PREPARING FOR THE FEAST OF THE SACRED HEART WITH ST. FRANCIS DE SALES
June 12:
The mystery of the incarnation was essential for St. Francis de Sales.
Since Christ was as human as any man or woman, his heart was thought to have all the qualities of a human heart, which was believed to be the seat of will, consciousness and emotions. Still, since Christ not only was human, but also divine, his heart had qualities no human heart could ever have; it contained the love and mercy of God himself. For St. Francis, Calvary is where God’s love is given its true significance; it is for him the mount of lovers and the true school of love. It is hard to overestimate the importance of the passion in his theology. In the pierced heart of Christ crucified, the most extreme human suffering meets with the fullness of the mercy of God.
“Oh, how great was the flame of love that burned in the heart of our gentle Saviour, since at the height of His suffering, at a time when the vehemence of His torments seemed to take from Him even the power of praying for Himself, He succeeded through the strength of his charity in forgetting himself but not his creatures, and in a strong and intelligible voice uttered these words: Father, forgive them.”
Source: Susanne A. Kjekshus Koch, The Living Wellspring
June 11:
To St. Francis, the heart of Christ is what makes our ascent to the heart of the Father possible. On earth, the ladder is planted in the pierced side of Christ, in his Sacred Heart. His wounded heart is where we start climbing.
Have a look at this text from the third book of the Treatise. It describes a ladder between heaven and earth, from heart to heart:
“We descend from the first to the last, that is, from the fruit, which is glory, to the root of this fair tree, which is the redemption wrought by our Savior. God’s bounty gives glory in succession to merit, merit in succession to charity, charity in succession to penitence, penitence in succession to obedience, obedience in succession to vocation, vocation in succession to our Saviors redemption. On this last is based that whole mystical ladder…, both at its end in heaven, since it rests upon the loving bosom of the eternal Father…, and at its end on earth, since it is planted in the bosom and the pierced side of our Savior, who for this cause died upon Mount Calvary.”
— Source: Susanne A. Kjekshus Koch, The Living Wellspring
June 10:
“Our Savior’s Heart is the true oriental pearl,unique and of priceless value. Thrown into a sea of incomparable bitterness on the day of His passion, it melted within Him, dissolved, gave way, and flowed out in pain under the impact of so many mortal torments. But love, stronger than death, mollifies, softens and melts hearts far more quickly than all other passions.”
St. Francis de Sales
June 9:
In another letter, St. Francis tells St. Jane that: “The grace and peace of the Holy Spirit is always at the bottom of your heart. Place this precious heart in the pierced side of the savior, and unite it to the King of Hearts.”
So, if we hold him and do not let him go, as St. Francis told St. Jane, we will reach that point deep within our hearts, where the Holy Spirit reigns, and we will be united to the King of Hearts, that is, to the Heart of Christ.
St. Francis’ advice to St. Jane is written to someone who knows woundedness, by someone who knows the transforming potential of suffering. St. Francis had his own share of troubles – even desperation.
June 8:We are wounded in different ways, but we all find something we recognize in the wounded heart of Christ, and we are always strengthened by it. See how St. Francis utilizes this fact in a letter to St. Jane:
“In your imagination, see the crucified Jesus Christ in your arms and on your chest, and say a hundred times while kissing the wound in his side: “Here is my hope, here is the living wellspring of my happiness, here is the heart of my soul, here is the soul of my heart. Nothing shall separate me from his love. I hold him, and I will not let him go until he has brought me to safety.”[4]
This text holds the secret of St.Francis’ devotion to the Sacred Heart. It is from a letter that St. Francis wrote to St. Jane when she was very sad and frightened. So St. Francis wrote to her and told her to imagine that she was kissing the wound in the side of Christ. In the wounded side of Christ lies his Sacred Heart. This is where St. Francis sends her to find comfort.
You remember that she had experienced a lot of sorrow and pain – Her husband had died in a terrible accident when they were still quite young, and she was left with four children. Then she had to cope with her father in law, who was very mean to her.
What the letter says, between the lines, is this: “Jesus knows how you feel. His heart, too, was pierced by fear, then by the lance. When all seemed to be lost, when he was dead, and his dead body was desecrated by the soldiers, the story had only just begun. This was the start of the resurrection, the victory of love.
Source: Susanne A. Kjekshus Koch, The Living Wellspring
4.Deutsche Ausgabe, tome 5, p 130