Sacred Heart

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For other uses, see Sacred Heart (disambiguation).

The Sacred Heart of Jesus

Devotion picture of the Sacred Heart being adored by Saint Margaret Mary

Alacoque and Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart

Venerated in Catholic Church

Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate

Anglican Communion

Lutheran Church

Feast 19 days after Pentecost (Friday)

Attributes Burning bloodied heart, surmounted with cross and thorns

Patronage Apostleship of Prayer

 True Bodily and Spiritual Enlightenment of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (picture in the Church of Saint-Gervais-et-Saint-Protais, Paris, France)

The devotion to the Sacred Heart (also known as the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Sacratissimum Cor Iesu in Latin) is one of the most widely
practiced and well-known Catholic devotions, taking the heart of the resurrected Body as the representation of the love by Jesus Christ God, which is
"his heart, pierced on the Cross", and "in the texts of the New Testament is revealed to us as God's boundless and passionate love for mankind".[1]

This devotion is predominantly used in the Catholic Church, followed by the high-church Anglicans, Lutherans and Eastern Catholics. In the Catholic
Church, the liturgical Solemnities of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is celebrated the first Friday after the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, or 19 days
after Pentecost Sunday.[2]

The devotion is especially concerned with what the Church deems to be the long-suffering love and compassion of the heart of Christ towards
humanity. The popularization of this devotion in its modern form is derived from a Catholic nun from France, Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, who said
she learned the devotion from Jesus during a series of apparitions to her between 1673 and 1675,[3] and later, in the 19th century, from the mystical
revelations of another Catholic nun in Portugal, Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart, a religious of the Good Shepherd, who requested in the name of
Christ that Pope Leo XIII consecrate the entire world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Predecessors to the modern devotion arose unmistakably in
the Middle Ages in various facets of Catholic mysticism, particularly with Saint Gertrude the Great.[4]

Contents

 1Description
 2History of the devotion
o 2.1Early devotion
 2.1.1Saint Lutgarde
 2.1.2Saint Mechtilde
 2.1.3Saint Gertrude
o 2.2Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque
o 2.3Estelle Faguette
o 2.4Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart
 3Papal approval
o 3.1Worship and devotion
 4Feast Day
 5Alliance with the Immaculate Heart
 6Names of institutions
 7Sacred Heart imagery
o 7.1In Eastern Catholicism
 8Promises of the Sacred Heart
o 8.1Promises made to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque
o 8.2Promises made to Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart
 9Scapular of the Sacred Heart
 10Criticisms
 11Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
 12See also
 13References
 14Sources
 15External links

Description[edit]
The Sacred Heart is often depicted in Christian art as a flaming heart[5] 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.
Catholic holy card depicting the Sacred Heart of Jesus, circa 1880. Auguste Martin collection, University of Dayton Libraries

History of the devotion[edit]

Image representing the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Saint Vincent de Paul Parish Church, Ermita, Manila, Philippines

Early devotion[edit]
Historically the devotion to the Sacred Heart is an outgrowth of devotion to what is believed to be Christ's sacred humanity.[6] During the first ten
centuries of Christianity, there is nothing to indicate that any worship was rendered to the wounded Heart of Jesus. [7]

The revival of religious life and the zealous activity of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and Saint Francis of Assisi in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries,
together with the enthusiasm of the Crusaders returning from the Holy Land, gave a rise to devotion to the Passion of Jesus Christ and particularly to
practices in honour of the Sacred Wounds.[8]

Devotion to the Sacred Heart developed out of the devotion to the Holy Wounds, in particular to the Sacred Wound in the side of Jesus. The first
indications of devotion to the Sacred Heart are found in the eleventh and twelfth centuries in the fervent atmosphere of
the Benedictine or Cistercian monasteries, in the world of Bernardine thought. But it is impossible to say with certainty what were its first texts or who
were its first devotees.
Sacred Heart at the centre of a rose window, Santa Ifigênia Church, São Paulo, Brazil

Saint Bernard (d. 1153) said that the piercing of Christ's side revealed his goodness and the charity of his heart for us. The earliest known hymn to the
Sacred Heart, "Summi Regis Cor Aveto", is believed to have been written by the Norbertine Blessed Herman Joseph (d.1241) of Cologne, Germany.
The hymn begins: "I hail Thee kingly Heart most high."

From the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries, the devotion was propagated but it did not seem to have been embellished. It was everywhere practised
by individuals and by different religious congregations, such as the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Carthusians. Among the Franciscans the devotion to
the Sacred Heart of Jesus has its champions in Saint Bonaventure (d. 1274) in his Vitis Mystica ("Mystic Vine"), B. John de la Verna, and the
Franciscan Tertiary Saint Jean Eudes (1602–1680).[9] Bonaventure wrote: "Who is there who would not love this wounded heart? Who would not love in
return Him, who loves so much?”[10] It was, nevertheless, a private, individual devotion of the mystical order. Nothing of a general movement had been
inaugurated, except for similarities found in the devotion to the Five Holy Wounds by the Franciscans, in which the wound in Jesus's heart figured most
prominently.

Saint Lutgarde [edit]

According to Thomas Merton, Saint Lutgarde (d.1246), a Cistercian mystic of Aywieres, Belgium, was one of the great precursors of the devotion to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus. A contemporary of St. Francis, she "... entered upon the mystical life with a vision of the pierced Heart of the Saviour, and had
concluded her mystical espousals with the Incarnate Word by an exchange of hearts with Him." [11] Sources say that Christ came in a visitation to
Lutgarde, offering her whatever gift of grace she should desire; she asked for a better grasp of Latin, that she might better understand the word of God
and sing God's praise. Christ granted her request and Lutgarde's mind was flooded with the riches of psalms, antiphons, readings, and responsories.
However, a painful emptiness persisted. She returned to Christ, asking to return his gift, and wondering if she might, just possibly, exchange it for
another. "And for what would you exchange it?" Christ asked. "Lord, said Lutgarde, I would exchange it for your Heart." Christ then reached into
Lutgarde and, removing her heart, replaced it with his own, at the same time hiding her heart within his breast.[12]

Saint Mechtilde [edit]

Saint Mechtilde of Helfta (d.1298) became an ardent devotee and promoter of Jesus’ heart after it was the subject of many of her visions. The idea of
hearing the heartbeat of God was very important to medieval saints who nurtured devotion to the Sacred Heart.[13] Mechtilde reported that Jesus
appeared to her in a vision and commanded her to love Him ardently, and to honor his sacred heart in the Blessed Sacrament as much as possible. He
gave her his heart as a pledge of his love, as a place of refuge during her life and as her consolation at the hour of her death. From this time Mechtilde
had an extraordinary devotion for the Sacred Heart, and said that if she had to write down all the favors and all the blessings which she had received
by means of this devotion, a large book would not contain them.[14]

Saint Gertrude [edit]

Saint Gertrude the Great was an early devotee of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.[15] Book 2 of the herald of Divine Love vividly describes Gertrude's visions,
which show a considerable elaboration on the hitherto ill-defined veneration of Christ's heart. St Bernard articulated this in his commentary on the Song
of Songs. The women of Helfta—Gertrude foremost, who surely knew Bernard's commentary, and to a somewhat lesser extent the two Mechthildes—
experienced this devotion centrally in their mystical visions.[16]
Mystic Ecstasy of St. Gertrude the Great – worshipper of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ God (picture by Pietro Liberi, at the Abbey of Santa Giustina, Padua, Italy)

In the sixteenth century, the devotion passed from the domain of mysticism into that of Christian asceticism. It was established as a devotion with
prayers already formulated and special exercises, found in the writings of Lanspergius (d. 1539) of the Carthusians of Cologne, the Benedictine Louis
de Blois (d. 1566) Abbot of Liessies in Hainaut, John of Avila (d. 1569), and Francis de Sales (d. 1622).

The historical record from that time shows an early bringing to light of the devotion. Ascetic writers spoke of it, especially those of the Society of
Jesus (Jesuits). The image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was everywhere in evidence, largely due to the Franciscan devotion to the Five Wounds and
to the Jesuits placing the image on the title-page of their books and on the walls of their churches.

The first to establish the theological basis for the devotion was Polish Jesuit Kasper Drużbicki (1590–1662) in his book Meta cordium – Cor Jesu (The
goal of hearts – Heart of Jesus). Not much later Jean Eudes wrote an Office, and promoted a feast for it. Père Eudes was the apostle of
the Immaculate Heart of Mary, but in his devotion to the Immaculate Heart there was a share for the Heart of Jesus. Little by little, the devotion to the
two Hearts became distinct, and on 31 August 1670 the first feast of the Sacred Heart was celebrated in the Grand Seminary
of Rennes. Coutances followed suit on October 20, a day with which the Eudist feast was from then on to be connected. The feast soon spread to
other dioceses, and the devotion was likewise adopted in various religious communities. It gradually came into contact with the devotion begun
by Margaret Mary Alacoque at Paray-le-Monial, and the two merged.

Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque[edit]

Main article: Margaret Mary Alacoque

Painting representing the apparitions of the Sacred Heart to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque.

The most significant source for the devotion to the Sacred Heart in the form it is known today was Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647–1690), a nun
of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, who claimed to have received apparitions of Jesus Christ in the Burgundian French village of Paray-le-
Monial, the first on 27 December 1673, the feast of Saint John the Evangelist, and the final one 18 months later, revealing the form of the devotion, the
chief features being reception of Holy Communion on the first Friday of each month, Eucharistic adoration during a "Holy hour" on Thursdays, and the
celebration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart. She said that in her vision she was instructed to spend an hour every Thursday night to meditate on
Jesus' Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.

 In probably June or July 1674, Sister Margaret Mary claimed that Jesus requested to be honored under the figure of his heart, also saying that,
when he appeared radiant with love, he asked for a devotion of expiatory love: frequent reception of Communion, especially on the first Friday of
the month, and the observance of the Holy hour.
 During the octave of Corpus Christi in 1675, probably on 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 humankind) 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 le Monial.

Sometime around 1681 Sister Margaret Mary felt compelled to write a personal testament, passionately donating her life completely to Jesus with her
own blood. With the permission of her superior she used a pocket knife to carve the name of Jesus into her breast and used the blood to sign the
document. The following account recalls this event.

"She herself wrote out the donation, and signed this humble formula: 'Sister Peronne-Rosalie Greyfie, at present Superioress, and for whom Sister
Margaret Mary daily asks conversion with the grace of final penitence.' This done, Sister Margaret Mary implored Mother Greyfie to allow her, in turn, to
sign, but with her blood. The Mother having assented, Sister Margaret Mary went to her cell, bared her breast, and, imitating her illustrious and saintly
foundress, cut with a knife the name of Jesus above her heart. From the blood that flowed from the wound she signed the act in these words: 'Sister
Margaret Mary, Disciple of the Divine Heart of the Adorable Jesus'[17]

Upset by the fact that the wounds which she had cut into her breast were beginning to fade, she attempted to reopen the original wounds on more than
one occasion using a knife. But, having failed to open them to her liking, she decided to burn her chest with fire. This incident placed her in the
infirmary.

"However, in the midst of the peace and joy that this great act had procured her, the generous and fervent Margaret Mary experienced one regret,
namely, that the letters of the holy name of Jesus, which she had engraven on her heart and which she wished to be as lasting as her love, began,
after some time, to grow faint, and to disappear. Resting on the permission that she had received, she tried once or twice to renew them by opening
the lines with a knife; but not succeeding according to her liking, she determined to apply fire. This she did, but so incautiously that she soon had
reason to fear having exceeded the limits of obedience. Trembling and humbled, she went to acknowledge her fault. Mother Greyfie, true to her
custom, apparently paid little attention to what Margaret said, but ordered her in a few dry words to go to the infirmary and show her wound to Sister
Augustine Marest, who would dress it."[17]

Father de la Colombière directed her to write an account of the apparition, which he discreetly circulated in France and England. After his death on 15
February 1682, his journal of spiritual retreats was found to contain a copy in his handwriting of the account that he had requested of Margaret Mary,
together with a few reflections on the usefulness of the devotion. This journal, including the account – an "offering" to the Sacred Heart in which the
devotion was explained – was published at Lyon in 1684. The little book was widely read, especially at Paray le Monial. Margaret Mary reported feeling
"dreadful confusion" over the book's contents, but resolved to make the best of it, approving of the book for the spreading of her cherished devotion.
Along with the Visitandines, priests, religious, and laymen espoused the devotion, particularly the Capuchins. The reported apparitions served as a
catalyst for the promotion of the devotion to the Sacred Heart.[18] Jesuit Father Croiset wrote a book called The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
and Fr. Joseph de Gallifet, SJ, promoted the devotion. The mission of propagating the new devotion was especially confided to the religious of the
Visitation and to the priests of the Society of Jesus.

Estelle Faguette[edit]
Main article: Our Lady of Pellevoisin

Window detail, All Saints Catholic Church, St. Peters, Missouri

On the night of 14 February 1876 a domestic servant Estelle Faguette lay in Pellevoisin dying of pulmonary tuberculosis, and reportedly saw the Virgin
Mary. Four days later, during the fifth apparition, Estelle seemed to be healed instantaneously. Altogether she said she experienced fifteen apparitions
in the course of 1876. Estelle sought and was granted an audience with the Archbishop of Bourges, Monsignor de La Tour d'Auvergne. By 12
December 1876 she had received his permission to make and distribute copies of the Scapular of the Sacred Heart.[19]:109

Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart[edit]

Main article: Mary of the Divine Heart

Sister Mary of the Divine Heart

Another source for the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was Sister Mary of the Divine Heart (1863–1899), the former countess of Droste zu
Vischering and nun from the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, who reported to have received several interior locutions and
visions of Jesus Christ. The first interior locution Maria Droste zu Vischering reported was during her youth spent with the family in the Castle
of Darfeld, near Münster, Germany, and the last vision and private revelation was reported during her presence as Mother Superior in the Convent of
the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Porto, Portugal.

Based on the messages she said she received in her revelations of Christ, on 10 June 1898 her confessor at the Good Shepherd monastery wrote
to Pope Leo XIII stating that Sister Mary of the Divine Heart had received a message from Christ, requesting the pope to consecrate the entire world to
the Sacred Heart. The pope initially attached no credence to it and took no action. However, on 6 January 1899 she sent another letter asking that in
addition to the consecration, the first Fridays of the month be observed in honor of the Sacred Heart.

Painting representing the vision received by Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart Droste zu Vischering

Sister Mary of the Divine Heart died in her monastery in Portugal when the Church was singing the first vespers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on 8
June 1899. The following day, Pope Leo XIII consecrated the entire world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Papal approval[edit]
In 1353 Pope Innocent VI instituted a Mass honoring the mystery of the Sacred Heart.[18]

After the death of Margaret Mary Alacoque on 17 October 1690, a short account of her life was published by Father Croiset in 1691 as an appendix to
his book De la Dévotion au Sacré Cœur. In 1693 the Holy See imparted indulgences to the Confraternities of the Sacred Heart, and in 1697 granted
the feast to the Visitandines with the Mass of the Five Wounds, but refused a feast common to all, with special Mass and Office. The devotion spread,
particularly in religious communities. The Marseille plague in 1720 furnished perhaps the first occasion for a solemn consecration and public worship
outside of religious communities. Other cities of southern Europe followed the example of Marseille. In 1726 Rome was again asked for a feast with a
Mass and Office of its own; this was refused in 1729, but granted in 1765. In that year, at the request of the queen, the feast was received quasi-
officially by the episcopate of France. In 1856, at the urgent entreaties of the French bishops, Pope Pius IX extended the feast to the Catholic Church
under the rite of double major. In 1889 it was raised by the Catholic Church to the double rite of first class.

Jesus embracing all

After Pope Leo XIII received several letters from Sister Mary of the Divine Heart asking him to consecrate the entire world to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus, he commissioned a group of theologians to examine the petition on the basis of revelation and sacred tradition. The outcome of this
investigation was positive, and so in the encyclical letter Annum sacrum (on 25 May 1899) he decreed that the consecration of the entire human race
to the Sacred Heart of Jesus should take place on 11 June 1899. The encyclical letter also encouraged the entire Catholic episcopate to promote
the First Friday Devotions, established June as the Month of the Sacred Heart, and included the Prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart.[20]

Pope Pius X decreed that the consecration of the human race performed by Leo XIII be renewed each year. Pius XI in his encyclical
letter Miserentissimus Redemptor (on 8 May 1928) affirmed the Church's position with respect to Saint Margaret Mary's visions of Jesus Christ by
stating that Jesus had "manifested Himself" to Saint Margaret and had "promised her that all those who rendered this honor to his Heart would be
endowed with an abundance of heavenly graces." The encyclical refers several times to the conversation between Jesus and Saint Margaret
Mary[21] and reaffirmed the importance of consecration and reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Pope Pius XII, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Pius IX's institution of the Feast, instructed the entire Catholic Church at length on the
devotion to the Sacred Heart in his encyclical letter Haurietis aquas (on 15 May 1956). On 15 May 2006, Pope Benedict XVI sent a letter to
Father Peter Hans Kolvenbach, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, on the 50th Anniversary of the encyclical Haurietis aquas. In his letter to
Father Kolvenbach, Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed the importance of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Worship and devotion[edit]

In Germany

The Catholic acts of consecration, reparation, and devotion were introduced when the feast of the Sacred Heart was declared. In his papal
bull Auctorem fidei, Pope Pius VI praised devotion to the Sacred Heart. Finally, Leo XIII in his encyclical Annum sacrum (25 May 1899), as well as on
June 11, consecrated every human to the Sacred Heart. The idea of this act, which Leo XIII called "the great act" of his pontificate, had been proposed
to him by a nun of the Good Shepherd from Oporto (Portugal) who said that she had supernaturally received it from Jesus. Since c. 1850, groups,
congregations, and countries have consecrated themselves to the Sacred Heart. In 1873, by petition of president Gabriel García Moreno, Ecuador was
the first country in the world to be consecrated to the Sacred Heart.

Peter Coudrin of France founded the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary on 24 December 1800. A religious order of the Catholic
Church, the order carried out missionary work in Hawaii.

Mother Clelia Merloni from Forlì (Italy) founded the Congregation of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Viareggio, Italy, on 30 May 1894.

Worship of the Sacred Heart mainly consists of several hymns, the Salutation of the Sacred Heart, and the Litany of the Sacred Heart. It is common in
Catholic services and occasionally is to be found in Anglican services.

The Feast of the Sacred Heart, in the Catholic liturgical calendar since 1856, is now a solemnity and is celebrated 19 days after Pentecost, always on a
Friday.
The Enthronement of the Sacred Heart is a Catholic ceremony in which a priest or head of a household consecrates the members of the household to
the Sacred Heart. An image of the Sacred Heart that has been blessed, either a statue or a picture, is then placed in the home as a reminder. The
practice of the Enthronement is based upon Pius XII's declaration that devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is "the foundation on which to build the
kingdom of God in the hearts of individuals, families, and nations."[22]

In the Catholic tradition, the Sacred Heart has been closely associated with Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ. In his encyclical Miserentissimus
Redemptor, 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."[21] The Golden Arrow Prayer directly refers to the Sacred Heart.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart is sometimes seen in the Eastern Catholic Churches, where it remains a point of controversy and is seen as an example
of liturgical Latinisation.

Feast Day[edit]
Dates for the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Year Date (Ordinary form of the Roman rite)

2015 12 June

2016 3 June

2017 23 June

2018 8 June

2019 28 June

2020 19 June

2021 11 June

2022 24 June

2023 16 June

2024 7 June

2025 27 June

2026 12 June

2027 4 June

2028 23 June

2029 8 June

2030 28 June

The Feast of the Sacred Heart is a solemnity in the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church. It falls 19 days after Pentecost, on a Friday.[23] The
earliest possible date is 29 May, as in 1818 and 2285. The latest possible date is 2 July, as in 1943 and 2038. The devotion to the Sacred Heart is one
of the most widely practiced and well-known Catholic devotions, taking Jesus Christ's physical heart as the representation of his divine love for
humanity.

Alliance with the Immaculate Heart[edit]

Saint John Eudes defended the mystical unity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Main article: Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary

The Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary is based on the historical, theological, and spiritual links in Catholic devotions between the Sacred Heart
of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.[24][25][26] The joint devotion to the hearts was first formalized in the seventeenth century by Saint John
Eudes who organized the scriptural, theological, and liturgical sources relating to the devotions and obtained the approbation of the Church, prior to the
visions of Saint Marguerite Marie Alacoque.[27][28][29]

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the devotions grew, both jointly and individually, through the efforts of figures such as Saint Louis de
Montfort who promoted Catholic Mariology and Saint Catherine Labouré's Miraculous Medal depicting the Heart of Jesus thorn-crowned and the Heart
of Mary pierced with a sword.[30][31][32] The devotions and associated prayers grew into the twentieth century, e.g. in the Immaculata prayer of
Saint Maximillian Kolbe and in the reported messages of Our Lady of Fatima saying that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be honored together with the
Heart of Mary.[33][34]

Popes supported the individual and joint devotions to the hearts through the centuries. In the 1956 encyclical Haurietis aquas, Pope Pius XII
encouraged the joint devotion to the hearts. In the 1979 encyclical Redemptor hominis, Pope John Paul II explained the theme of unity of Mary's
Immaculate Heart with the Sacred Heart.[35] In his Angelus address on 15 September 1985, John Paul II coined the term The Alliance of the Hearts of
Jesus and Mary, and in 1986 addressed the international conference on that topic held at Fátima, Portugal.[36][37][38][39]

Names of institutions[edit]
For a list of institutions named Sacred Heart, see Sacred Heart (disambiguation)

Sacred Heart is a name used for many Catholic institutions, including schools, colleges, and hospitals in many countries. It is also the name of
many Catholic parishes, religious orders, and stores selling Catholic religious goods.

The Sacred Heart crowned with thorns, appearing on the Miraculous Medal

Sacred Heart imagery[edit]

Sacred Heart patch of the French Catholic and Royal Army

USVA headstone emblem 62

The Carillon-Sacré-Coeur: flag waved by French Canadian Catholics until the 1950s.

The Sacred Heart has also been involved in and depicted in apparitions such as those to Saint Catherine Labouré in 1830, and appears on
the Miraculous Medal,[40] where the Sacred Heart is crowned with thorns. The Immaculate Heart of Mary also appears on the medal, next to the
Sacred Heart, but is pierced by a sword rather than being crowned with thorns. The M on the medal signifies the Blessed Virgin at the foot of the
Cross when Jesus was being crucified. The Carillon-Sacré-Coeur flag has been adopted by the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Québec.
Religious imagery depicting the Sacred Heart is frequently featured in Catholic, and sometimes in Anglican and Lutheran, homes. Sometimes
images display beneath them a list of family members, indicating that the entire family is entrusted to the protection of Jesus in the Sacred Heart,
from whom blessings on the home and the family members are sought. The prayer "O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in Thee" is
often used. One particular image has been used as part of a set, along with an image of the Virgin Mary. In that image, Mary too was shown
pointing to her Immaculate Heart. The dual images reflect an eternal binding of the two hearts.

The Scapular of the Sacred Heart and the Scapular of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary are worn by Catholics.[41][42]

In Eastern Catholicism[edit]
Devotion to the Sacred Heart may be found in some Eastern Catholic Churches, but is a contentious issue. Those who favour purity of rite are
opposed to the devotion, while those who are in favour of the devotion cite it as a point of commonality with their Latin Catholic brethren.

Promises of the Sacred Heart[edit]

The Sanctuary of Christ the King in Almada is a famous monument dedicated to the Sacred Heart.

Promises made to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque[edit]

Margaret Mary Alacoque said that in her apparitions Jesus promised these blessings to those who practice devotion to his Sacred Heart. The list
was tabulated in 1863. In 1882 an American businessman spread the tabular form of the twelve promises throughout the world, in 238
languages. In 1890 Cardinal Adolph Perraud deplored this circulation of the promises in tabular form, which he said were different from the
words and the meaning of the expressions used by Saint Margaret Mary, and wanted the promises to be published in their original words.[43]

1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
2. I will give peace in their families.
3. I will console them in all their troubles.
4. I will be their refuge in life and especially in death.
5. I will abundantly bless all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall rise speedily to great perfection.
9. I will bless those places wherein the image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and venerated.
10. I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.
11. Persons who propagate this devotion shall have their names eternally written in my Heart.
12. In the excess of the mercy of my Heart, I promise you that my all powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on
the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving
the sacraments; and my Heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour.

On 16 June 1675, Marguerite Marie Alacoque reports three specific requests for the temporal power, directly from his spiritual talks.[44] These will
have political and religious repercussions and will successively be realized under the regimes royal, imperial and republican French.[45]

1. The first message is addressed to kings : "He desires to enter pompously and magnificently into the house of princes and kings, to
be honored, as much as he has been outraged, despised and humiliated in his passion... that the adorable Heart of his divine Son
was received ... to establish his empire in the heart of our Great Monarch, from which he wants to serve for the execution of his
designs."
2. The second messageis: "to build a building where the painting of this divine Heart will be, to receive the consecration and the
homage of the King and of the whole court..."
3. The third message asks the King: "to be painted on his standards and engraved on his weapons to make him victorious over all his
enemies, by bringing down at his feet the proud and superb heads, in order to make him triumphant to all the enemies of the Holy
Church ".[46]

By a law voted on 24 July 1873, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre known as National Vow, is declared of public utility by
the National Assembly of 1871. On 16 June 1875, the Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Guibert lay the first stone of the basilica, honoring after two
hundred years the fourth request reported by Marguerite Marie Alacoque from June 16, 1675.[47]

On 8 December 2014, the third request of Marguerite-Marie Alacoque, corroborated during the First World War by Claire Ferchaud,[45] is honored
in the municipality of Gleize by the inauguration of the Heiho Niten Ichi Ryu Memorial,[48] institution officialized
by France, Japan, Cambodia,[49] ASEAN and Russia.[50] Within it float the flags of the Sacred Heart Royal and the Sacred Heart Republican,
reconciling in its time the perpetual conflicts that have crossed France.

Sacred Heart Church, Hamilton, MO, USA.

 

The Estrela Basilica situated in Lisbon, Portugal, was the first church in the world dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The Sanctuary of Christ the King in Almada is a famous monument dedicated to the Sacred Heart.

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Paris, France.

The Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Ermesinde, Portugal.

 

Flags of the Sacred Heart in the Heiho Niten Ichi Ryu Memorial.

Promises made to Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart[edit]

Blessed Sister Mary of the Divine Heart Droste zu Vischering said that in her mystical experiences Jesus Christ inspired her to build a shrine
dedicated to his Sacred Heart. The imposing Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (also referred as Church of the Good Shepherd or Sanctuary
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus) was built between 14 July 1957 and 21 April 1966, in the civil parish of Ermesinde in north Portugal, and
consecrated to the Heart of Christ in fulfillment of the vow made by the nun. According to the writings of Sister Mary of the Divine Heart, Jesus
had made this promise: "I will make it a place of graces. I will distribute copiously graces to all who live in this house [the Convent], those who
live here now, those who will live here after, and even to their relatives."[51] Jesus also promised her: "Know this, My daughter, that by the charity
of My Heart I desire to pour out floods of graces through your heart over the hearts of others. This is why people will come to you with
confidence; it will not be your personal qualities which will attract them, but Me. No one, even the most hardened sinner, will leave your presence
without having received, in one way or another, consolation, relief, or a special grace."[52]

The body of Blessed Sister Mary of the Divine Heart, entombed for public veneration in the Church-Shrine of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in
Ermesinde, was found incorrupt at its first exhumation.

Scapular of the Sacred Heart[edit]

The devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus also involve the Scapular of the Sacred Heart. Prior to the existence of a formal Catholic devotional
scapular, Margaret Mary Alacoque made and distributed badges bearing an image of the Heart of Jesus.[41] In 1872 Pope Pius IX granted an
indulgence for the badge.

Following the claims by Estelle Faguette that the Virgin Mary had appeared to her in 1876 and requested a scapular of the Sacred Heart of
Jesus, a scapular of the proposed design was approved by the Congregation of Rites in 1900. It bears the representation of the Sacred Heart of
Jesus on one side and that of the Virgin Mary under the title of Mother of Mercy on the other side.

Criticisms[edit]

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Sacred Heart of Jesus

 Sacred Heart

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 Estelle Faguette

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Encyclicals

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Part of a series on

Devotions to Jesus
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Jesus Christ in the Catacombs of Rome (4th century)

Devotions

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 Sacred Heart

 Holy Face
  Divine Mercy

 Eucharistic adoration

 Holy Name

 Holy Hour

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 Precious Blood

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Prayers

 Anima Christi

 Shoulder Wound

 Morning offering

 Sacred Heart prayer

 Sacred Heart Consecration

 You are Christ

 Vianney's prayer

 Perboyre's prayer

 Montfort's prayer

 Crucifix prayer

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Eastern Orthodox Christians disapprove of the actual worship of the physical heart of Jesus as being a form of naturalism and Nestorianism; the
Feast of the Sacred Heart has however been inserted in certain Calendars of Western Rite Orthodoxy.[53] Pope Pius XII's encyclical Haurietis
aquas, in response to these criticisms, said that the Sacred Heart is venerated as belonging to the Divine Person of the Eternal Word and as "a
symbolic image of his love and a witness of our redemption."

Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus[edit]

Dates for the Feast of the Sacred Heart, 2017–2020

Year Date

2017 June 23
 2018 June 8

2019 June 28

2020 June 19

V. Lord, have mercy on us.

R. Christ, have mercy on us.
V. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
R. Christ, graciously hear us.
V. God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, Son of the Eternal Father, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, formed in the womb of the Virgin Mother by the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, united substantially to the Word of God.
Heart of Jesus, of infinite majesty.
Heart of Jesus, holy temple of God.
Heart of Jesus, tabernacle of the Most High.
Heart of Jesus, house of God and gate of heaven.
Heart of Jesus, glowing furnace of charity.
Heart of Jesus, vessel of justice and love.
Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love.
Heart of Jesus, abyss of all virtues.
Heart of Jesus, most worthy of all praise.
Heart of Jesus, King and center of all hearts.
Heart of Jesus, in whom art all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Heart of Jesus, in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead.
Heart of Jesus, in whom the Father was well pleased.
Heart of Jesus, of whose fullness we have all received.
Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills.
Heart of Jesus, patient and rich in mercy.
Heart of Jesus, rich to all who call upon Thee.
Heart of Jesus, fount of life and holiness.
Heart of Jesus, expiation for our offenses.
Heart of Jesus, overwhelmed with reproaches.
Heart of Jesus, bruised for our iniquities.
Heart of Jesus, obedient even unto death.
Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance.
Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation.
Heart of Jesus, our life and resurrection.
Heart of Jesus, our peace and reconciliation.
Heart of Jesus, victim for our sins.
Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who hope in Thee.
Heart of Jesus, hope of those who die in Thee.
Heart of Jesus, delight of all saints.

V. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,

R. spare us, O Lord.
V. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
R. graciously hear us, O Lord.
V. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
R. have mercy on us.

V. Jesus, meek and humble of Heart,

R. Make our hearts like unto Thine.

Let us pray.

Almighty and everlasting God, look upon the Heart of Thy well-beloved Son and upon the acts of praise and satisfaction which he renders unto
Thee in the name of sinners; and do Thou, in Thy great goodness, grant pardon to those who seek Thy mercy, in the name of the same Thy Son,
Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, world without end.