The Thirtieth Day of June

Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Third Means of Obtaining a Devotion to the Sacred Heart: Visits to the Blessed Sacrament.

The Blessed Eucharist does not benefit those only who receive it. To gain from it some of the fruits of life which it contains it is enough to visit Jesus Christ in this adorable sacrament, to desire it, to think of it, to turn in spirit towards some church in which it reposes. Such was the practice of a great number of saints and of Saint Alphonsus Liguori among others. There is nothing, that wins the Heart of Jesus more surely than frequent adoration and visits. This adorable Heart is in His Sacrament as a living fountain which flows unceasingly night and day and asks only to pour itself into all hearts to purify and fertilize them. He Himself invites all to come and draw from thence the waters of life, and seems to cry aloud amid the silence of His sanctuaries, as He did formerly from amidst the crowd of Jews who were assembled at Jerusalem for a great solemnity: "If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink." Si quia sitit, veniat ad me et bibat (St. John, vii. 37).

But the solitude, that reigns in His churches tells us too plainly that He is not more heeded now than then. Hence it seems as though He would fain seek reparation from among the small number of faithful souls who answer to His call for the insensibility of others. It is during these visits which they pay to Him that He delights to shed upon them His graces in greater abundance. And it may be said that there is no favor which He bestows upon them more commonly at that time than the grace of His love, for as friendship is maintained and increased among men by frequent visits and conversations, so it is by the same means that we obtain a more ardent love for Jesus Christ.

Speak to Him during the visits which you pay to Him as a child to its father, as a spouse to the most amiable of spouses. At one time lay before Him your spiritual infirmities: "Lord, behold he whom You love is sick." Ecce, quem amas infirmatur (John xi. 3). At another thank Him for His benefits: "Bless the Lord, my soul, and let all that is within me praise His holy name." Benedic, anima mea, Domino, et omnia quae intra me sunt nomini sancto ejus (Ps. cii. 1). At another praise His goodness: "How good is God to Israel!" Quam bonus Israel Deus (Ps. Ixxii. 1). At another praise His mercy: Lord, Thy mercy is above all Thy works! At another. His love: O Heart of Jesus, wounded and languishing with love, what shall I say of You and of the excess of Your love? Annihilate yourself in His presence: "Shall I speak to my Lord, I who am but dust and ashes?" Loquar ad Dominum meum cum sim pulvis et cinis? (Gen. xviii, 27). Lastly, enter within the tabernacle itself and establish your abode there. Then cast yourself with Magdalen at the feet of Jesus. Bedew them with your tears. Kiss His sacred Hands pierced for the love of you. Repose upon His Heart with the disciple whom He loved and tell Him that it is there that you wish to take your rest for ever without looking elsewhere for joy or consolation, both in this world and in the next.

You cannot give want of time as an excuse for your neglect in visiting our Lord. How much time do you find to waste in useless conversation? Shall it be said that it is for Jesus alone that we cannot sacrifice five minutes? Yes, five minutes of conversation with Him in His adorable Sacrament is enough to satisfy His Heart. Perhaps you live under the same roof with Him. You have to go but a few steps to visit Him and you refuse Him this slight mark of gratitude which He is ready to recompense by the most signal favors. An ancient religious was wont to say, "Is it right to pass by the house of a friend, to live so near him and yet not go in to greet him?

Father Sales of the Society of Jesus was filled with consolation whenever he heard the Blessed Sacrament spoken of. He was never tired of visiting it. If he was asked for at the gate, if he returned to his room, if he had to go a few steps through the house, he would always contrive to renew on each occasion his visits to his dear Lord so that there was hardly an hour in the day in which he did not visit Him. It was this that merited for him the happiness of dying by the hands of heretics in defense of the doctrine of the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament."

Aloysius Gonzaga, Stanislaus Kostka, John Berchmans, those angels upon earth and admirable models of youth, found no joy but in the presence of Jesus in His adorable Sacrament. They left their hearts with Him when they were obliged to be absent from Him. There it was that Xavier would come to rest himself after the labors of the apostolate and gain fresh strength for encountering new dangers. In a word, devotion towards Jesus, annihilated upon our altars has been the devotion of all the saints. Let it be ours also.

Practice: Make a firm resolution not to allow a single day to pass without making several visits to Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament if you live in some place where He thus resides. If you have not this happiness go at least once a day into a church for this purpose. Let your special object in these visits be to honor the Heart of Jesus and to make reparation to Him for all those who are indifferent towards Him or who set themselves against the devotion towards this adorable Heart.

Ejaculatory Prayer: O Jesus, my God, Thou whose discourse can never tire, speak but one word to my soul. Speak today, speak always, and never be silent.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.

The Twenty-Ninth Day of June

Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Second Means of Obtaining a Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus: Frequent Communion.

Devotion towards the Sacred Heart of Jesus is properly an exercise of love. It is enough, then to know what Holy Communion is to understand that there is no surer means of being soon inflamed with love for Jesus Christ than by frequently approaching to this divine Sacrament. The wise man knows it is impossible to carry fire in one’s bosom and not be burnt. This sacred fire is the adorable Eucharist which, as St. Bernard calls it, is the love of loves. Oh, did the soul but consider attentively what passes in this Divine Sacrament, says St. Angela of Foligno, it is certain that seeing herself so strangely loved all the iciness of her heart would be changed into flames of love and gratitude.

Let us frequently approach this source of all good. There, united and incorporated with Jesus Christ the author of grace, we shall daily receive its streams in fresh profusion. Our evil passions imperceptibly weakened will at length wholly disappear. That inclination for evil which we carry about with us will be changed into a sweet attraction towards every virtue of which the Heart of Jesus is the sanctuary, and of which He gives us an example in this adorable sacrament. There, possessing the treasure of Heaven, though hidden from our eyes, we shall receive the pledge of everlasting happiness, promised to those who worthily approach this Sacrament of love. For whoever possesses Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament can want nothing for his perfection and eternal salvation, so that, after Communion the faithful soul may say with St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi: All is accomplished. For indeed this heavenly food contains in itself every good and lays up in the soul every grace, gift, and virtue, so that the faithful soul that enjoys it has nothing more to desire.

Alas, how many graces do we lose by not placing ourselves in a condition to communicate more frequently. The Faithful of the primitive Church communicated every day, and how great in consequence was their faith and fervor! Alas, did we but know what pain we inflict on the Heart of Jesus by our indifference towards the Blessed Eucharist! One day our divine Lord said to St. Margaret Mary: "I have a burning thirst to be honored and loved by men in the Blessed Sacrament, and yet I find scarce any one who tries to allay this thirst, as I desire, by making me some return."

Let us be no longer of the number of these ungrateful souls. Let us often approach the. Holy Table with due dispositions. It is the surest means of giving consolation to Jesus Christ and gaining His Heart. But, if we already have the happiness of communicating often then why do we not make a better use of so powerful a means of perfection and salvation? Why, after so many communions do we continue still the same, still tepid, cold, and without energy to conquer our defects? Is it not because we go to Jesus Christ with a heart attached to creatures, filled with an esteem for the goods, the honors, the enjoyments of this world, with a heart impenetrably barred against the shafts of divine love? Is it not because, though Jesus willingly receives our hearts within His own, we on the contrary close our hearts against Him? For as He has Himself said, he alone that abides in me and I in him can bring forth abundant fruit. Qui manet in me, et ego in eo, hie fert fructum multum (St. John xv. 5).

Why then do we not cast ourselves with faith and confidence at the feet of Jesus Christ, really present within us, and say to Him from the bottom of our hearts: "No, Lord, I will not let You go until You have blessed me. I will not rise until You have given me strength to overcome those inclinations which separate me so frequently from You, and an efficacious and insatiable desire of doing and suffering all for Your love and always and on every occasion accomplishing Your holy will." Let us remind Him that His own glory requires Him to make a heart which has become His sanctuary worthy of Himself. And what is there that He can refuse us after haying given Himself wholly to us?

Practice: Endeavour to make yourself worthy, as far as is possible, to communicate frequently, and do not forget that all it’s fruit depends on the preparation and thanksgiving which should accompany this great action. St. Theresa says that one of the reasons why we receive so scanty a supply of grace, is that we do not turn to sufficient account those moments during which Jesus Christ is really present within us, and that He has hardly entered our hearts when we turn our back, as it were, upon Him and entertain ourselves with other thoughts.

Ejaculatory Prayer: When shall I come and appear before the face of my God? When shall I be allowed to possess Him within my heart?

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.

The Twenty-Eighth Day of June

Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

First Means of Obtaining Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus: Prayer.

The first means for obtaining an ardent love for Jesus Christ and a tender devotion to His Sacred Heart, is prayer.

"We may well be astonished that Christians are not, so to say, all powerful, possessing as they do a sure and infallible means of obtaining all that they desire, and this means consisting only in asking. There is nothing, to which Jesus Christ has so frequently and solemnly pledged Himself as to hear our prayers" (Croiset). "Ask, and it shall he given you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you. Hitherto you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you shall receive, that your joy may he full. All things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.

Prayer is the first need which the soul feels when the Holy Ghost begins to draw it from the abyss of perdition, the first sign of conversion. Ananias was afraid to go in quest of Saul to whom he was sent by our Lord. What was the proof given him by which to know that he was no longer a persecutor but already of the number of the Faithful in heart and will? "He prays." Ecce enim orat (Acts ix. 11).

Prayer is also the first exercise, which the enemy of souls induces them to abandon when he would draw them into his snares. Hence it was that St. Theresa said, "Would that I had a voice that might be heard throughout the whole world and that might repeat unceasingly in the ears of all: Pray, pray!"

Let us pray then, and pray with confidence, humility, and, above all, with perseverance. Let us never grow weary, never abandon it in disgust. The moment we cease to importune the divine mercy is, perhaps, the very moment at which it was on the point of granting our request. Prayer, says St. Laurence Justinian, appeases the anger of God. He pardons the sinner when he prays with humility. Prayer obtains all that it asks for. It triumphs over all the efforts of the enemies of our salvation. It purifies sinners, changes them, and makes them saints. No sooner had I recourse to God, says Solomon, than He granted me wisdom. I had no sooner opened my mouth to pray, says David, than I received help from God.

Our Lord told St. Bridget that His bounty goes far beyond our requests and wishes, and that He would be ready to give, at any moment, did we but bring, on our part, suitable dispositions.

"But, of all prayers, there is none that can be more pleasing to Jesus Christ than that in which we beg of Him a love of His Sacred Heart. Let us pray. Let us entreat. It is impossible to beg this earnestly and not obtain it. The means are easy and efficacious, and we may say that, in this matter, to ask is to obtain. Make use of this Sacred Heart itself to support your request and doubt not but that it will be favorably received" (Croiset).

St. Mechtild declared a short time before her death that, having one day begged of our Lord some great grace in behalf of a person who had asked her to do so, Jesus Christ said to her: "My daughter, tell the person for whom you are praying that she must seek all that she desires in my Heart, and that there she will infallibly find it. Let her cherish a great devotion to this Sacred Heart. Let her ask all that she desires through this Sacred Heart like a child that knows no other artifice than that which love suggests to her of asking of her father all that she wishes."

Practice: You can do nothing more pleasing to the Heart of Jesus, than to unite yourself to Him frequently by spiritual communion. According to St. Thomas, this consists in an ardent desire of receiving Jesus Christ and an affectionate gratitude as if we had actually received Him. These desires and affections you can awaken in yourself at every hour of the day or night. Our Lord expressed to the Foundress of the Convent of St. Catharine of Sienna at Naples the pleasure He takes in these spiritual communions by showing her two precious vases, one of gold and the other of silver, and telling her that in the golden vase He kept her sacramental communions and in the silver vase her spiritual communions.

Ejaculatory Prayer: If I forget Thee, O Heart of Jesus, let my right hand be forgotten: let my tongue cleave to my jaws if I do not remember Thee! Si oblitus fuero tui, oblivioni detur dextera mea; adhaereat lingua mea faucibus meis, si non meminiero tui (Ps. cxxxvi. 5).

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.

Announcement

I was unable to post the meditations for the Twenty-Eighth and Twenty-Ninth Days due to connectivity issues. They are thus being posted late.

If you wish to keep on schedule you can "double up" and use two meditations a day, one in the morning the other in the evening. Or, you can continue to use them in order. Either way will bear great fruit.

Note that while the meditations are for the month of June, a month of 30 days, there are in total 33 as well as a concluding meditation.

I hope they have served to bring you closer to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and have borne great fruit in your souls.

Fr. Scott Bailey, C.Ss.R.

The Twenty-Seventh Day of June

Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Means Of Surmounting the Obstacles to the Devotion to the Sacred Heart: Mortification.

"If you would know how to overcome the obstacles which your examen has disclosed to you, embrace courageously interior and exterior mortification. Both are absolutely necessary for arriving at perfection: the one cannot exist without the other.

"But the most necessary, beyond all contradiction, is interior mortification, and from this no one can dispense himself. This is the violence which we must unceasingly offer to ourselves in order to seize the kingdom of heaven. In fact, it is impossible to live the life of faith for any length of time without dying a thousand times a day to your inclinations and the self-seeking of self-love, for the whole employment of a soul in this life consists in loving and hating: loving God with our whole heart, and hating sin without reserve.

"Opportunities for practicing this mortification are constantly presenting themselves. There is no one who cannot mortify his natural disposition, desires and inclinations, who cannot keep silence when his natural vivacity would urge him to reply or vanity prompt him to speak. It is in such acts as these that interior mortification principally consists, and we succeed by this means in weakening self-love and subjecting it to reason, and thus gradually ridding ourselves of our imperfections. It is useless to flatter ourselves that we love Jesus Christ if we are not mortified. All our practices of devotion, the finest sentiments of piety, are to be suspected if unattended by this perfect mortification. It was for this reason that when some one was spoken of as a saint in the presence of St. Ignatius he replied, "He will truly be so if he is truly mortified."

"But it is not enough to mortify ourselves for a time only and in some one particular. We must mortify ourselves as far as possible in everything and at all times but with prudence and discretion. A single irregular satisfaction that you allow to nature has more effect in rendering her overbearing and rebellious than a hundred victories which you might gain over her would have in weakening her power.

"The practice of this mortification is familiar to all such as have a true desire of being perfect. There is nothing that does not afford them an occasion for thwarting their natural inclinations. It is enough that they have a great desire to see or to speak to make them cast down their eyes or hold their tongue. The desire of hearing news or of knowing what is passing or what is said is to them a constant subject of mortification and it is the more meritorious in proportion as it recurs more frequently and is known to God alone. A happy expression, a witty pleasantry, might distinguish them in conversation, but it may also furnish them with matter for a noble sacrifice. Are they interrupted a hundred times, in some occupation of great importance? A hundred times they will reply with as much patience and sweetness as if they had not been at all engaged.

"Inconveniences, arising from circumstances of place, weather, variety of character, etc., again supply innumerable occasions of mortifying oneself with great merit, and it may be said, that the greatest graces and the highest sanctity depend ordinarily upon the generosity we show in mortifying ourselves with constancy on those little occasions which are unceasingly presenting themselves" (Croiset).

Do not, however, suppose that by entering on the practice of mortification you will have to lead a melancholy and hard life. The yoke of Jesus Christ is sweet, and His burden light. Did the saints deceive themselves when they exclaimed: "I am filled with comfort: I exceedingly abound with joy in all our tribulation?" Repletus sum consolatione, superabundo gaudio in omni tribulatione? (2 Cor. vii. 4). Writing to his brethren in Rome, St Francis Xavier says: "I am in a country where I am in want of all the conveniences of life, but I experience so many interior consolations that I am in danger of losing my sight from the tears of joy which I shed." Where is the worldly person who at the pinnacle of his ambition or in the full enjoyment of his pleasures can make a similar avowal?

"A little courage! It’s the first step only that demands a sacrifice. Make the experiment for yourself. A thing must be worth but little which is not worth the trial.

"If after a fortnight of entire and constant mortification," said a great servant of God, "we do not taste that sweetness which others have experienced, I will allow it to be said that the life of those who truly love Jesus Christ is wearisome and that the yoke of Our Lord is heavy" (Croiset).

Whatever difficulties you may meet with in renouncing yourself, have recourse to the Heart of Jesus, and they will disappear. One day St. Margaret Mary felt so strong a repugnance within herself that it seemed as if she could not bring herself to obey upon our Lord reproaching her for her cowardice in conquering herself for the love of Him. She said to Him: "What would You have me do? My will is stronger than myself." Our Lord replied: "Place it n the wound of my Heart. There it will find strength to overcome itself." "O my God!" she exclaimed with transport, "bury it so deep within Your Heart and secure it there so firmly that it may never escape!"

Practice: Together with the general examen, practice also the particular examen. Take for the subject of it your predominant fault or some virtue which you wish to acquire and practice it in the following manner:

1. On rising, make a firm resolution to be on your guard against this particular defect.
2. About noon, examine whether you have committed any faults in regard of the point you proposed to yourself.
3. In the evening make a similar examen.

The fruit of this examen depends upon the fervor with which our morning resolution has been made, the exactness of our inquiry, our watchfulness over ourselves, the fervor with which we beg the divine assistance, and the care we take to note down our failings, in order that we may observe the progress we make from one day to another.

St. Ignatius practiced this exercise with such exactness from the time of his conversion that, even on the day of his death, he was still careful to note his faults in a little book which was found under his pillow. The most eminent persons of his order have imitated the fidelity of their founder in this salutary practice. If they thought that they were not doing too much in taking such precautions can we regard them as beneath us or as imposing too irksome a restraint upon us?

Ejaculatory Prayer: O Jesus, may Thy desolate Heart teach me to avoid, despise, and hate all earthly satisfactions. (Bl. Henry Suso).

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.

The Twenty-Sixth Day of June

Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Four Obstacles Which Prevent Our Obtaining Abundant Fruit from Devotion to the Sacred Heart.

I find four obstacles which stop our progress in true devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The first is tepidity, a truly deplorable state. The tepid soul does only what she cannot omit. Without charity, without fervor, she is a burden to herself; and so far from advancing in the way of virtue, she falls back. The danger to which persons engaged in daily practices of piety are exposed is that of growing familiar with these holy exercises. To guard against this they should be constantly afraid of going through them without reverence, attention, and fervor, and should make an effort to arouse and awaken themselves by meditating on the great truths of faith and by rekindling in themselves the vivid flames of divine love.

"The state of tepidity is so much the more to be dreaded as it appears the less dangerous: we avoid more obvious sins and think that by so doing we are safe, but we forget the words of our divine Lord in the Apocalypse: ‘Because you art neither cold nor hot, I will begin to vomit you out of my mouth,’ As if He would say: ‘You do not deserve to live within me. You shall have no entrance into my Heart since you repay my kindness only by the most guilty coldness.’ Confessions without amendment, communions without fruit, are the ordinary consequences of this deplorable tepidity. Imagine, then, that our divine Lord, in His desire to draw you out of this sad state says to you as He said to St. Gertrude: ‘You have been long enough attached to the earth in company with my enemies. You have gathered the honey of the consolations of this world from amidst its thorns long enough. Return at length to me and I will inebriate you with the torrent of my delights.’ Accept this invitation of our divine Lord. Embrace His hand, pierced with nails for the love of you, which He stretches forth to you in His mercy, and promise Him that you will follow Him from henceforth whithersoever He may lead you.

"The second obstacle is self-love. The practice of the Gospel is shortly summed up in that saying of Jesus Christ: ‘If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.’ And yet how few there are who think seriously of this! They have no love or taste for any virtues but those which are agreeable to themselves and suit their humor. But how can a heart thus disposed be united to the Heart of Jesus? This divine Heart abandoned itself wholly to us. It reserved nothing for itself. It asks, then, for generous hearts who have no fear of going, too far, of engaging themselves, of placing themselves in the impossibility of drawing back, and to whom all reserve is unknown.

"The third obstacle is our predominant passion which we would fain humor and which we cannot bring ourselves to renounce. Even though we had sacrificed them nearly all, yet if there remain but one of this kind, there can be no union of hearts. Examine sincerely what it is that you still reserve to yourself and sacrifice it generously to the Heart of Jesus, and be assured, that it will cost you less to renounce it altogether than to gratify it by halves.

"The fourth obstacle is a secret pride. We overcome or weaken all other enemies by the practice of virtues, but it too often happens that this enemy gains strength even by means of certain virtues themselves. It may be said, that of all vices there is none which has arrested so many souls in the path of piety, none which has thrown back so many from the highest perfection into tepidity, or even into a disordered life.

"From this spirit of vanity comes the desire we have to bring ourselves into notice, to succeed in all we undertake, that sadness and discouragement which we feel when we have met with bad success, that expansion which is produced in us at the sight of the honors which are paid us, or on hearing the praises which are bestowed upon us. This same spirit insinuates itself into the practice of the highest virtues. We are mortified, it may be, obliging, charitable, filled with zeal for the salvation of souls. We are given to meditation, prayer, etc., but we are well pleased for the edification, as we say, of our neighbor, that we should be known to be so.

"From the same source spring that sensitiveness on the point of honor, those little coolnesses, those annoyances which approach so near to envy, that secret pain we feel at the success of others whom we are ever ready to find a means of lowering, that excess even of sorrow and discouragement upon falling again into some humiliating fault.

"In fine, we pass for spiritual men, we believe ourselves to be such, and yet our conduct is regulated only by maxims of worldly prudence. We wear but the appearance of piety while beneath the surface our passions are alive in all their strength. And, at the hour of death those who are looked upon as loaded with spiritual riches find their hands empty of good works, this self-love, this paltry ambition, this secret pride, have robbed or spoiled all. This is the leaven which sooner or later corrupts the whole mass, the worm which eats into the life of the loftiest oaks. This is the beginning of those stupendous falls which happen from time to time in different ages to afflict the Church and to give to the Faithful a sad but salutary lesson" (Croiset).

The following instruction, given by our divine Lord to the devout Armella, confirms what we have just said of the obstacles that oppose the reign of the Heart of Jesus within us. "On the eve of the Presentation, it seemed to me," she says, "that I was enclosed within the Heart of Jesus with so much glory and liberty that it surpassed all my comprehension. I found myself at large and at my ease. This divine Heart appeared of so vast an extent that a thousand worlds would not have sufficed to fill it. I saw, besides, how those who dwell therein by love enjoy true and entire liberty and a wondrous peace, but on the other hand, I saw that the gate to enter therein was so small and narrow that but very few found entrance. Surprised at this I said, O my love and my all, whence comes it that Your Heart is so large and spacious, that we are so much at large when we are once within, and yet the entrance is so small and narrow? Upon this our Lord gave me to understand that it was because He wished that none but the little, the naked, and the solitary, should find entrance. The little are those, who, with all their heart, abase and humble themselves for the lore of Him. Such as these can enter but others not, for how can anyone who is puffed up with vain glory pass through so small a gate? The naked are those who detach their hearts from all covetousness of the riches and comforts of this life. As for others who are burdened with heavy loads of gold and silver or other things it is impossible that they should be able to pass through so narrow a way unless they first discharge themselves of this burden. The solitary are those who detach their affections from all creatures, for the effect of love is to bind and attach the heart to the object beloved. But it is impossible for two persons, bound and attached to each other, to enter together by a way in which there is barely room for only one.

Practice: If you desire to obtain a true devotion to the Heart of Jesus it is important to ascertain whether you have still some one of these obstacles to overcome. The true means of succeeding in this enquiry is by the daily and constant use of the general examen, which St. Ignatius esteemed and recommended, in some sort, even more than prayer.

To make it well you should follow the method which he has himself traced out and observe these five points.

1. Thank God for the benefits which He has bestowed upon you.
2. Beg of Him to give you grace to know and detest your sins.
3. Examine the thoughts, words, and actions of the present day, going through each hour in succession.
4. Bog pardon for your faults.
5. Make a purpose of amendment and conclude with the Our Father, or any other prayer you may prefer.

Ejaculatory Prayer: O Heart of Jesus, give me grace to know Thee and to know myself.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.

The Twenty-Fifth Day of June

Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Pictures of the Heart of Jesus.

Whoever loves a friend consoles himself in some sort for his absence by the sight of his portrait. He carries it with him, kisses it tenderly, and often looks at it. This is what the devout Lanspergius advises us to do with regard to pictures of the Heart of Jesus: To keep alive your devotion have nearby some picture of this adorable Heart. Place it in a position in which you may see it frequently, that the sight of it may enkindle in you the fire of divine love. Kiss the picture with the same devotion with which you would kiss the Heart of Jesus Christ. Enter in spirit within this divine Heart. Impress your own heart upon it. Bury your whole soul within it and pray that it may be absorbed in it. Strive to draw into your own heart the spirit which animates that of Jesus, His graces, His virtues, in a word, all the saving power of this sacred Heart, for the Heart of Jesus is an overflowing fountain of every good."

If this were not a salutary practice would the Church teach her children to pay honor to holy images? St. Theresa remarks in her autobiography with that admirable simplicity which is so characteristic of her: "Having but little talent for representing objects to myself, I was extremely fond of pictures. Oh how much those are to be pitied who lose through their own fault the help they might derive from them. It is evident that they have no love for our Lord, for they would be glad if they really loved Him to see His picture just as persons in the world are glad to look on the portraits of those whom they love."

But nothing is better calculated to excite us to this veneration for pictures of the Heart of Jesus than the pleasure which we know it gives Him to see them honored. Hear what St. Margaret Mary says on this subject: "One day, on the Feast of St. John the Evangelist, after Holy Communion the Heart of Jesus was represented to me as on a throne formed of fire and flames, shedding rays on every side and brighter than the sun. The wound, which He received upon the Cross, was clearly visible. A crown of thorns encircled this sacred Heart and it was surmounted by a cross. Our divine Savior gave me to understand that those instruments of the Passion signified that the source of all His sufferings had been the boundless love of His Heart for men, that all those torments and insults had been placed before Him, from the first moment of His incarnation, and that the Cross was, so to say, planted in His Heart from that moment, that from that same moment He accepted all the sorrows and humiliations which His sacred humanity was to suffer during the course of His mortal life together with all the outrages to which He was to expose Himself to the end of time, for the love of mankind by dwelling among them in the Blessed Sacrament. My Savior assured me that He took a singular pleasure in seeing the interior sentiments of His Heart honored under the figure of this heart of flesh, in the manner in which it had been represented to me, surrounded with flames, crowned with thorns, and surmounted by a cross, and that He wished that this representation should be publicly exposed in order to touch the insensible hearts of men. He promised me, at the same time, that He would shed in abundance the treasures of graces with which His Heart is filled upon the hearts of those who honored Him, and that wherever this image should be exposed for particular veneration it should draw down upon the spot every kind of blessing."

It is said that the inhabitants of Antioch arrested a violent earthquake by writing the following words over the doors of their houses: Christus nobiscum: state. Cease! Christ is with us! Let us bear upon our heart the image of the Heart of Jesus that in all our temptations we may boldly defy the enemy of our salvation and say to him: Cease! The Heart of Jesus is with me!

Practice: Carry about you a medal or picture of the Heart of Jesus, and place one where you pray. Do your best to have a chapel dedicated to this amiable Heart in your local church.

Ejaculatory Prayer: "Let us go with confidence to this throne of grace, the Heart of Jesus, that we may experience the effects of His mercy, and find grace in seasonable aid." Adeamus ergo cum fiducia ad thronum gratiae, ut misericordiam consequamus, et gratiam inveniamus in auxilio opportuno (Heb. iv. 16).

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.