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DEVOTION TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS HISTORICAL ORIGIN Among the marvelous developments of sacred doctrine and of piety,
whereby the designs of the Divine Wisdom manifest themselves to the Church ever more
clearly, there is scarcely any other more outstanding than the triumphant progress of the
cult of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. True, in the course of former times, the Fathers, the Doctors and
the Saints have again and again celebrated the love of our Redeemer; they called the open
wound in the side of Christ the hidden source of all graces. But, since the Middle Ages, when the faithful
began to have a more tender affection towards our Savior's Sacred Humanity, contemplative
souls, such as St. Gertrude the Great, used to penetrate as it were through this Wound
into the Heart itself, wounded for love of men. From that time forward, this contemplation became familiar to all
those who excelled in sanctity, so that there is neither country nor religious Order where
there are not to be found testimonies for that, which, for that period, are very
remarkable. Finally, especially at the time
when heretics, under the guise of false piety, were bent on deterring Christian people
from the Blessed Eucharist, public worship began to be paid to the Sacred Heart,
particularly by means of St. John Eudes who, not without reason, is called "the
author of the liturgical cult of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary". Yet, in order to give the cult of the Sacred Heart its full and
perfect form, and to propagate it throughout the world, God Himself chose as an instrument
a humble virgin of the Visitation Order, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. From her early youth she had been animated with an
ardent love towards the Blessed Sacrament, and Christ our Lord, in many apparitions,
deigned to manifest to her the riches and the wishes of His Divine Heart. Of these apparitions the most famous is that in which, whilst she
was praying before the Eucharist, Jesus presented Himself to her and showed her His Sacred
Heart. He complained that, in return for His
boundless charity, He received from ungrateful men nothing but outrages, and He ordered
her to work for the institution of a new feast on the Friday after the Octave of Corpus
Christi, by which due honor should be paid to His Heart, and the outrages offered Him by
sinners in the Sacrament of His love should be expiated by worthy homage. There is no one who does not know of the great difficulties God's
servant experienced in executing Christ's commands. But
Our Lord Himself was her strength; and vigorously supported by her spiritual directors,
who were animated with an incredible ardor to promote this cult, she never ceased, even to
her death, to faithfully acquit herself of the task entrusted to her. In 1765, finally, the Sovereign Pontiff Clement XIII approved an
Office and Mass in honor of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Pope Pius IX extended the Feast to the universal Church. Ever since that time, this cult of the Sacred Heart, like an
overflowing stream sweeping away all obstacles, has spread abroad throughout the world. At the dawn of the new century, after he had
proclaimed the Jubilee, Pope Leo XIII desired that the whole human race should be
consecrated to the Sacred Heart. This
Consecration, which was made with great solemnity in all the churches of the Catholic
world, brought about an immense increase of the devotion.
It won nations as well as single families; those that consecrated themselves to the
Divine Heart and submitted to Its royal empire were innumerable. Finally, in order that the solemnity of the Feast might
correspond more fully to the devotion which was so widespread among the Christian people,
Pope Pius XI raised the Feast to the rite of Double of the First Class with an Octave. Moreover, to make up for the violated rights of
Christ, our supreme and loving Lord, and to atone for the sins of nations, he prescribed
that every year, on the same Feast day, an Act of Reparation should be recited in all the
churches of the Christian world. The chief historical dates of the Devotion are: v December 27th, 1673: The
first great apparition. v Beginning 1674: The
second great apparition. v July 2nd, 1674: The
third great apparition. v June 16th, 1675: The
fourth great apparition. v January 26th and February 6th, 1765: Institution of the Feast of the Sacred Heart by
Pope Clement XIII. v August 28th, 1794: Publication
of the Bull Auctorem fidei by Pope Pius VI against the false accusations of the
Jansenists. v August 23rd, 1856: Extension
of the Feast of the Sacred Heart to the universal Church by Pope Pius IX. v September 18th, 1864: Beatification
of Margaret Mary. v June 16th, 1875: General
consecration of the faithful to the Sacred Heart, at the invitation of Pope Pius IX. v May 25th, 1899: Encyclical
Annum sacrum by Pope Leo XIII on the Consecration of mankind to the Sacred Heart. v June 11th, 1899: Consecration
of the human race to the Sacred Heart by Pope Leo XIII. v May 13th, 1920: Canonization
of Margaret Mary by Pope Benedict XV. v May 8th, 1928: Encyclical
Miserentissimus by Pope Pius XI on the universal duty of reparation to the Sacred
Heart. v January 29th, 1929: Raising
of the Feast of the Sacred Heart to the rite of Double of the First Class with Privileged
Octave of the Third Order, by Pope Pius XI. v June 16th, 1929: Beatification
of Claude de la Colombière by Pope Pius XI. First Apparition of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary The Devotion which we are studying here owes its origin, from an
historical point of view, to Our Lord's apparitions to St. Margaret Mary. Among these there are four of greater importance,
which for that reason are commonly called "the great apparitions". The first apparition took place on the Feast of St. John the
Evangelist, that is, on December 27th, probably in 1673.
The Saint relates it as follows: "One day, being before the Blessed Sacrament, as I had some
leisure time, I was so overwhelmed by this Divine presence as to forget myself and the
place where I was. I abandoned myself to this
Divine Spirit, surrendering my heart to the might of His love. He disclosed to me the marvels of His love and the
unutterable secrets of His Sacred Heart, which He had always concealed from me, until He
opened It to me now for the first time. This
He did so effectually and so sensibly as to leave me no reason to doubt it, because of the
effects which this grace produced in me, though I am always afraid of being mistaken in
all that I say is going on in me. It
happened, as it seems to me, in this way: "He said to me: 'My
Divine Heart is so passionately inflamed with love for men, and for you in particular,
that, not being able any longer to contain within Itself the flames of Its ardent charity,
It must needs spread them abroad through your means, and manifest Itself to men, that they
may be enriched with Its precious treasures which I unfold to you, and which contain the
sanctifying and salutary graces that are necessary to hold them back from the abyss of
ruin. And I have chosen you, an abyss of
unworthiness and ignorance, for the accomplishment of this great design, that all this may
be My work.' Thereupon He demanded my heart,
which I entreated Him to take. ...'Hitherto
you have taken but the name of My slave; I give you now the title of the beloved disciple
of My Sacred Heart.'"
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