First Friday Devotions

The following article on the Origins & Purpose of the First Fridays will always remain posted for those who may be just starting their Nine First Fridays. The meditation for the current month is found below this introductory article, please scroll down.

CONTENTS OF THIS PAGE
1. INTRODUCTION FOR BEGINNERS: The Origins and Purpose of the "Nine First Fridays" Devotion
2. MEDIATION FOR THIS MONTH'S FIRST FRIDAY: Serialization from the book The Virtues of the Sacred Heart
3. PRAYERS: Various Prayers to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

This month's First Friday Meditations and Prayers can be found beneath the following introductory article

THE ORIGINS & PURPOSE OF THE "NINE FIRST FRIDAYS" DEVOTION

Honoring the Sacred Heart
There are many ways to honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus; for example, Prayers, Consecrations, Novenas, Pilgrimages, Enthronements, Night Adoration, The Thursday night Holy Hour, and in the Blessed Sacrament; remembering of course that Our Lord's Sacred Heart is present in the Blessed Sacrament. We also honor the Sacred Heart by keeping Our Lord's commandments and studying His words and teachings, and by being faithful to the traditional teachings of His Church.

In His great love for us, Our Lord and Savior remains in His Sacred Humanity, and His Heart of Flesh is for us the great reality and the great symbol of that great Love for us. During the revelations of His Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary, Our Lord said that He desired to be honored in all places under the figure of His Heart of Flesh, as: "a favor to men and to set them once more in these last ages — under the sweet liberty of the empire of His love" The figure of Our Lord's Heart of Flesh is shown in the pictures and statues of the Sacred Heart. Our Lord seeks for us to honor Him explicitly and implicitly in this way. By honoring His Heart, we honor the whole Christ.

The End Times or Last Ages
Notice the above reference of Our Lord to the "last ages." In His first revelation Our Lord explained how devotion to His Sacred Heart will obtain many graces, and that it was being given to draw men and women back from “the pit of perdition” — which perfectly portrays the great dangers of the times in which we now live. As an antidote to falling into sin, we are shown, in this revelation, that Our Lord offers to us “the sweet liberty of the empire of His Love.” The focus of our lives must be on Him, and not on unwanted worldly ways and distractions. Devotion to His Heart would draw men away from sin.

Fr. Culleton, in his book The Prophets And Our Times, states: “There is evidence that it was the will of Our Divine Lord that Devotion to the Sacred Heart be reserved for the last ages of the world, so that, in the last great struggle between Himself and Satan, the souls that He loves so dearly may be drawn to Him with renewed warmth, and thus strengthened against the final desperate attacks of the enemy” (Fr. Culleton, The Prophets and Our Times, ch. 4).

“In the times preceding the end of the world, Satan and his cohorts were to be loosed upon the earth in a mighty effort to draw as many souls as possible away from God, before the power of Hell would be remarkably restricted, if not completely broken. Satan's mission is one of hate. God wins souls through love. Our Blessed Savior knew that the hatred which would be rampant in those evil days could be best conquered by a devotion which would inspire love and charity in the hearts of men. It was to serve, as it were, as a magnet and a bulwark of strength by giving men a clearer knowledge of God's deep and abiding love and mercy. It would provide a harbor of peace and security in those days of confusion and anguish, when men's souls would be tried almost beyond endurance” (Fr. Culleton, The Prophets and Our Times, ch. 4).

“In all times of great distress or danger, God has provided men with the means of conquering evil, as evidenced by the history of the world, both before the time of Christ, but especially since the Redemption. To mention just one of the instances of Divine intervention when a special devotion was given to the world at a crucial period, let us consider the Rosary. In the 13th century when the Albigenses were preaching their vicious doctrines against marriage, and the spread of this heresy seriously endangered the morals of the people, St. Dominic began preaching against them. He had but little success until Our Blessed Lady appeared to him and told him to encourage devotion to the Rosary. This was done and the heresy quickly disappeared” (Fr. Culleton, The Prophets and Our Times, ch. 4).

“St. Gertrude, in the 14th century, who often conversed with the Beloved Disciple St. John, on one occasion asked him why he, who loved our Blessed Lord so fervently, had never written anything about the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He explained to her his mission was to expound the Doctrine of the Incarnation and that as for the Love of the Incarnate Word as exemplified by His Divine Heart, it was reserved for the last ages to make it known, "so that the world, carried away by follies, may regain a little of the warmth of early Christian charity by learning of the love of the Sacred Heart."

It was on the feast of St. John the Evangelist, three centuries later in 1647, that Our Lord appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and made certain promises to those who had a special devotion to His Sacred Heart, which promises were destined to become the means of salvation to so many countless Christians. Regarding this vision, the Saint explained, "I understand that this devotion to the Sacred Heart was a last effort of His love towards Christians of these latter times, by proposing to them an object and a means so calculated to persuade them to love Him" (Fr. Culleton, The Prophets and Our Times, ch. 4).

“That devotion to the Sacred Heart … must consist of two essential acts: love and atonement” (Fr. Tanquerey, The Spiritual Life, §§ 1259)

The twofold nature of devotion to His Sacred Heart—that of love and reparation—is shown by Our Lord in His first revelation to St. Margaret Mary. It was December 27th, 1673, the feast of St John the Evangelist (and Apostle). St John is closely connected to the Sacred Heart on account of his laying his head on Our Lord's Heart at the Last Supper and because he was at the foot of the Cross on Calvary, when that Sacred Heart was pierced with a lance. The Sacred Heart Devotion is intrinsically linked to the Holy Eucharist (which is the fruit of the first Mass at the Last Supper) and the Sacrifice of the Mass (which is nothing other than the unbloody re-enactment of Calvary once again). The Holy Eucharist is both a Sacrament and a Sacrifice. Our Lord gives us Himself (His ‘Heart’) to eat in the Holy Eucharist; and He asks us to carry our cross and suffer with Him, as He did for us throughout His life, and especially on Calvary: “Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

Fr. Larkin in his book Enthronement of the Sacred Heart, under the heading: "Essential Elements of The Devotion," gives us an outline of the chief elements of this devotion: "Devotion to the Sacred Heart, then, is nothing else than love for the Person of Jesus [the Incarnate Word] whose infinite love is symbolized by His Heart. Or put it in another way. It is love for the Heart of Jesus, considered as the symbol of His love for us" (pp. 52-53). Fr. Larkin then lists the chief elements of this devotion according to mind of St. Margaret Mary and her director, Father Croiset. We will list them here and then make further explanatory comments upon them. They are as follows:

1. Worship of the Sacred Heart. He proposed His Heart for worship as "the inexhaustible source of all the treasures of love, mercy and grace, sanctification and salvation for men." "He asks that Its image be singularly honored."

“Our divine Lord assured me that He takes a singular pleasure in being honored under the figure of His Heart of flesh, the image of which He wishes to be exposed in public in order to touch the unfeeling hearts of men. He promised that He would pour out in abundance, into the hearts of all those who would honor His Heart, all the gifts with which it is filled, and everywhere this image is exposed and honored, it would draw down all kinds of blessings” (Fr. Larkin's Enthronement of the Sacred Heart, p. 78).

Do we have an image (statue or painting or print) of the Sacred Heart in our home? If we do, then well and good, but that is only the beginning—the planting of a seed. What honor do we show to that image by way of prayers and devotions? How often do we do so?

2. Belief in the merciful love of that Heart, for all men and for ourselves in particular, with all our shortcomings. "Behold this Heart which has so loved men that It has spared itself nothing, even to exhausting and consuming Itself to testify to them Its love."

Sometimes we may find the mercy of the Heart of Jesus hard to believe—we may think it unbelievable. Yet God is unbelievable in what He does—believe me! Here are some quotes of Our Lord’s, taken from the book by Fr. Bartholomew Gottemoller, Words of Love, which takes extracts from Our Lord’s messages to three mystics: Sr. Josefa Menendez, St. Consolata Bertone and Sr. Mary of the Trinity. These go to show the Sacred Heart’s unbelievable love for souls:

"Consolata, it often happens that good and pious souls, and, very frequently, also souls who are consecrated to Me, wound My Heart to Its very depths by some diffident phrase such as: 'Who knows whether I will be saved?' Open the Gospel and read there My promises. I promised to My sheep: 'I will give them life everlasting; and they shall not perish forever, and no man shall pluck them out of My Hand.' Do you understand, Consolata? No one can take a soul from Me!

"Now read on: 'That which My Father hath given Me, is greater than all; and no one can snatch them out of the Hand of My Father.' Do you understand, Consolata? No one can snatch a soul from Me.... In all eternity they will not perish ... because I give them eternal life. For whom have I spoken these words? For all the sheep, for all souls!

"Why then the insult, 'Who knows whether I will be saved?' I have given assurances, in the Gospel, that no one can pluck a soul from Me and that I will give that soul eternal life, and so the soul cannot perish. Believe Me, Consolata, into Hell go only those who really wish to go there; for, though no one can snatch a soul from Me, the soul may, through the free will granted her, flee from Me, may betray Me, deny Me, and so go to Satan of her own volition.

"You see, final impenitence is found only in a soul who purposely wishes to go to Hell and, therefore, obstinately refuses My mercy, for I never refuse to pardon anyone. I offer the gift of My immense compassion to all, for My Blood was shed for all! For all!

"No, it is not the multiplicity of sins which condemns a soul, for I forgive everything if she repents, but it is the obstinacy of not wishing to be pardoned, of wishing to be damned! Dismas, on the cross, had only one single act of faith in Me, but many, many sins; he was pardoned in an instant however; and, on the very day of his repentance, he entered into My kingdom and is a saint! Behold the triumph of My Mercy and of faith in Me!

"No, Consolata, My Father who has given Me the souls is greater and more powerful than all the demons. No one can snatch souls from the Hand of My Father!” (Fr. Bartholomew Gottemoller, Words of Love, chapter 5).

3. A generous return of love for Jesus Christ. "Our Lord gave me to understand that the great desire, which He had of being loved perfectly by men, had caused Him to form the design of manifesting His Heart and of making, in these last ages, this last effort of His love, by proposing an object and a means so proper to induce men to love Him and to love Him solidly" (St. Margaret Mary).

What does it mean to return love to Jesus? The first level of love is to keep His commandments: “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Fr. Tanquerey, in his renowned classic The Spiritual Life, writes:

“The chief care of beginners is that of preserving charity. Their efforts, then, are directed toward the avoidance of sin, above all, mortal sin, and toward the conquest of evil inclinations, of the passions, and of all that could make them lose the love of God. This is the purgative way, the end of which is the purification of the soul.

“The chief concern of those already advanced, the proficients, is progress in the positive exercise of the virtues and growth in charity. The heart, already purified, is all the more open to divine light and to the love of God. The soul wishes to follow Jesus and to imitate His virtues, and since by following Him one walks in the Light, this is called the illuminative way. Here the soul strives to avoid not only mortal, but even venial sin.

“Perfect souls have but one concern to cling to God and to take their delight in Him. Ever seeking to unite themselves to God, they are in the unitive way. Sin fills them with horror, for they fear to displease God and to offend Him. The virtues that most attract them are the theological virtues, which unite them to God. Hence, the earth seems to them an exile, and, like St. Paul, they long to die to be joined to Christ.” (Fr. Tanquerey, The Spiritual Life, §§ 341-343).

4. This is the characteristic element of the devotion. Our Lord asks for reparation from His faithful friends to console Him for the coldness and indifference of so many, they are to make Communions of reparation, especially on the First Fridays, to make the Holy Hour, but above all to strive to love Him more and more in order to make up for those who do not love Him.

“That devotion to the Sacred Heart … must consist of two essential acts: love and atonement. Love is the first and the foremost of these duties, according to St. Margaret Mary as well as according, to St. John Eudes. St. Margaret Mary writes: "He made me see that it was the great desire He had of being loved by men, and of withdrawing them from the road of perdition, that induced Him to conceive this plan of making His Heart known to men … Let us, then, love this, the only love of our souls, since He has loved us first and loves us still so ardently that He continually burns with love for us in the Blessed Sacrament.”

“The second of these essential acts is atonement; for the love of Jesus is outraged by the ingratitude of men, as He Himself declared in the third great apparition to St. Margaret Mary: ‘Behold this Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself, in order to testify its love. In return, I receive from the greater part only ingratitiide, by their irreverences and sacrileges, and by the coldness and contempt they have for Me in this Sacrament of love … My daughter, I come into the heart I have given you in order that, through your fervor, you may atone for the offences which I have received from lukewarm and slothful hearts, that dishonor me in the Blessed Sacrament.’” (Fr. Tanquerey, The Spiritual Life, §§ 1259-1260).

5. Special love and reverence for the Blessed Sacrament. “I have an ardent desire to be honored by men in the Blessed Sacrament."

In the fourth revelation of His Sacred Heart Our Lord said to St. Margaret Mary:
"Behold this Heart, Which has loved men so much, that It has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming Itself, in order to testify to them Its love; and in return I receive from the greater number nothing but ingratitude by reason of their irreverence and sacrileges, and by the coldness and contempt which they show Me in this Sacrament of Love. But what I feel the most keenly is that it is hearts which are consecrated to Me that treat Me thus. Therefore, I ask of thee that the Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christi be set apart for a special feast to honor My Heart, by communicating on that day and making reparation to It by a solemn act, in order to make amends for the indignities which It has received during the time It has been exposed on the altars. I promise thee that My Heart shall expand Itself to shed in abundance the influence of Its divine love upon those who shall thus honor It, and cause It to be honored."

This is very much focused on the Eucharist, and we should never forget that Our Lord's Body and Blood; the Eucharist, contains His Sacred Heart. And again we see in this revelation how Our Lord reveals His feelings to us. The focus here is very much on the indifference that is so offensive to Him. Our Lord God again emphasizes the importance of "repair" (reparation) and He asks for a special feast for this purpose. He is again drawing attention to Himself and what He does and does not expect from us, and here He very specifically draws attention to the Ministers and Religious of His Church. Who can fathom the magnificence of Our Lord's revelations and the great honor bestowed upon St. Margaret Mary, upon the Church and upon the whole of mankind? Our Lord also gave the First Fridays devotion:

"I promise you, in the excess of the mercy of My Heart, that Its all-powerful love will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under My displeasure nor without receiving the Sacraments, My Divine Heart becoming their assured refuge in that hour."

Besides going to Mass and Holy Communion on the First Fridays of the month, we can also visit Our Lord much more often in the Blessed Sacrament, present, yet often abandoned and alone, upon our altars. Visiting Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is a reflection of the depth and strength of our Faith. If we really believe in His presence in the tabernacle, then what could keep us away? Or whatever keeps us away, has become more important to us than our God Himself.

St. Margaret Mary looked to the Blessed Virgin as being the way to Our Lord; to the Immaculate Heart being the way to the Sacred Heart:

"The most efficacious way to obtain devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was through the Immaculate Heart of Mary." She taught this to her novices and also composed a prayer for them to pray."

Consider how Enthroning the Sacred Heart in our homes, parishes, work places etc. allows us to honor Our Lord in the way that He has requested. And even without or until an Enthronement we can still honor Him as the center of our lives. Our Lord deserves all of our Love, and when we honor Him under His Heart of Flesh in our prayers and in our ways we are responding to His great Love in a special way and which He has given to help us. Fr. Larkin wrote about the Enthronement of The Sacred Heart as follows:

"By installing or enthroning the image of the Sacred Heart in the place of honor in this room, you have told Our Blessed Lord you accept Him as your Master in all things and recognize His complete jurisdiction over your family "... "So you see, the Enthronement doesn't add any new obligations to the ones you already have; it simply renews in a striking and visible way the vows you made on the day of your baptism: to accept all of God's teachings and His laws and to renounce the devil and all his pomps and works."

Meanwhile, in the second/ third revelation of the Sacred Heart, St. Margaret Mary writes of Our Lord:
"He made known to me the ineffable marvels of His pure [love] and showed me to what an excess He had loved men, from whom He received only ingratitude and contempt. "I feel this more," [He said] "than all that I suffered during My Passion. If only they would make Me some return for My love, I should think but little of all I have done for them and would wish, were it possible, to suffer still more. But the sole return they make for all My eagerness to do them good is to reject Me and treat Me with coldness. Do thou at least console Me by supplying for their ingratitude, as far as thou art able."

In using the comparison of the great sufferings He endured during His Passion, Our Lord is making us very aware of the extent of His feelings. This revelation also sees Our Lord asking St. Margaret Mary to make reparation; to supplicate as much as she can; Our Lord asked of her:

"And in order to bear Me company in the humble prayer that I then offered to My Father, in the midst of My anguish, thou shalt rise between eleven o'clock and midnight, and remain prostrate with Me for an hour, not only to appease the divine anger by begging mercy for sinners, but also to mitigate in some way the bitterness which I felt at that time on finding Myself abandoned by My Apostles, which obliged Me to reproach them for not being able to watch one hour with Me."

Thus was instituted the Thursday night "Holy Hour” and which became an established devotion in the Church. Keeping our Lord company during His agony in the garden of Gethsemane, where He did sweat Blood for us; as St. Luke tells us: "...and being in agony He prayed the longer and His Sweat became as drops of Blood trickling down upon the ground." (Luke 22:43-44).

Our Lord knowing exactly what was ahead of Him, and the pain and suffering that this would bring. And indeed Our Lord had known of this for a long time. The Cross was planted in His human Heart from the very beginning of His incarnation. Only He, as God, could recompense for our sins; and so He became man for us; true God and true Man; He lay in our tombs for us as the saying goes. His love for mankind is an immense love; His Sacred Heart of flesh a proof of His love. In His agony in the garden He was seeking company in these moments; for His Apostles to be close to Him.

The Thursday night Holy Hour is linked to Night Adoration of The Sacred Heart. During the time when Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey was engaged in his great mission of seeking to bring every household in the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and from which developed the great Enthronement mission, Fr. Mateo also developed Night Adoration. Night adoration sees each member of a family typically spending one hour each week (or more) or each month in adoration of the Sacred Heart at home. This may well, of course, focus on the Thursday night Holy Hour. The family may all make Night Adoration simultaneously or in a relay, so as to cover as many hours as possible.

In his book Fr. Larkin tells of how Priests would keep a record of who was carrying out Night Adoration and when so as to try and ensure that every night hour of the month was covered in his parish. Night Adoration is a great way for an individual, a family and a parish to honor the Sacred Heart.

Meanwhile, in the fourth revelation of His Sacred Heart Our Lord said to St. Margaret Mary:
"Behold this Heart, Which has loved men so much, that It has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming Itself, in order to testify to them Its love; and in return I receive from the greater number nothing but ingratitude by reason of their irreverence and sacrileges, and by the coldness and contempt which they show Me in this Sacrament of Love. But what I feel the most keenly is that it is hearts which are consecrated to Me that treat Me thus. Therefore, I ask of thee that the Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christi be set apart for a special feast to honor My Heart, by communicating on that day and making reparation to It by a solemn act, in order to make amends for the indignities which It has received during the time It has been exposed on the altars. I promise thee that My Heart shall expand Itself to shed in abundance the influence of Its divine love upon those who shall thus honor It, and cause It to be honored."

This is very much focused on the Eucharist, and we should never forget that Our Lord's Body and Blood; the Eucharist, contains His Sacred Heart. And again we see in this revelation how Our Lord reveals His feelings to us. The focus here is very much on the indifference that is so offensive to Him. Our Lord God again emphasizes the importance of "repair" (reparation) and He asks for a special feast for this purpose. He is again drawing attention to Himself and what He does and does not expect from us, and here He very specifically draws attention to the Ministers and Religious of His Church. Who can fathom the magnificence of Our Lord's revelations and the great honor bestowed upon St. Margaret Mary, upon the Church and upon the whole of mankind? Our Lord also gave the First Fridays devotion:

"I promise you, in the excess of the mercy of My Heart, that Its all-powerful love will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the first Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under My displeasure nor without receiving the Sacraments, My Divine Heart becoming their assured refuge in that hour."

The nine first Fridays to be undertaken whilst observing due devotion to Our Lord, not being in mortal sin, and with the intention of making reparation to Him.

The Twelve Promises of the Sacred Heart
to St. Margaret Mary

1. I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.
2. I will establish peace in their homes
3. I will comfort them in all their difficulties
4. I will secure refuge during life, and above all, in death
5. I will bestow abundant blessings upon all their undertakings
6. Sinners will find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy
7. Lukewarm souls shall become fervent
8. Fervent souls will quickly mount to high perfection
9. I will bless every place in which an image of my heart is exposed and honored
10. I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts
11. Those who promote this devotion shall have their names written in my Heart
12. I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all powerful love will grant to those who receive Holy Communion.

MEDITATION AND SPIRITUAL READING
FOR THE FIRST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH OF JUNE
"Could you not watch one hour with Me?"

The following readings are from the book, The Virtues of the Sacred Heart. Over the course of the First Fridays of the month, these monthly postings will examine
the chief virtues of Our Lord, which are there for our imitation. For there can no true devotion without imitation. The readings are not for half-hearted,
nor faint-hearted, nor cold-hearted. They will like a class, given by a teacher, and will take you the time that a class would take.
Only enter if you wish to learn and deepen you love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

THE VIRTUES OF THE SACRED HEART (JUNE READING)
10. The Unworldliness of the Sacred Heart

“In the world, you shall have distress; but have confidence; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

The Garden of Humility Excludes Worldliness
When we approached the Paradise of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we saw blazing over the portals, in letters of living light, the warning words: “Learn of Me, that I am meek and humble of heart” —warning words, because they told us plainly that there was no admittance for us to that garden of marvelous loveliness, unless our hearts were disposed to abide by the condition implied by them; and that we should inevitably be ejected from its borders, the moment we forgot them. There these words stand as an eternal protest against the spirit that rules and reigns supreme in the region outside and around that kingdom of peace; as a flaming sword forever flashing in the guardian Cherub's hand, to bar the entrance against that spirit and against all those who are subject to its power.

Two Roads, Two Bands, Two Fates
It is there, then, at the very doors of the Paradise, that the roads diverge, on which all mankind, in two great bands, make their journey towards eternity: some—and they by far the smaller band—enter under the glowing words, because their hearts are prepared to learn; they walk through the flowery paths, and eat of the sweetly-bitter fruits which heal and strengthen; whilst the greater throng passes by and pursues the broad road which leads away from Paradise and from God.

God versus Satan
The borders of this Paradise are, then, at the same time, the clearly drawn dividing line between the city of God and the city of Satan, between God's friends and those of the world, between the two hostile camps, whose war is implacable, because the spirit of each, their interests, their objects, are essentially repugnant to one another. There can be no truce, no compromise, no concordat between the leaders of these opposing armies. God cannot sacrifice to Satan ; and therefore, He cannot yield to His enemy one tittle of His glory, His rights, His sovereignty, His truth, or His all-embracing and all-absorbing dominion.

No Neutrality
And as there is war between the leaders, so there is war between the opposing camps; necessary, perpetual, implacable war. Whether we will it or not, we must fight under one leader or under the other; we must stand either on one side or on the other, and swear allegiance and fealty either to God or to the world. There is no neutral ground for us to stand on, aloof from the battle; no evading the law, which sends us all as combatants to the field.

Our very existence here implies this necessity. For, we cannot exist, as we are, rational creatures of God, going through the period of our probation, without being either the servants of God or the slaves of Satan; friends of heaven by purity of heart, or bondmen of the world by sin. There are indeed many who change their allegiance; who are today on one side, and tomorrow, on the other. We may be in sin now, and return to God at another time. But there is not a single moment of our whole life in which we can be neutral or between the two. We are, of necessity, combatants, as long as we live. The Prophet Job tells us that “the life of man is a warfare upon earth” and Our Lord says: “He that is not with Me, is against Me” (Job 7:1, Luke 11:23).

Relentless War
Now, therefore, though our timid hearts may sink within us, like the heart of the young soldier when, for the first time, he faces the foe; though our souls may flutter with fear at the thought of a life-long battle; yet so it is. We have only to buckle on our armor, to grasp our weapons fast and take our stand upon the field. It is war; real, earnest, relentless war.

The Absence of Worldliness in Jesus
Having thus fixed this great leading principle, we may now draw some conclusions from it. If the spirit of the world is so essentially opposed to the spirit of the Sacred Heart, that the one is eternally excluded from the other, may we not say that unworldliness is the characteristic mark of the Sacred Heart? May we not sum up in that one word, the whole spirit of that Heart, and say, that it is what it is and what we have seen it to be, humble, meek, patient, brave, prudent, zealous, because it is unworldly? Because its interests, its affections, its desires, its aims are diametrically opposed to the world?

If it is at the very door of the Sacred Heart that the two roads of life diverge, one of which leads to God and the other to Satan, is it not evident that the whole object of our study of the Sacred Heart is to make us also unworldly and inspire us with hatred of the world? In a word, that this is the great lesson which our Divine Master wishes us to learn from Him? Truly, the very air of this Paradise is unworldly. Its flowers breathe a fragrance that is not of the world. Its fruits fill us with a life, a spirit unknown to the world, with a courage hostile to the world.

Terrible Consequences
Shall we push our conclusions further? There are terrible things which flow from what we have said, and terrible revelations to be made. For, does it not follow that we have no share in the Sacred Heart, if there is worldliness in our hearts? Does not our hope of Heaven depend on our being free from the spirit of the world? On our hating the world, its maxims, its manners, its vanities? On our loving what the world hates, and despising what it esteems? What then will be the fate of so many of us, whose hearts are divided; whose desires are for the goods, the esteem of the world, though they would also secure the joys of heaven; whose self-love, to say it plainly, is so foolishly excessive, as to think it but meet and just that they should have nothing but comfort and ease and enjoyment, and that it would be a crying wrong to subject them to any discomfort, humiliation or pain, either here or hereafter.

False Sense of Security
The Gospel must be accommodated to their softness and self-indulgence; and all that it says about penance, mortification, self-denial, trials, buffets, crosses, can never have been intended for them. They, surely, will never be cast out into exterior darkness; they cannot be spared from the great banquet of heaven. Poor souls! But self-love will not dictate the sentence of their doom; nor will their own high esteem of themselves be the rule by which God will judge them.

The Gospel is the word of Eternal Truth and the standard of Eternal Justice: that word shall not pass away; that standard cannot be changed. The Cross will appear at the last day as the symbol of triumph; and none but the friends of the Cross shall gather around it or share in its glory. All that we can say is, that the mercy of God is as boundless as His justice; that He is ever ready to forgive us when we repent, though it be with our very latest breath.

No Half Measures
But we are not at present dealing with souls of this kind; we are speaking to such as have entered the Paradise of the Sacred Heart, and desire to remain in it as the happy children of God. We are not satisfied with the dangerous chances of a tardy and frequently insufficient repentance at the last, but wish to be more truly followers of our divine Model, more faithful scholars of His Sacred Heart.

Well, then, let us be assured that in most of us the world is too strong, and the spirit of the world holds too great a sway. And since it is impossible to be near the Sacred Heart, whilst that spirit is in ours, it becomes our first and most essential duty to banish the world and to hate it; to free ourselves from its tyranny.

Spirit of the World
The world, as St. John tells us, is the love of wealth, of honor, of ease. Riches, honors, pleasures, are the weapons it wields against God for the destruction of souls. The spirit of the world is the esteem of such goods and of all that tends to secure them; the contempt of all that is poor and lowly and painful; the fear of whatever may diminish or destroy the goods which it loves.

A Blind Spirit
The present is the center around which all the desires of the worldly spirit revolve. It sees not the great hereafter, and cares not for its unknown treasures. Its only bliss is the possession and enjoyment of the earth; its only misfortune, the loss of temporal blessings. Give it the gold and silver, the pearls and precious stones of this world, and it asks no more. Let it be clothed in purple and fine linen here, and feast sumptuously every day, and it loathes all the promised delights of Heaven. Place it upon a throne here, or raise it to some eminent rank among men, and it aspires not to an immortal crown. Let it enjoy its present possessions for a long series of happy years of life, and it will not bestow a thought upon the eternity which is to follow. Its view is bounded by the horizon of this world: what lies beyond, it cares not to inquire. Its wisdom is the science of amassing wealth; its glory is, to outstrip all rivals in the race for the first rank among men; its very religion is the worship of self and of those on whom its fortune and its advancement depend.

Blessed Are the Rich
Its maxims are the expression of its desires and of its thoughts: “Blessed are the rich; blessed are the powerful; blessed are they that can triumph over their enemies and crush them under their feet; blessed are they that hold the highest places; whom all revere; whom all praise and extol. Blessed, in a word, they whose lives are a long, unbroken series of pleasures and honors upon earth. Nothing is worthy of our ambition but such goods; nothing to be dreaded but the loss of these treasures. He alone is great and happy, worthy of honor and esteem, who is preeminent among men, and shines before them in talent, in wealth, in dignity.” In such and similar expressions the spirit of the world is continually manifesting itself; and on such principles the world bases its actions, its laws, its judgments. All this is but a development of what St. John states in a few words: ''For all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:16).

The Spirit of the Sacred Heart
Now turn to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and consider the spirit that rules its desires and aspirations. Listen to its maxims; study its wisdom. Can there be greater contrast than that which exists between it and the world? Can there be greater contrast between its maxims, its spirit and those of the world? Does it not reverse every judgment of the world's wisdom? The very first words which it dictated, when Our Lord commenced his public life, are in solemn contradiction to every one of the world's maxims. “Blessed are the poor. Blessed the meek. Blessed are they that mourn. Blessed are those who suffer persecution.” He bids us not resist evil, not seek revenge; bear insults and injuries without anger or retaliation; not seek the praise of men, nor do our justice so as to be seen by men. He warns us against desiring the first places at the banquet, against the ambition of being called Master, and being pointed out, as we pass, to the respect and veneration of the crowd.

Jesus Rejects the Worldly
He has no patience with the worldly-minded Pharisees. He rebukes them without mercy: and the sole cause of His bitterness is, that they represent the worldly spirit; they are, to Him, the embodiment of the world. They look only to the exterior; they give their alms ostentatiously, at the sound of the trumpet; they honor God by prayer and sacrifice, only when a great crowd looks upon them with admiration; they love to be saluted in the streets; to be called by men, Rabbi; to be placed at the head of the banquet; they are not, like other men, robbers, extortioners, murderers, but just and holy, and full of piety to God and to men; in a word, they are carefully pure externally; immaculate in the eyes of men.

But the eye of God sees them interiorly full of filth, like the midst of wolves. Go, in simplicity and humility; take neither money, nor scrip, nor staff; seek not the support of the great. You shall be scourged in the synagogues; you shall be hated by all men for my sake. Be meek and humble of heart; be like little children, in artless innocence and unambitious modesty. But fear not men; announce to them the gospel of repentance; bid them do penance, and threaten them with the anger of Heaven if they refuse or delay. What I tell you in secret, preach it from the house-tops. But fear them not; your weakness is your strength; your defeat is your victory; your death is your triumph. He that loses his life shall save it, whilst he that loves his life more than Me, shall lose it forever.

When He sees in their hearts an ambitious aspiration to be the first in His promised kingdom, He rebukes it even with harshness; because the spirit of the world, in His best friends, excites His anger. “You know not what you ask. He that will be first among you, shall be your servant. He that is the lesser among you all, he is the greater. Unless you become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. He that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

Jesus Castigates Worldliness in His Followers
When Peter, in his worldly-minded zeal for his Master's honor, strove to dissuade Him from the voluntary humiliations which He foretold, He called him a Satan and bade him depart from Him, because his zeal was worldly and his advice was dictated by the love of worldly honor and the fear of disgrace before men.

For the riches of the world He has nothing but contempt: robbers can steal them; the rust can devour them. For those who were attached to riches, He has little hope. It was easier in His mind, “for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Many and severe are the threats He uttered against the rich, and dark is the lot which He pictured as theirs for eternity. Better far and happier is Lazarus, begging for the poor crumbs which fall from the rich man's table, than the proud glutton who spurns him from his door. If we desire to be His chosen followers, if we aspire to the truest merit, to the perfection which will indeed make us great and honorable, the first condition is, “to go and sell all that we have, to cast away all the goods of this world; to reduce ourselves to utter poverty.” Then, and then only, will He receive us as His chosen followers; then will He give us a treasure in heaven. We may then say briefly, that the whole gospel is a protest against the world; that it preaches nothing but unworldliness; just as the whole spirit of the Sacred Heart was said to be summed up in the same one word.

Jesus Lived An Unworldly Life
And as the lessons, the maxims, the instructions which the Sacred Heart gave forth are all unworldly, so are all the examples of the divine life of Our Lord. He cared not for the outward show of greatness or power, though it was all at His command. He, though the very center of all that is great and glorious, splendid and magnificent, chose, of His own accord, and for our instruction, all that was lowly, poor, ignoble, contemptible, weak, and therefore, unworldly. His parents, His dwelling, His dress, His food, His companions, His occupations, all bear the same stamp; there is not a trace of the world in them. He, though Creator of the world and Master of all that is in it, came into the world and lived in it, and yet, He claimed not so much as a stone whereon to lay His weary head. He possessed not one foot of all this world's territory. He had no house of His own. His very food was the bread of charity. His winding-sheet was purchased for Him as an alms; and He slept in a tomb that had been prepared for another. Can there be anything more unworldly than such a life? Can there be a stronger protest against the spirit of the world?

It is true, then, that unworldliness is the character of the Sacred Heart, and is the great lesson which we are to learn from it. Then it is true, also, that the spirit of worldliness must inevitably banish us from the Paradise of the Sacred Heart, if it finds a place in our hearts. Then it is also most terribly true, that most of us are far from having the dispositions required by our divine Teacher for admittance into His school of heavenly wisdom, for dwelling within the warm and safe precincts of His Sacred Heart.

Fool Not Yourself!
Let us not deceive ourselves. We are worldly-minded; far more seriously affected by that dreadful disease than we suppose. A little self-examination will reveal this to us, and should make us tremble at the awful revelation. We breathe the air which is poisoned by the spirit of the world; we live in the world and in the midst of persons who are of the world. Our friends, our relations, our neighbors, are deeply imbued with worldly principles and ruled by worldly maxims.

Courage Against Human Respect
Are we courageous enough to resist this spirit, to triumph over human respect? Are we ready to receive the reproaches, the taunts, the railleries, the persecution with which the world has ever visited the true followers of its great opponent? What do we think of poverty, weakness, meanness of birth and occupation? What are the secret desires of our craven hearts, in regard to the riches, the honors, the pleasures of this world?

Must we not say, if compelled to tell the truth, that our hearts would be happy, if wealth were poured in upon us in full tide; if our names were written on the rolls of fame; if we were surrounded by the praises of men? What is our esteem of the gaudy show of dress and ornament, of amusements, entertainments, associations?

Looking Back With Worldly Regret
Is it not a torment to us that we cannot equal the best in the land, in the number and magnificence of such worldly vanities? Do we not look back with intense regret to the “better days,” when our houses were palaces, frequented by the fun-lovers, the rich, the fashionable, the great? When in return, we were welcome to the splendid mansions of our wealthy friends? When our days were spent in a round of fairy dreams of delight, each brighter than the last?

What Measuring Stick Do You Use?
What are the maxims by which we judge? Is God everything in our estimation, and the world nothing? The service of God our only duty, our only glory, our only happiness? How comes it, then, that we are so careful not to give God more than His due? That we are so much hurt when told that this amusement is sinful; that reading not allowed; that visit not permitted? That we are so skillful in fixing the exact limit where duty stops and sin begins?

Holding Others Back
How comes it that we have so many arguments and reasons to oppose a friend, a child, whose heart is drawn towards God and wishes to be entirely His? That we are more willing that those whom we love should face the risks of any worldly connection, than do what the Gospel and the Sacred Heart of Jesus declare to be alone worthy of a noble soul? The high privilege of those whom God destines to the loftiest thrones in His kingdom? We are then wiser than God; we pity those whom God loves and distinguishes as His best friends; we know better than He in what true riches and true happiness consist.

Our Thoughts Are Not God’s Thoughts
Our ideas are not those of the Gospel; our maxims are not those of the Sacred Heart. Therefore—and here is the dreadful revelation which is made to us—therefore we are worldly- minded, our hearts are swayed by the spirit of the world; we lean towards the world; we are not true to God and to the Sacred Heart of Jesus; we favor Satan's camp; we wield Satan's weapons against God. Therefore, we must quit the Paradise of God, depart from the Sacred Heart, and go to the world to follow the broad road in which the world marches to its destruction.

Be Unworldly—Be Godly
But, surely, we are not prepared for such a fate as this; we are far from desiring thus to turn traitors to the Heart which has loved us so much, and which we have begun to love in return. Then, let us learn to be unworldly like the Heart of Jesus. Let us bravely declare ourselves against the world and shake off its yoke. Let human respect have no power to shape our actions or direct our conduct. Let us love what the Sacred Heart loved, esteem what it esteemed, embrace what it regarded as real treasures; desire what it points out to us as true happiness. In fine, let us confide in it and fear not the anger of the world, which will hate us, because it hates Him who condemned it; it will persecute us, calumniate us, despise us. “But fear them not,” He says to us, “in the world you shall have distress; but have confidence, I have overcome the world.”

PRAYERS TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS

Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, to Thee I consecrate and offer up my person and my life, my actions, trials, and sufferings, that my entire being may henceforth only be employed in loving, honoring and glorifying Thee. This is my irrevocable will, to belong entirely to Thee, and to do all for Thy love, renouncing with my whole heart all that can displease Thee.

I take Thee, O Sacred Heart, for the sole object of my love, the protection of my life, the pledge of my salvation, the remedy of my frailty and inconstancy, the reparation for all the defects of my life, and my secure refuge at the hour of my death.

Be Thou, O Most Merciful Heart, my justification before God Thy Father, and screen me from His anger which I have so justly merited. I fear all from my own weakness and malice, but placing my entire confidence in Thee, O Heart of Love, I hope all from Thine infinite Goodness. Annihilate in me all that can displease or resist Thee. Imprint Thy pure love so deeply in my heart that I may never forget Thee or be separated from Thee.

I beseech Thee, through Thine infinite Goodness, grant that my name be engraved upon Thy Heart, for in this I place all my happiness and all my glory, to live and to die as one of Thy devoted servants. Amen.

Acts of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
O sweet Jesus, Whose overflowing charity for men is requited by so much forgetfulness, negligence and contempt, behold us prostrate before Thy altar eager to repair by a special act of homage the cruel indifference and injuries, to which Thy loving Heart is everywhere subject.

Mindful alas! that we ourselves have had a share in such great indignities, which we now deplore from the depths of our hearts, we humbly ask Thy pardon and declare our readiness to atone by voluntary expiation not only for our own personal offenses, but also for the sins of those, who, straying far from the path of salvation, refuse in their obstinate infidelity to follow Thee, their Shepherd and Leader, or, renouncing the vows of their baptism, have cast off the sweet yoke of Thy law.

We are now resolved to expiate such and every deplorable outrage committed against Thee; we are determined to make amends for the manifold offenses against Christian modesty in unbecoming dress and behavior, for all the foul seductions laid to ensnare the feet of the innocent, - for the frequent violation of Sundays and holy days, and the shocking blasphemies uttered against Thee and Thy Saints.

We wish also to make amends for the insults to which Thy Vicar earth and Thy priests are subjected, - for the profanation, by conscious neglect or terrible acts of sacrilege, of the very Sacrament of Thy divine love; and lastly for the public crimes of nations who resist the rights and the teaching authority of the Church which Thou hast founded.

Would, O Divine Jesus, we were able to wash away such abominations with our blood! We now offer, in reparation for these violations of Thy divine honou, the satisfaction Thou didst once make to Thine eternal Father on the cross and which Thou does continue to renew daily on our altars; we offer it in union with the acts of atonement of Thy Virgin Mother and all the Saints and of the pious faithful on earth; and we sincerely promise to make recompense, as far as we can with the help of Thy grace, for all neglect of Thy great love and for the sins we and others have committed in the past.

Henceforth we will live a life of unwavering faith, of purity of conduct, of perfect observance of the precepts of the Gospel and especially that of charity. We promise to the best of our power to prevent others from offending Thee and to bring as many as possible to follow Thee.

O loving Jesus, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary our model in reparation, deign to receive the voluntary offering we make of this act of expiation; and by the crowning gift of perseverance keep us faithful unto death in our duty and the allegiance we owe to Thee, so that we may all one day come to that happy home, where Thou with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest God, world without end. Amen.

Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Lord, have mercy!
Christ, have mercy!
Lord, have mercy!
Christ, hear us!
Christ, graciously hear us!
God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us!
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us!
God the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us!
Holy Trinity, one God, Have mercy on us!

Heart of Jesus, Son of the eternal Father, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, formed by the Holy Ghost in the Virgin Mother’s womb, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, substantially united to the Word of God, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, of infinite Majesty, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, holy Temple of God, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, tabernacle of the Most High, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, house of God and gate of Heaven, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, glowing furnace of charity, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, vessel of justice and love, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, abyss of all virtues, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, most worthy of all praise, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, King and center of all hearts, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, wherein are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, wherein dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, in Whom the Father is well pleased, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, of Whose fullness we have all received, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, patient and rich in mercy, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, rich unto all who call upon Thee, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, fount of life and holiness, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, propitiation for our offenses, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, overwhelmed with reproaches, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, bruised for our iniquities, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, obedient even unto death, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, our life and resurrection, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, our peace and reconciliation, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, victim for our sins, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who hope in Thee, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, hope of those who die in Thee, Have mercy on us!
Heart of Jesus, delight of all the Saints, Have mercy on us!

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord!

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord!

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us!

V. Jesus, meek and humble of Heart,
R. Make our hearts like unto Thine.

Let us pray
Almighty and everlasting God, look upon the Heart of Thy wellbeloved Son and upon the praise and satisfaction which He offers unto Thee in the name of sinners; and do Thou, of Thy great goodness, grant them pardon when they seek Thy mercy, in the Name of the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee for ever and ever. R. Amen.