Sacred Heart

Short History of Sacred Heart of Jesus

St. Margaret Mary’s Visions of the Sacred Heart

Jesus’ Sacred Heart burns with love for us and meditating on it deepens our gratitude to Him for giving His life for us on the Cross, as well as inspires us to avoid sin and grow in holiness that we might be less unworthy of the gift of Heaven He offers. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is traditionally depicted with a flaming heart that shines with light. His heart is pierced, symbolizing the Roman soldier’s lance that pierced His side on the Cross. It is also shown with Jesus’ Crown of Thorns around it, along with the Cross.

The Church Fathers referenced Jesus’ heart, but the first millennium did not see widespread devotion to it. In the 1100s and 1200s, St. Bernard of Clairvaux and St. Francis of Assisi promoted fervent devotion to Christ’s suffering in His Passion, in particular His sacred wounds. St. Bernard explained that when Christ’s side was pierced by the lance, Jesus revealed the burning love in His heart for us. In the late 1200s, St. Gertrude extended this devotion based on the visions that Jesus gave to her. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states in paragraph 478 that Jesus “has loved us all with a human heart. For this reason, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by our sins and for our salvation, ‘is quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that…love with which the divine Redeemer continually loves the eternal Father and all human beings’ without exception.” (This is a reference to Pope Pius XII’s encyclical Haurietis Aquas on the Sacred Heart.)

Devotion to the Sacred Heart blossomed even further when Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and instructed her in the meaning of His Sacred Heart. Jesus directed her in what the devotion should look like: one should receive Holy Communion on the first Friday of each month, spend a holy hour of adoration before the Eucharist every Thursday, and celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart. Jesus gave her a specific instruction to spend an hour every Thursday night meditating on Jesus’ Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (the first Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary). Jesus told St. Margaret Mary Alacoque that He would make 12 promises to those who honor His Sacred Heart:

I will give them all the graces necessary for their state in life
I will establish peace in their families and will unite families that are divided
I will console them in all their troubles and will be a refuge for sinners
I will be their secure refuge during life, and, above all, in death.
I will bestow abundant blessings upon all their undertakings.
Sinners will find in My Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
Tepid souls will become fervent. Fervent souls will quickly mount to great perfection.
I will bless every place where an image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored.
I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
Those who propagate this devotion will have their names written in My Heart, and I will never forget them.
Those who receive Holy Communion on the first Friday of nine consecutive months will obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment.
I will deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to My Heart.