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)
5. The Patience of the Sacred Heart

“In your patience, you shall possess your souls” (Luke 21:19)

Patience is the Crown of Obedience
The obedience of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which was the subject of our last consideration, may be compared to a majestic tree spreading its branches over a vast area and sheltering under its shadow many shrubs and flowers which prosper and bloom around it. Its huge trunk gives support to creeping vines, which encircle it with their varied hues and adorn its branches with their festive beauty. For, obedience is a virtue which gathers other virtues around it as its attendants and companions. One of these is patience, which is so intimately connected with obedience, that we may call it a part of the same, a necessary ingredient, a component member of obedience itself. Patience is, in some measure, the crown of obedience; because, without patience, there is no continuance under obedience; there is no lasting obedience. Hence obedience, without patience, fails of its end, of its reward, and, therefore, becomes useless or ceases to exist.

No Perseverance Without Patience
“Patience hath a perfect work,” because it endures to the end. It is of little use to begin well, to run well for a time, to climb the steep mountain half-way, and then lose patience and desist from our efforts. We must “persevere to the end” if we would be saved; we must “run so as to receive the prize”; we must toil onward and upward till we reach the summit of the mountain of God? For, there is the golden palace of His magnificence, in which the conquerors of the world “shall reign with God and His Christ forever.” Patience is, moreover, an integral part of the virtue of fortitude, without which our moral goodness is imperfect, and, therefore, not acceptable to God for an eternal recompense. Bonum ex integra causa, malum ex quocumque defectu (meaning “An action is good when good in every respect; it is wrong when wrong in any respect”). There is no perseverance without patience; and without perseverance there is no crown. “Be faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life” (Apocalypse 2:10).

Patience Strengthens Against Sadness
Patience has been variously defined by philosophers and theologians. Cicero’s definition is quoted and adopted by the Angel of the schools: “Patience is the voluntary and continued endurance, for the sake of righteousness or utility, of things which are painful or difficult” (De Invent. 1. 2.) St. Thomas himself calls it, “a moral virtue by which our mind is strengthened against sadness, so that we do not give way to it.” (Summa Theologia. 2a 2ae, q. 128, q. 136.) St. Augustine, who has left us an entire treatise on this virtue, defines it, “the sufferance of evils with an even mind, so that we do not abandon the good things by which we may reach the better” (Lib. de pat.) He explains it further, where he says: “They are properly said to be patient, who rather suffer evils by not doing evil, than do evil by not enduring it.”

Sisters of Patience
Meekness and humility are sisters of patience also, with a strong and distinct family resemblance, and a kindred spirit which makes them help and support one another. The one cannot exist without the others, and where we find one of them, we naturally expect to find her sisters in closest union with her. We can hardly conceive a patient man who is not meek and humble; nor can we associate impatience with humility or meekness.

Patience in the Sacred Heart
But let us return to our Paradise and view this new flower, this lovely plant, which, springing from the root of humility and meekness, climbs up and clusters around the trunk and branches of obedience and crowns the mighty monarch of the Paradise with the glory of its living blossoms. It is the growth of the Sacred Heart; it is one of the ornaments of the Paradise of God; it is another virtue, necessary for us, but unpleasant to our fallen and wounded hearts, and of which, for that reason, the love of the Sacred Heart for us has urged It to give us lessons and examples.

But can anything more be said to exhibit the patience of the Sacred Heart than what we said when treating of Its meekness? Would it not be sufficient to write patience for meekness there? Patience is indeed so interwoven with the meekness and humility of the life of our Divine Lord, that it is impossible to separate them, or not to see them all when we contemplate either.

Patient With His Circumstances
Yet, there are some actions in which patience has the prominent part; some pages of the Gospel on which patience, rather than its kindred virtues, throws a placid, moon-like sheen, most soothing to the soul that views it. It was patience that endured the cold of Bethlehem, the helplessness of infancy, the hardships of the flight into Egypt, the poverty and persecution of His lot in that pagan land. Patience was with Him at Nazareth to bear, for thirty years, the lowliness and discomforts, the labors and sufferings of the hidden life. Patience supported Him during the forty mysterious days of His fast in the desert days full of unknown wonders; days which patience claims as peculiarly its own. There was many a hardship to be borne during His public life, whilst He traversed on foot the mountains and plains of Judea and Galilee, without a home of His own, without means of subsistence, without a place where He might rest His weary head.

Think of that King of Heaven, a voluntary exile in this hard world of ours, pelted by the storms of winter, oppressed by the summer s heat; a homeless wanderer in the land of His royal ancestors! He is patient for love of us; He complains not; that we might learn of Him to bear the sorrows of life without murmuring against the Providence of our heavenly Father.

Patient With People
Yet this is but the lowest degree of patience, which endures the inconveniences and discomforts arising from inanimate causes. The Sacred Heart of Jesus went further in this, as in all other virtues; it loved us to the end, and, therefore, its patience reached the highest perfection.

Reflect for a moment on all that He must have borne even from those whom we call His friends, His Apostles and disciples; men of the lowest origin, uncouth in their manners, intractable even to His wise and most gentle government; who lacked docility even to His divinely persuasive lessons. For three years He devotes Himself to their instruction, sparing no pains to correct their faults, giving them His own example, in addition to His divine words, to show them how they should live, to impress on their minds and hearts the esteem and love of heavenly things and the contempt of worldly honors. Yet how little fruit rewarded His efforts! They indeed loved their divine Master with all the ardor of their simple hearts; they followed Him, drawn by the charm of His gentle rule. But they sorely tried Him by their waywardness, their jealousies, their ambition, their vanity arid their selfishness.

To the very end He bears with them, chiding their faults, warning them of danger, guiding them, enlightening, encouraging, loving them as if they had more than corresponded with His endeavors for their benefit. And that, though He foresaw how they would disgrace Him at last by their flight; how Peter would deny Him with perjury; how Judas would sell Him, like a beast of burthen, to his bitterest enemies. This is what makes the patience of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with these rude disciples so wonderful, so divine.

How Different We are to Jesus
How different are our hearts from His. We reprove faults with an unamiable bitterness, which aggravates the wound instead of healing it. When we have to deal with in docile disciples, with inferiors whose nature is stubborn, though the will may be good; we may perhaps begin with gentle admonitions and with a sincere desire to attack only the fault whilst we would spare the offender.

But when we find that our chiding is disregarded, our admonitions forgotten; when faults are uncorrected and repeated through the fickleness of a weak heart, or the sudden impulse of a fiery nature; how soon we lose courage; how bitter our invectives become; how quickly what we thought was pure zeal, shows itself to be fretful and selfish natural feeling.

“True zeal for the correction of others is full of compassion,” says St. Gregory, “whilst impatience is a proof that our zeal was nothing but a deceit.” “Be angry and sin not” (Psalm 4) Learn of the Sacred Heart to be angry without sin; to persecute and hate only the evil which is in others, but to love the offender with a patient and persevering affection.

Patient Under Persecution
And if, in bearing with the weaknesses of His friends, the patience of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is so singularly beautiful, what shall we say of the patience with which He supported the malice and ceaseless persecution of His enemies! Who are these enemies? His own people; His own creatures; the poor lost sheep whom He has come from Heaven to save; the sinners for whom He will give His blood and His life; for whom He has worked so many wonders and will work so many more; for whom He will exhaust all the resources of His almighty power, His infinite wisdom and His bound less love.

And is it possible that these should be His enemies? That they should burn with fiendish hate of His person and give themselves no rest till they have caught Him in their snares and sacrificed Him to their malice? And if such ingratitude is not only possible, but real and far more deadly than words can tell, how is it conceivable that the Sacred Heart should still bear with it in patient love and remain tranquil and unruffled?

Look at Him, surrounded by His own townsmen in the synagogue of Nazareth; by the rabble in the temple of Jerusalem. They are like ravenous wolves, eager to fall upon the Lamb in their midst and tear Him in pieces. They hiss their fury in His face. They heap insults upon Him. They push Him forward to the precipice, over which they may hurl Him to destruction, or seize upon the stones with which they may put Him to death. And He, ever patient, ever mild, as if He were unconscious of their designs, still speaks to them without anger, still loves them and seeks their advantage.

Had He commanded the earth to open and engulf the wretches, or fire to descend from above to consume them, all Heaven would have applauded His justice. But no! It is His Heart that He would open to receive them, and the only fire with which He would consume them, is the fire of His love. When His less patient disciples urged Him to call fire from Heaven to punish an inhospitable people who had driven Him from their dwellings, His only answer was: “You know not of what spirit you are. The Son of Man came not to destroy souls, but to save” (Luke 9).

Patient Even With Judas
But of all the wonders of the patience of the Sacred Heart, there is perhaps none more wonderful than its bearing with the perfidious Judas. If anything could have soured that sweetest of hearts, it would have been the perverse meanness, the well-known hypocrisy, the foreseen treachery of that unhappy man. Jesus saw through him from the beginning. His divine eye penetrated the dark hypocrisy under which Judas strove to conceal his avarice, his thefts, his hatred of all good. Those awful words: “What will you give me and I will deliver Him to you,” had struck, like a deadly serpent’s tooth, on the Sacred Heart, long before Judas spoke them to the Chief Priests. Yet, Judas was chosen as an Apostle, treated as a friend, honored above the rest by being made the depositary of the little store which charity provided for the Divine Master and His followers.

Judas was empowered to work miracles and to cast out devils in his Master’s name. He was not excluded even from the Last Supper. For three years the Sacred Heart bore with him and treated him with the same love and confidence as those who would be faithful. Not a look betrayed the least misgiving; not a word showed that his villany was known; and when, at last, the words were spoken, wrung, with a deep sigh, from the bruised and almost broken Heart of the Man of sorrows: “One of you will betray Me”; not one of the company there present, save the vile wretch himself, could tell to whom they referred; such had been the even and ever constant affection of their common Master for them all, even for the traitor, who was known to Him alone, and whom He had cherished, for three years, in His bosom, though fully aware that, like a poisonous serpent, he was but watching an opportunity to strike his fangs into the Heart of his Benefactor. Jesus at the feet of Judas in the Cenacle, is a model of patient forbearance which we need not hope to see surpassed: Jesus receiving the traitor s kiss in the garden, with the calm, passionless words: “Friend, whereunto art thou come?” is a proof that His Heart s patience is inexhaustible, because it is divine.

Patient With Caiphas, Herod and Pilate
We need hardly dwell now upon the patience of the Sacred Heart as shown towards Caiphas, Herod, Pilate, during the days of sorrows which were to complete its sacrifice. And yet, what a subject for meditation and for practical reflection is here opened to us! We have thought of all this, perhaps a thousand times, and the deep wonder grows only deeper. Torments have been undergone by many an unhappy man who had fallen into the hands of cruel enemies. We have heard of heroic fortitude displayed, of stoic indifference to pain. But that was the patience of pride or of despair.

There was no power to avoid the torture; no escape from the dire necessity of suffering. Here we see torments more fierce than had ever been inflicted, and at the same time, we see power to free the Sufferer in an instant and to chastise the tormentors. And yet, this power is not exerted; the torture is endured without a murmur; the patient, unspeakably patient Sufferer’s Heart sends forth no cry of anguish, no plea for mercy. His flesh is torn with scourges His temples are pierced with thorns, His hands and feet bored with nails, His quivering, agonized body hangs bleeding at every pore; and still His patience is not worn out, His forbearance not turned into anger. His only words are words of peace, of pardon, of ever patient and enduring love, a prayer for His executioners: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And thus His patience had its perfect work. His love for us made Him patient unto the end; until no further proof of it could be thought of, no higher degree pointed out.

Look Upon that Patient Heart and Imitate It
O ye of little faith and little virtue! Come and gaze upon this unconquerably patient Heart! Yes, of little faith, since you know not that the afflictions which weigh upon you are sent for your greater good; of little virtue, since you murmur against the inevitable cross of the Christian s life on earth, and lose sight of the true source of your trials, to as sail the mere instruments which the fatherly hand of God uses to try you.

Learn of the Sacred Heart to bear, at least in silence, the inconveniences, the discomforts to which your lot subjects you. If you were filled with the spirit of heroic love, you would be most afflicted when you have least to suffer; you would beg for sufferings as the Saints did and your prayer would be: “to suffer or to die”; “not to die, but to suffer.” You would look upon those who are the cause of your trials as your greatest benefactors, and love them as the best of friends.

Patience Leads to Salvation
“In your patience, you shall possess your souls,” says the Sacred Heart to us, (Luke 21:19) and when we have learned this lesson, we shall not lose our tranquility when we are ill-treated, we shall not allow our hearts to glow with anger or to flutter with resentment; our eyes shall not gleam with indignation, nor our lips quiver with passion, when either our pride is wounded, our self-love rebuked, or our honor and reputation are assailed. We shall possess our souls in patience and in peace, though the blows which fall upon them are both heavy and frequent.

For, it is when most bruised and crushed that our patience gives forth its sweetest fragrance. It is when pressed most severely, in the wine-press of affliction, that the precious wine flows most abundantly, which is to rejoice our hearts and the Heart of God, when the day of our tribulation is past. It is the fire of suffering and of sorrow that will send up the incense of our virtue as a sweet-smelling sacrifice to Heaven.

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.