Worship
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus?
Every devotion approved by the Church is founded upon a doctrine of the faith. We believe, for example, that Mary is the Mother of God, Theotokos. We maintain, based on this doctrine of our faith, devotion to Mary and show this devotion or love by various practices, such as the rosary and the Angelus. Again, we believe that Jesus is present body, blood, soul, and divinity under the appearances of bread and wine in the Eucharist. Consequently, Catholics possess a unique love of and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament which is evident in the devotional practices of Eucharistic Adoration and processions.
The Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, like other devotions, is based upon another doctrine of the faith, perhaps the greatest of all: “God is love” (1 John 4:16). As Pope Pius XII explained, the devotion to the “infinite love of God for the human race…demands of us a complete and unreserved determination to devote and consecrate ourselves to the love of the divine Redeemer, whose wounded heart is its living token and symbol” (Haurietis Aquas [=HA], nn. 20, 6). In other words, the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is nothing other than the devotion to the love of God which is symbolized in the heart of Christ. For this reason, it is closely united to the devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.
What is the origin of the devotion to the Sacred Heart?
While many consider the origin of the Sacred Heart devotion to be found in the private revelations of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the 17th Century, the Church teaches that its first origin is to be found in Scripture itself. Keeping in mind that the object of the devotion is the “infinite love of God for the human race” (HA, n.20), it is clear that this love was present from the beginning. While the writings of the Old Testament do not mention the Sacred Heart itself nevertheless, “it cannot cause us surprise nor in any way lead us to doubt the divine love for us which is the principal object of this devotion; since that love is proclaimed and insisted upon in the Old and New Testament…” (HA, n.23). The love of God for mankind was expressed most beautifully by the prophet Hosea: “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son…. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of compassion, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them” (11:1, 3-4). In the New Testament, the divine love of God for mankind becomes incarnate in the person of Jesus: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
In the course of the Church’s history, the devotion to this doctrine of the faith—the love of God—underwent development until it received its most definitive support by the Church after the revelations made by Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque from 1673-1675. But as Pope Pius XII reminds us, “It must not be said that this devotion has taken its origin from some private revelation of God and has suddenly appeared in the Church…. [T]he revelations made to Saint Margaret Mary brought nothing new into Catholic doctrine. Their importance lay in this: that Christ our Lord, exposing his Sacred Heart, wished in a quite extraordinary way to invite the minds of men to a contemplation of, and a devotion to, the mystery of God’s merciful love for the human race” (HA, nn. 96, 97).
What is the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus?
“The Enthronement is the official and social recognition of the rule of the Sacred Heart of Jesus over the Christian family, a recognition affirmed, outwardly expressed and made permanent by the solemn installation of the image of that divine Heart in a conspicuous place in the home, and by the Act of Consecration” (Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey, Jesus, King of Love, p.125). As Bishop Loverde explains, “I invite families to make a family act of consecration, together with an enthronement of the Sacred Heart as a reminder that Christ should be the center of the family, the domestic church. In addition, the Lord promised that where the image of His Heart is honored, He would bring peace to the home, unite families, bless them with all the graces necessary for their state in life and be a secure refuge in life and death.”
What is the origin of the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart?
As Pope Pius XII has shown, the object of the Sacred Heart devotion—the love of God symbolized by the Heart of Christ—is present in the Scriptures themselves. The worship paid to the Heart of Christ then gradually developed through the centuries. Saints like Bonaventure (c. 1274), Albert the Great (c. 1200-1280), Gertrude (c. 1292), Peter Canisius (1521-97), Francis de Sales (1567-1622), and John Eudes (1601-80), who petitioned for the liturgical feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, are some of those who promoted this devotion. St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a Visitation nun from Paray-le-Monial, France, gave the devotion its greatest impetus when she received numerous private revelations from Jesus. From these revelations there are discernable “12 promises” made by Jesus to those who devote themselves to his Sacred Heart. The third promise, “I will bless every house in which the picture of My Heart shall be exposed and honored,” inspired Father Mateo Crowley-Boevey in 1907 to begin, at the command of Pope St. Pius X, the apostolate of the Enthronement, installing the image of the Sacred Heart in as many homes as possible.
How is the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart relevant today?
The goals of the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart are 1) to increase worship of God, especially of his Heart, 2) to increase our belief in the merciful love of God, 3) to offer love to God in return for his infinite love for us, 4) to make reparation for the sins of ourselves and others, and 5) to increase our love for and reception of the sacraments, particularly the Eucharist. In sum, the purpose of the Enthronement is to help us to live a life centered on Jesus Christ in the home, in school, at work, and at recreation. Enthronement increases our love for the Eucharist, fosters greater connection between the domestic church and parish church, and deepens our desire to live the Christ-centered life after receiving him in the Eucharist.
What have the popes said about the devotion and consecration to the Sacred Heart?
Popes throughout the most recent century have encouraged devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) wrote two encyclicals about the Sacred Heart, Annum Sacrum (On Consecration to the Sacred Heart, 1899) and Mirae Caritatis (On the Holy Eucharist, 1902). Pope Leo XIII also consecrated the entire human race to the Sacred Heart on June 11, 1899. Following his pontificate came Pope St. Pius X, the pope who, when Father Mateo asked permission to carry out the work of the Enthronement, told him: “Not only do I permit you, but I command you to give your life for this work of social concern.” Other encyclicals of the popes include Caritate Christi Compulsi (On the Sacred Heart, 1932), Miserentissimus Redemptor (On Reparation to the Sacred Heart, 1928) and Quas Primas (On the Feast of Christ the King, 1925) by Pope Pius XI; and Haurietis Aquas (On Devotion to the Sacred Heart, 1956) by Pope Pius XII.
More recently, Pope John XXIII recorded in his autobiography Journal of a Soul, “Every time I hear anyone speak of the Sacred Heart of Jesus or of the Blessed Sacrament, I feel an indescribable joy…. I am determined to give myself no peace until I can truly say I am absorbed into the Heart of Jesus” (cf. pp. 157-8). Pope Paul VI, in an Apostolic Letter of 1965 on the Devotion to the Sacred Heart (Investigabiles Divitias Christi) said: “This, therefore, seems to us to be the most suitable ideal: that devotion to the Sacred Heart—which, we are grieved to say, has suffered somewhat in the estimation of some persons—now reflourish daily more and more. Let it be esteemed by all as an excellent and acceptable form of true piety, which in our times, especially because of the norms laid down in the Second Vatican Council, must be rendered to Christ Jesus, ‘the king and center of all hearts, who is the head of his body, the Church…the beginning, the first from the dead, that in all things he may have first place’ (Col. 1:18).” Pope John Paul II, on the centenary of the consecration of the human race to the Sacred Heart, emphasized the relevance of the devotion today. He said, “The man of the year 2000 needs Christ’s Heart to know God and to know himself; he needs it to build the civilization of love” (n. 1).
Pope Benedict XVI more recently wrote, “When we practice this devotion, not only do we recognize God's love with gratitude but we continue to open ourselves to this love so that our lives are ever more closely patterned upon it. God, who poured out his love "into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (cf. Rom 5: 5), invites us tirelessly to accept his love. The main aim of the invitation to give ourselves entirely to the saving love of Christ and to consecrate ourselves to it (cf. Haurietis Aquas, n. 4) is, consequently, to bring about our relationship with God.
This explains why the devotion, which is totally oriented to the love of God who sacrificed himself for us, has an irreplaceable importance for our faith and for our life in love” (On the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of Haurietis Aquas, 2006).
Why is the Diocese of Arlington promoting the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart?
Apart from the fact that the devotion to, and Enthronement of, the Sacred Heart of Jesus are approved and desired means by the Church to honor God, our local church of the Diocese of Arlington has also encouraged such practices. Bishop Loverde said, “I am concerned that our hearts are increasingly prone to distraction, anxiety, fear and sin. Therefore, our need for the Heart of Christ is all the more urgent. Devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Divine Mercy have greatly helped me in my own life, and I cannot help but hope that others will find them worthy aides to faith. We can’t share what we don’t have. If we are not daily cultivating our gaze on the Heart of Christ, then we are not being all that we are called to be. I hope Fountain of Life, Fire of Love will play a part in spurring men and women of faith to a deeper love of Jesus, and a deeper desire to share His love with others. This is at the heart of the new evangelization.”
Isn’t the devotion to the Sacred Heart just one devotion among many?
Many families and individuals currently practice different devotions, have strong habits of prayer, and receive the sacraments frequently. It may appear that an additional devotion, such as that to the Sacred Heart, is therefore unnecessary. Even though many do have such a sound spiritual life, the devotion to the Sacred Heart can only make such a life even stronger, more clearly focused on Christ.
The devotion to the Sacred Heart is, furthermore, the “summary of all our religion” (Pope Pius XI, Miserentissimus Redemptor), “the summary of the whole mystery of our redemption” (HA, n.86). Rather than competing with other devotional practices, that of the Sacred Heart complements them perfectly by, in a sense, encompassing them. On this point Pope Pius XII writes, “Let no one think, however, that by such a practice anything is taken from the other forms of piety with which Christian people, under the guidance of the Church, have honored the divine Redeemer” (HA, n.122). Also, some devotions that are expressly promoted by the Church are for this reason more commendable. The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council explained: “Popular devotions of the Christian people are to be highly commended, provided they accord with the laws and norms of the Church, above all when they are ordered by the Apostolic See. Devotions proper to individual Churches [i.e., dioceses] also have a special dignity if they are undertaken by mandate of the bishops according to customs or books lawfully approved” (n.13, emphasis added). Since the devotion to the Sacred Heart has been clearly “ordered by the Apostolic See” and promoted by our “individual church” of the Diocese of Arlington, this devotion should not be considered just another devotion.
Material largely taken with permission from the Catholic Diocese of Lacrosse (WI).