Sacred Heart
|
A depiction of Jesus and the Sacred Heart |
The
Sacred Heart is a religious
devotion to
Jesus' physical heart.
This devotion is predominantly used in the
Roman Catholic Church and represents divine love for humanity. It also stresses the central
Christian concept of loving and adoring Jesus. The origin of this devotion in its modern form is derived from a French Catholic nun
Marie Alacoque, who allegedly learned the devotion from Jesus in
visions. Predecessors to the modern devotion existed to some extent in the
Middle Ages in various
mystical sects.
The Sacred Heart is often depicted in
Christian art as a flaming stylized heart, pierced and bleeding from a surrounding
crown of thorns. Sometimes the image is superimposed over Jesus' body 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 love. This motif has become a part of
vernacular culture through its appropriation by
tattoo artists.
Early devotion
From the time of
John the Evangelist and
Paul of Tarsus there has always been in the Church something like devotion to the love of God, but there is nothing to indicate that, during the first ten centuries of Christianity, any worship was rendered to the wounded heart of Jesus.
It is in the
eleventh and
twelfth centuries that the first indications of devotion to the Sacred Heart are found. It was in the fervent atmosphere of the
Benedictine or
Cistercian monasteries, in the world of
Anselmian or
Bernardine thought, that the devotion arose, although it is impossible to say positively what were its first texts or who were its first devotees. To
St. Gertrude,
St. Mechtilde, and the author of the "Vitis mystica" (previously ascribed to
St. Bernard, now attributed to
St. Bonaventure) it was already well known.
From the
thirteenth to the
sixteenth century, the devotion was propagated but it did not seem to have developed in itself. It was everywhere practised by individuals and by different religious congregations, such as the
Franciscans,
Dominicans,
Carthusians, etc. 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 Wounds by the Franciscans, in which the wound in Jesus' heart figured most prominently.
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 Louis of
Blois (Blosius; 1566), a
Benedictine and
Abbot of
Liessies in
Hainaut,
John of Avila (d. 1569) and
St. Francis de Sales, the latter belonging to the
seventeenth century.
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. The image of the heart of Jesus was everywhere in evidence, largely due to the Franciscan devotion to the Five Wounds and to the habit formed by the
Jesuits of placing the image on their title-page of their books and the walls of their churches.
Nevertheless, the devotion remained an individual, or at least a private, devotion.
Jean Eudes (1602-1680) made it public, gave it an Office, and established a feast for it. Père Eudes was the apostle of the
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 Sacred Heart became a separate one, and on
August 31,
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 at
Paray, and resulting in a fusion of the two.
Visions of St. Margaret Mary
The most significant source for the devotion to the Sacred Heart in the form it is known today was
Visitandine Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690), who claimed to have received
visions of Jesus Christ. There is nothing to indicated that she had known the devotion prior to the revelations, or at least that she had paid any attention to it. These alleged revelations were numerous, and the following apparitions are especially remarkable:
* On December 27, probably 1673, 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.
* In probably June or July, 1674, Margaret Mary claimed that Jesus requested to be honored under the figure of his heart of flesh, 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.
* During the
octave of
Corpus Christi, 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 mankind) only ingratitude ...", and asked Margaret Mary for a feast of
reparation of the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi, bidding her consult Father de la Colombière, then superior of the small Jesuit house at Paray. Solemn homage was asked on the part of the king, and 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.
A few days after the "great apparition", Margaret Mary reported everything she saw to Father de la Colombière, and he acknowledging the vision as an action of the spirit of God, consecrated himself to the Sacred Heart and directed her to write an account of the apparition. He also made use of every available opportunity to circulate this account, discreetly, through France and England. At his death,
February 15,
1682, there was found in his journal of spiritual retreats a copy in his own 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 and an "offering" to the Sacred Heart, in which the devotion was well explained, was published at Lyons in 1684. The little book was widely read, even at Paray. 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. Outside of the Visitandines, priests, religious, and laymen espoused the devotion, particularly a
Capuchin, Margaret Mary's two brothers, and some Jesuits, among the latter being Fathers Croiset and Gallifet, who promoted the devotion.
Vatican endorsement
The death of Margaret Mary,
October 17,
1690, did not dampen the zeal of those interested; on the contrary, a short account of her life published by Father Croiset in 1691, as an appendix to his book "De la Dévotion au Sacré CÅ"ur", served only to increase it. In spite of all sorts of obstacles, and of the slowness of the
Holy See, which in 1693 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
Marseilles plague, 1720, furnished perhaps the first occasion for a solemn consecration and public worship outside of religious communities. Other cities of the South followed the example of Marseilles, and thus the devotion became a popular one. In 1726 it was deemed advisable once more to importune Rome for a feast with a Mass and Office of its own, but, in 1729, Rome again refused. However, in 1765, it finally yielded and that same year, at the request of the queen, the feast was received quasi officially by the
episcopate of
France. On all sides it was asked for and obtained, and finally, 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.
On
May 15,
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, about the Sacred Heart, by
Pope Pius XII. In his letter to Father Kolvenbach, Pope Benedict reaffirmed the importance of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
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, by order of
Leo XIII, in his
encyclical Annum Sacrum (
May 25,
1899), as well as on
June 11, he 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 religious woman of the Good Shepherd from
Oporto (
Portugal) who said that she had supernaturally received it from Jesus. Since
c. 1850, groups, congregations, and States have consecrated themselves to the Sacred Heart.
Peter Coudrin of
France founded the
Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary on
Dec 24,
1800. A
religious order of the
Roman Catholic Church, the order is best known for its
missionary work in
Hawaii.
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 Roman Catholic services and occasionally is to be found in
Anglican services.
The
Feast of the Sacred Heart is a holy day in the Roman Catholic
liturgical calendar, 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.
|
Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Koekelberg, Brussels, Belgium |
Sacred Heart is still a widely used name for many Catholic institutions, including schools, colleges, and hospitals in many countries around the world. It is also the name of many Catholic parishes,
religious orders, and stores selling Catholic goods.
For a list of institutions named after the Sacred Heart, see
Sacred Heart (disambiguation).
|
Another depiction of Jesus and the Sacred Heart |
Religious imagery depicting the Sacred Heart is frequently featured in Catholic 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
Blessed Virgin Mary. In that image, Mary too was shown pointing to her
Immaculate Heart, expressing her love for the human race and for her son, Jesus Christ. The mirror images reflect an eternal binding of the two hearts.
Folklore and legends exist regarding the Sacred Heart as an actual physical object, kept in a
vessel or
crypt, by the Catholic Church or Catholic individuals, or as an essence that is passed down through a
lineage of holy descent. Interestingly, in not all versions is this essence or vessel kept by members of the Roman Catholic Church, and not all the caretakers display Christian morality as known by most traditional Christian faiths. One conclusion of this legend is that caretakers of the Sacred Heart are supernaturally given perfect knowledge of all spiritual issues and are infallible. Other versions claim the Sacred Heart is the soul of Jesus, which is protected, or which provides mercy and inspiration to the faithful until
God the Father establishes the
Kingdom of Heaven.
Many members of the Spanish
Carlist military forces of the
19th and
20th centuries wore
detentes or
amulets with an image of the Sacred Heart they believed would protect them against wounding by enemy
firearms.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart is on the rise among
Protestants and many
Anglicans,
Episcopalians,
Orthodox (which depict it in an iconic form) even
Methodists, and other major Christian denominations accept it to some degree. They also see it as a way to bridge the gap between Protestants and Catholics.
The Sacred Heart is also a very popular symbol used in tattoos of the traditional style. Many have selected the heart because it symbolizes strength and the ability to endure, or to represent their passion for something that they may include along with the heart.
Some non-Catholics, including
Charismatic Protestants, have criticized devotion to the Sacred Heart as
idolatry in that worship is directed towards a body part. The response of Catholics is to contend that the Sacred Heart is a traditional symbol depicting Christ's holy blood as a fountain. Some Catholics have been critical of the overly sentimental nature of such devotion,
but most of these critics concede that the images essentially reflect the core Christian tenet of love.
*
Immaculate Heart of Mary*
Read the Sacred Heart at roman-catholic-prayers.com*
Catholic Encyclopedia article*
In Christo, destined for happiness in Jesus! Website dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
