8 June 2010: 'The Object of our Devotion'

The Sacred Heart of Jesus -- 'The Object of our Devotion'

The ‘material’ or ‘sensible’ object is the Heart of the Incarnate Word, inseparably united to his humanity and his divinity, and as much an object of worship as Jesus Christ himself, with whom it is identified.

The ‘spiritual’ or ‘abstract’ object is the love of Jesus Christ, of which his Heart is the symbol.

In however we consider the ‘object’ of this devotion, it is most worthy of our adoration. It is the Heart of a God who loves us tenderly, Jesus Christ himself, represented by the most noble organ of his humanity, the most beautiful attribute of his divinity: his love.

We think ourselves happy if we possess, or even if we only press with our lips -- a relic of the true cross, one of the nails, one of the thorns which pierced the hands and head of Jesus.

But what are these compared with the Heart of Jesus? May our devotion be worthy of its great and most sacred object. May it increase a thousandfold our love and devotion to the Sacred Heart!

Ref: cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp315-6

The mystery of the Sacred Heart

In many passages of the Gospel, we discover the wealth of the Sacred Heart of Jesus which give us a glimpse of the quality of his Sacred Heart and its holy affectivity. In these passages our Lord directly discloses the life of his Sacred Heart and grants us an insight into this most intimate holy secret.

We are granted a glimpse of the wounds inflicted on his heart by the infidelity of his disciples, by the insipidity of Jerusalem and of the elected people. We are privileged to divine his tender love for his disciples, his underlying outlook at his supreme sacrifice, his anxieties, his loneliness.

We are even granted a glance into an incomparably more sublime secret of his Sacred Heart: the motions directed to his heavenly Father, his abandonment to God, his supreme sacrifice, his infinite love. In these intimate revelations of his heart, Christ’s human nature certainly manifests itself in a specific fashion.

And yet we are confronted with the great mystery that precisely in these manifestations of his Sacred humanity by which his divinity is revealed most intimately. It is the mystery that his Heart is substantially united to the Second Person of the Holy Trinity.

Ref: D von Hildebrand, “The Sacred Heart”, p145

Biblical foundation of the Sacred Heart

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus springs from the scriptural knowledge “that God is love” (Jn 4:16). This Almighty, most holy, most merciful, perfect and transcendent God brought all things and mankind into existence out of love; but mankind rejected this love.

Still, in His infinite mercy, God sent His only Son to redeem and bring us back to Him by dying on the cross. The devotion to the Sacred Heart is a warm, loving and explicit response to God’s plea for the love of His people.

The word ‘heart’ is rarely mentioned in the Old Testament, but it shows in many other terms God’s love with Israel. In the New Testament, St John (Jn 19:34) emphasizes the Heart of Jesus as the source and fountain of the sacramental life in the Church; the symbol of God’s immense love by making us temples of the Holy Spirit and sharers of eternal life.

The earliest Christians adored and venerated the wounds of Jesus Christ particularly the wound on His side. The Church originated from this pierced side. Later on, men came to see in the open side, the wounded Heart of our Saviour. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is intimately associated with the most fundamental teachings of the Gospels.

Jesus is the personified revelation of the Father’s infinite love. As true God and true man, his personal caring love in every person is symbolized in his human heart.

Ref: A F Makalinao, “St Margaret Mary Alacoque”, pp27-8

The Unique Heart

‘Heart of Jesus, formed by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, have mercy on us!’ So do we pray in the litany of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

This invocation refers directly to the mystery on which we meditate when we recite the ‘Angelus’: through the operation of the Holy Spirit the Humanity of Christ, Son of the Eternal Father, was formed in the womb of the Virgin of Nazareth.

Through operation of the Holy Spirit, the Heart was formed in this Humanity! The heart is the central organ of the human organism of Christ; at the same time the true symbol of his inner life, thought, will, sentiments.

Through this Humanity, Christ’s Humanity is ‘God’s Temple’ in a particular way. At the same time, also through this Heart, it remains incessantly open to man and everything which is human: ‘Heart of Jesus, from whose fulness we have all received.’

The month of June is dedicated in a special manner to veneration of the Divine Heart. Not only one day of the month, but every day of the month. Linked to this is the devout practice of reciting the litany of the Sacred Heart every day. A marvellous prayer, wholly focused on the interior mystery of Christ: God-Man.

The litany of the Heart of Jesus reflects the deepest experiences of human hearts. In it we speak ‘of the heart’, and enable hearts to speak to ‘that unique heart’. When recited and meditated, this prayer becomes ‘a real school for the interior man’: the school of the Christian.

Ref: cf “Prayers and Devotions from Pope John Paul II”, pp447-8

Our Lady -- “Our Lady of sorrows. When you contemplate her, look into her heart: she is a mother with two sons, face to face: him ... and you.” (cf St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way” 506)

Our Lady of Alexandria church, in Egypt built by St Peter, patriarch of this city. — Baronius, ann. 310. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; http://www.bethlehemobserver.com)

Our Lady of Alexandria (Egypt, 4th Century). (http://www.divinewill.org/feastofourlady.htm); (http://www.starharbor.com/santiago/m feasts.html); (MaryLinks Calendar.htm); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)

Our Lady of Alexandria (Egypt). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)

The Immaculate Heart of Mary. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)

Madonna of Ludmierz: Principal Marian shrine of Tatra Mountain, Poland. (John Paul II, “Witness to Hope”, 1999, p316)