2023-06-14 19:07:00
June 14, 2023 / 12:07 p.m.
Close to the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which this 2023 will be celebrated on Friday, June 16, we present 7 facts that you should know about this important devotion to Our Lord.
1. His day coincides with the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests
Saint John Paul II, who had great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, determined that the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests be held on his feast day.
He also declared the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary as obligatory for the entire Church.
2. The feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is celebrated the following day
Pope Pius XII established in 1944 that the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary be celebrated the day after that of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, since both hearts are inseparable.
3. Several encyclicals speak of the Heart of Jesus
Since 1856, since the official extension to the entire Church of the feast of the Sacred Heart, the following encyclicals have been written on this devotion: “The Sacred Year” of Leo XIII, “Most Merciful Redeemer” of Pius XI and “You will draw the waters” of Pius XII.
4. Their oldest hymn is titled “The Heart of the Supreme King”
“The Heart of the Supreme King” (The Supreme King’s Heart) is the classic hymn to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It expresses a solemn greeting to the Heart of Christ, taking a deep biblical meaning. It is considered the work of Saint Hermann Joseph, a mystic from Cologne, Germany.
5. Santa Margarita María de Alacoque received revelations about this devotion
When she was 4 years old, Santa Margarita prayed inspired to the Lord, saying: “Oh My God, I consecrate my purity and I make a vow of perpetual chastity.”
Already being a religious, at the age of 26, she received a message from Jesus while praying before the Blessed Sacrament.
“I ask that the first Friday after the eighth of Corpus a special feast be celebrated to honor my Heart and that that day be communicated to ask forgiveness and repair the outrages received by him during the time he has remained exposed on the altars “, Jesus requested him.
6. Other saints also had visions of the Sacred Heart
Other saints who have enjoyed visions of the Heart of Jesus are: Saint Gertrude the Great, Saint Lutgarda, Saint Matilde, Saint Angela of Foligno, Saint Juliana of Norwich and Saint Veronica Giuliani.
7. It is a very old tradition
Devotion to the Heart of Christ has its roots in the early days of the Church. Saint Augustine, Father and Doctor of the Church, once wrote that Saint John, who reclined his head on the chest of Christ at the Last Supper, drank from the “sublime secrets of the most intimate depths of the Heart of Our Lord.”
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