History of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Devotion
Devotions to the wounded heart of Jesus originated in the 11th Century. Between 1673 and 1675, Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a cloistered Visitation nun, revealing his Divine Heart to her and his great love for all. He established the practice of the First Friday devotion, requested the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to be celebrated every year on the Friday after the Feast of Corpus Christi, and he outlined 12 promises for those who practised the First Friday devotion. More information can be found here https://ewtn.co.uk/article-where-did-devotion-to-the-sacred-heart-of-jesus-come-from/
(Image: Catholic holy card depicting the Sacred Heart of Jesus, ca. 1880. Auguste Martin collection, University of Dayton Libraries. (photo: Credit: ‘Turgis’, via Wikimedia Commons)
The 12 Promises of the Sacred Heart
The Promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary can be found here https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/12-promises-of-the-sacred-heart-13683
The First Friday Devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Make Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
In the Nine First Fridays Devotion. For more information about the Nine First Fridays go here https://fatima.org/first-friday-devotion/
Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
The Litany of the Sacred Heart was created by various authors with the final version approved by in 1899 by Pope Leo XIII. For more on the litany click here https://aleteia.org/2022/06/24/litany-of-the-sacred-heart-of-jesus
Enthronement of the home to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
The practice of enthronement or consecration of the home to the Sacred Heart involves putting a blessed image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in a place of prominence … For more go here https://www.catholicnewsworld.com/2018/06/consecrate-your-family-and-home-heart.html
Personal Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Did you know you could consecrate yourself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus? The first consecration prayer was written by Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque. Here’s link to the personal consecration prayer. https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/act-of-consecration-to-the-sacred-heart-12727
Copy of an image of the Sacred Heart (1686) and the Act of Consecration handwritten by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. (Image by Michael Tav – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?)
Pope Leo XIV’s Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Lord, I come to your tender heart today,
to you who have words that set my heart ablaze,
to you who pour out compassion on the little ones and the poor,
on those who suffer, and on all human miseries.
I desire to know you more, to contemplate you in the Gospel,
to be with you and learn from you
and from the charity with which you allowed yourself
to be touched by all forms of poverty.
You showed us the Father’s love by loving us without measure
with your divine and human heart.
Grant all your children the grace of encountering you.
Change, shape, and transform our plans,
so that we seek only you in every circumstance:
in prayer, in work, in encounters, and in our daily routine.
From this encounter, send us out on mission,
a mission of compassion for the world
in which you are the source from which all consolation flows.
Amen.
Sacred Heart 24 