Go to the Source of the truest and purest LOVE this month- the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus!
Day one-Practice.—Engage every one, over whom you have any influence, to celebrate the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christi; to receive Holy Communion on that day, and to make an act of reparation in atonement for the negligences, scandals, sacrileges, and other faults committed against the adorable Eucharist.
Prayer.—Draw me, O Heart of Jesus; we will run after thee to the odour of thy ointments.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, have
mercy on us.
O Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
Day Two-Practice.—Do not let a week of this month pass without speaking of the Heart of Jesus, and of the boundless treasures of grace which He has promised to those who shall honor it with a special devotion.
Prayer.—Give me Thy love alone, O Heart of Jesus, and I am rich enough! . (St. Ignatius.)
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. O Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
Day 3Practice.—The Heart of Jesus has an infinite desire to be known and loved; it wishes that we should address ourselves to it with great confidence, especially in the holy Sacrifice of the Mass. In order to rekindle your devotion, remember that a single Mass procures greater glory to God than the merits of all the saints together, and that the blessings attached to this adorable sacrifice, are greater than those which you can gain from your other prayers during your whole life. Many do not know how to occupy themselves during Mass. What rapid progress they would make in the love of Jesus Christ, if they applied themselves to meditate on the Passion and sorrows of His Henrfc, each time that they assist at this divine sacrifice.
prayer.—-Who shall separate us from Thy love, O Heart of Jesus?
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. O Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
Day 4 Practice.—It is not only a pious practice, but it is a duty, to offer our actions every day to God, for He gave us our being only that we might serve Him. Be careful, then, to do so; but in order to make your actions still more meritorious, offer them through the Heart of Jesus, somewhat in the following manner: “My God! I offer Thee all my actions in union with the merits of the Heart of Jesus, of the Blessed Virgin, and of all the saints, and in union with all the good, in opposition to all the evil, which has been, or ever will be done.” Or with St. Mechtildis, who was taught the following manner by our Blessed Saviour Himself: “Most loving Jesus! to Thee I address the first sigh that issues this day from my heart; deign to accept all my actions, that they may be perfected and purified in Thy most gentle Heart, and thus offered, in union with Thy merits, in eternal praise to Thy Heavenly Father.”
Ejaculatory prayer.—The sparrow hath found herself a house, and the turtle a nest for herself, where she may lay her young ones; Thy Heart, O Jesus I shall be my place of refuge. Passer invenit sibi domum, et turtur nidum sibi, ubi ponat pullos suos; cor tuum, Domine, Rex mens et Deus metis.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. O Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
Day 5 Practice.—Imitate the conduct of St. Clare, and never allow a single day to pass without honouring the Heart of Jesus; if you are a member of the association* which is consecrated to it, be faithful to the prescribed devotion at nine and at four o’clock, and let your heart accompany the words of your mouth, for Jesus wishes only for the heart, and looks only to the heart. Deus autem intuetur c-or.
* This association, established in Rome, and spread through the whole world, is enriched with the most ample indulgences. It imposes no other obligation than that of a special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, by a study and imitation of His virtues. To become a member of it, it is enough to apply to any priest possessed of the power to admit members; or to have one”s name entered on the register of any religious house in which this association is established, and where the pious exercises, which are usnally practiced in it, may be learnt more in detail. The conditions of this Confraternity are explained in a work entitled, The Practice of love towards the Heart of Jam.
Ejaculatory Prayer.—I will sleep and rest in peace in Thy Heart, O Jesus! In pace in idipsum dormiam et requiescam. (Ps. iv. 9.)
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, have
mercy on us.
O Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
Day 6 Practice.—Offer your prayers to God each day through the Heart of Jesus; it is the way to render them no less meritorious than powerful. The following is the form which Mary Margaret employed for this purpose:
“My God! I offer Thee the Heart of Jesus, Thy well-beloved Son, in thanksgiving for all the blessings which Thou hast conferred upon me; for my petition, my offering, my adoration, and all my resolutions. Keceive it, O Eternal Father, to supply for all that Thou desirest of me, for I have nothing to offer Thee which is not unworthy of Thee except Jesus, my Saviour, the possession and enjoyment of whom Thou Thyself hast given me.”
Ejaculatory Prayer.—O Heart of Jesus, Victim of love, be propitious to me a poorsinner! O Cor, amoris victima propitiuesto mihi peccatori!
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. O Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
Day 7 Practice.—The Heart of Jesus is the cradle of all the Faithful; it is through it that you have been called to the spiritual birth of holy baptism. You will please this Divine Heart if, every morning, on waking, you renew your bnptismal engagements. You may make use of the following form, or of any other like it. “0 Heart of Jesus! I renounce anew Satan with his pomps and works, and I engage myself wholly to Thee for every moment of my lifel” Oh! what graces will this practice draw down upon you! It is enough to defeat all the efforts of the tempter.
Ejaculatory prayer.—If any one love not Thee, O Heart of Jesus I let him be anathema. Si quis non amat Dominum Nostrum Jesum Christum, sit anathema. (1 Cor. xvi. 22).
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, have
mercy on us.
O Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
Day 8 Practice.—One day, as St. Gertrude was laying before our Lord a trouble which sensibly afflicted her, our Divine Master, making her repose upon His Heart, said to her; “It is here that you will live sheltered from all affliction; but every time that you abandon this spot, you will be again seized with bitterness of heart, as a salutary antidote to remind you that I am the only all-powerful Comforter.” Profit by this lesson; in all your doubts, distresses, and affliction ; address yourself to the Heart of Jesus, as a child to its parent, as a friend to his friend, beseeching Him to be your light, your support, your comforter, and not to allow you to find peace or consolation except in Him.
Ejaculatory prayer.—I have found the Heart of my King, my Brother, my loving friend Jesus; what more can I desire in heaven, or seek upon earth? Inveni cor regis, patris, et amici benigni Jesu: quid mihi est in coelo, et quid volui super terram? (St. Bernard).
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. O Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
NINTH DAY.
Practice.—We are told in the life of Mary Margaret, that the angels did not disdain to join her, in paying an uninterrupted homage of love, adoration, and praise to the Heart of Jesus. Address yourself, then, to the holy angels, and especially to your guardian angel who watches at your side, and prays unceasingly with you and for you; conjure them to supply, by their ardent love and continual union with the Heart of Jesus, for the coldness and unworthiness of your prayers. Ask also sometimes the angel guardians of those with whom you have to do, to inspire them with devotion to this Divine Heart.
Ejaculatory prayer.—As the hart pants after the fountains of waters, so my soul pants after Thy love, O Heart of Jesus! Quemadmodum desiderat cervw adfontes aquarum, ita desiderat anima mea ad te. (Ps. xli. 1.)
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. O Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
Day 10 Practice.—You know what are the terms in which the sentence of life will be pronounced by the Son of God, on the last day, upon His elect: “Come, ye blessed of my Father; I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was naked, and, you covered me.” These words are applicable, in their true sense, to the care which we shall have taken of His suffering members, the poor; and we cannot meditate on them too often, for the Son of God makes our charity towards our brethren the rule and measure of His eternal mercy towards us.
But it must be acknowledged that, owing to the indifference of the greater part of Christians for Jesus Christ, this amiable Saviour is truly in the Blessed Sacrament the first among the poor whom we ought to relieve. Be careful to see, then, especially in country churches, that whatever is employed in the service of the adorable Sacrament be kept with becoming cleanliness and decency. Work with your own hands, or get others to work, for churches; and in preference to any brilliant decorations, offer linen necessary for the service of the altar. Your offering will be pleasing to Jesus Christ in proportion as it admits of less ostentation, and as He sees in it a proof of the reverence which you bear towards His Sacred Body. This is a good work, of which He deigns to be Himself the object; this is that ointment which He would willingly see poured over His divine Body, and the pouring out of which He praised on the eve of His death.
Ejaculatory Prayer.—O Heart of Jesus I how late have I begun to love Thee I “Sero te amavi?” (St. Augustine.)
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. O Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
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Day 11 Practice.—Our Lord Himself begged the Venerable Mary Margaret to set apart the first Friday of each month for the remembrance of the sorrows of His Heart. Form the resolution, then, to offer a Communion to the Heart of Jesus, as far as may be in your power, on the first Friday of every month, with the act of reparation, in atonement for all the negligences which may have attended the Communions you have made in the interval. It would also be very pleasing to our Lord, if you formed the intention of making reparation, not only for your own negligences, but also for those of all Christians.
Ejaculatory Prayer.—O Heart of Jesus, overwhelmed with insults! teach me to bear with patience contempt and contradictions.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. O Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.