
This promise was implicitly approved by the Church in the 1920 canonization of
St. Margaret Mary.
The
12 Promises are contained in a letter written in May, 1688, by St. Margaret
Mary to Mother Saumaise:
“On a Friday during
Holy Communion, [Our Lord] said these words [...], if I mistake not: I promise
you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that Its all-powerful love will grant to
all those who receive Holy Communion on nine first Fridays of the month
consecutively, the grace of final repentance; they will not die under My displeasure
or without receiving their Sacraments, My Divine Heart making Itself their
assured refuge at the last moment.”
The
Promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque:
1.
“I
will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.”
2.
“I
will establish peace in their homes.”
3.
“I will comfort them in their afflictions.”
4.
“I will be their secure refuge during life,
and above all in death.”
5.
“I
will pour abundant blessings upon all their undertakings.”
6.
“Sinners
shall find in My Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy.”
7.
“Tepid
souls shall grow fervent.”
8.
“Fervent
souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.”
9.
“I
will bless every place where a picture of My Heart shall be set up and
honored.”
10. “I will give to priests the gift of
touching the most hardened hearts.”
11. “Those who shall promote this devotion
shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be effaced.”
12. “The all-powerful love of my heart
will grant to all those who shall receive communion on the first Friday of nine
consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under my
displeasure nor without receiving the sacraments; my heart shall be their
assured refuge in their last hour.”
FIRST
FRIDAY DEVOTION PRAYERS TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS
ACT OF REPARATION TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS
(To be prayed every First Friday of
the Month)
Adorable
Heart of Jesus, glowing with love for us and inflamed with zeal for our salvation!
Oh Heart, ever sensible of our misery and the wretchedness to which our sins
have reduced us, infinitely rich in mercy to heal the wounds of our
souls! Behold us, humbly prostrate before You to express the sorrow that
fills our hearts for the coldness and indifference with which we have so long
requited the numberless benefits You have conferred upon us.
With
a deep sense of outrages heaped upon You by our sins and the sins of others, we
come to make a solemn reparation of honor to Your most Sacred Majesty. It was
our sins that overwhelmed Your Heart with bitterness. It was the weight of our
iniquities that pressed down Your face to the earth in the Garden of Olives and
caused You to expire in anguish and agony on the Cross. But now, repenting and
sorrowful, we cast ourselves at Your feet and implore forgiveness.
Adorable
Heart of Jesus, source of true contrition and ever merciful to the penitent
sinner, impart to our hearts the spirit of penance, and give to our eyes a
fountain of tears that we may sincerely bewail our sins, now and for the rest
of our days. O, would that we could blot them out even with our blood. Pardon
them, O Lord, in Your mercy, and pardon and convert to You all that have
committed irreverences and sacrileges against You in the Sacrament of Your
love, and thus, give another proof that Your mercy is above all Your works.
Divine
Jesus, with You there is mercy and plentiful redemption. Deliver us from our
sins. Accept our sincere desire and our resolution, with the help of Your
grace, henceforth to be faithful to You. And in order to repair the sins and
ingratitude by which we have grieved Your Most tender and loving Heart, we are
resolved in the future, ever to love and honor You in the most adorable
Sacrament of the Altar, where You are ever present to hear and grant our
petitions and to be the food and life of our souls.
Be,
O compassionate Jesus, our Mediator with Your heavenly Father whom we have so
grievously offended. Strengthen our weakness, confirm our resolution of
amendment, and as Your Sacred Heart is our refuge and our hope when we
have sinned, so may it be the strength and support of our repentance,
that nothing in life and death may ever again separate us from You. Amen.
ACT OF CONSECRATION TO
THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS
by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
I,
(say your name), give and consecrate to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus, my person and my life, my actions, pains and sufferings, not wishing to
make use of any part of my being except to honor, love, and glorify your Sacred
Heart.
It
is my unchangeable will to be yours and to do everything for your love,
renouncing with my whole heart whatever might displease you.
I
take you to be the only object of my love, the guardian of my life, the pledge
of my salvation, the remedy of my weakness and lack of faith, the reparation of
all my sins, and the secure refuge at the hour of my death.
Heart
of goodness, be my mediator before God the Father, and turn away from me the
punishment my sins deserved. Heart of love, I place my trust in you. I fear all
things from my sinfulness and weakness, but hope all things from your love.
Burn
in me everything displeasing to you. Imprint your pure love upon my heart so
that I will never forget you or be separated from you.
I implore
you, by your goodness, that my name be written in your Heart. I consider it my
happiness and glory to live and die as your disciple. Amen.
ENTHRONEMENT OF THE
SACRED HEART
The
center of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart is the Enthronement of the Image of
the Sacred Heart in our homes. By this, we acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the
King of our hearts; and we desire to make Him present daily in our homes and
our lives as we pray the Act of Consecration by our whole family.
FAMILY CONSECRATION
TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS
Most Sweet Jesus, humbly kneeling at Your feet, we renew the consecration of our family to Your Sacred Heart. Be our King forever! In You we have full and entire confidence. May Your Holy Spirit penetrate our thoughts, our desires, our words, and our works. Bless our joys, in our trials, and in our labors. Grant us to know You better, to love You more, to serve You without faltering. Help us all together to build up in our land the “civilization of Love.”
By the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of Peace, set up Your kingdom in our country. Enter fully into the midst of our families and make them Your own through the solemn enthronement of Your Sacred Heart, so that soon one cry may resound from home to home: May the redeeming Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved, blessed, and glorified forever! Honor and glory be to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. With St. Joseph, we offer this earnest prayer. Sacred Heart of Jesus, be with our families, make them wholly your own. Amen.
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