The
following novena prayer is attributed to Saint Margaret Mary Alocoque. To pray the novena, repeat the same prayer for
nine consecutive days for a particular intention or devotion. On the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
(June 23), it is a tradition to pray the Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart
(see below).
To pray the Novena to the
Sacred Heart, simply follow the format here for nine consecutive days:
O
my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, ask and you will receive,
seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you." Behold I
knock, I seek and ask for the grace of ______ (name your intention here).
Our
Father . . .
Hail
Mary . . .
Glory
Be . . .
Sacred
Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.
O
my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, if you ask anything of the
Father in my name, he will give it to you." Behold, in your name, I ask
the Father for the grace of ______ (name your intention here).
Our
Father . . .
Hail
Mary . . .
Glory
Be . . .
Sacred
Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.
O
my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, heaven and earth will pass
away but my words will not pass away." Encouraged by your infallible words
I now ask for the grace of______ (name your intention here).
Our
Father . . .
Hail
Mary . . .
Glory
Be . . .
Sacred
Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.
O
Sacred Heart of Jesus, for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the
afflicted, have pity on us miserable sinners and grant us the grace which we
ask of you, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, your tender
Mother and ours.
Hail Holy Queen . . .
St.
Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray for us. Amen.
To learn more
about devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, read Fountain of Life, Fire of Love: A Pastoral Letter on
the Heart of Christ, by the Most
Rev. Paul S. Loverde, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Arlington.
Act of Reparation to the Sacred
Heart
MOST sweet Jesus, whose overflowing charity for men is requited by so much
forgetfulness, negligence and contempt, behold us prostrate before Thee, 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 promises of their baptism, have cast off the
sweet yoke of Thy law.
We
are now resolved to expiate each and every deplorable outrage committed against
Thee; we are now 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 violations of
Sundays and holydays, and the shocking blasphemies uttered against Thee and Thy
Saints.
We
wish also to make amends for the insults to which Thy Vicar on earth and Thy
priests are subjected, for the profanation, by conscious neglect or terrible
acts of sacrilege, of the very crimes of nations who resist the rights and
teaching authority of the Church which Thou hast founded.
Would
that we were able to wash away such abominations with our blood. We now offer,
in reparation for these violations of Thy divine honor, the satisfaction Thou
once made to Thy Eternal Father on the cross and which Thou continuest 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 unswerving 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 Mother, 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 with the Father and the Holy Spirit Thou livest and
reignest, God, forever and ever. Amen.