Friday, November 15, 2024
The Hour of Presence at the Heart of Jesus is an hour during which, while devoting oneself to one’s usual occupations, one strives to accomplish them with greater fidelity, courage, fraternal charity, and recollection.
A daily Hour of Presence: Where one joins in thought, the Living Christ in all the Tabernacles of the world; Where one becomes aware that God’s gaze is upon oneself; Where one takes charge of oneself; Where one nourishes inwardly the desire to make the treasures of mercy, peace, and tenderness with which the Heart of Jesus overflows abound in the world.
No particular method to sanctify the Hour of Presence, what matters is to be in peaceful attention to the presence of Our Lord, without constraint, without any discomfort, fulfilling one’s usual duties, under the gaze of one’s heart towards Jesus, so sweet, so loving, so abandoned in his sanctuary! to offer him from time to time an act of love, a request for help, support or offering for a particular intention, uniting it with the very precious Offering of the Blood and Water coming from the Wound of the Heart of Jesus.
It is also the occasion to present to our Lord a slight sacrifice, even if it is only a repressed curious look, a word of restrained vivacity, a movement of controlled humor.
THE DIAL Long live + Jesus!
Such is the motto of the Association, borrowed from Saint Francis de Sales. May this motto be the strength, the consolation, the cry of hope and love of the Guards of Honor. Glory! Love! Reparation to the Heart of Jesus! summarizing in itself the goal of the Guard of Honor, which wants to console the Heart of Jesus.
Statutes Art. 2
The Association proposes to all its members to render a continual cult of Glory, Love and Reparation to the Heart of Jesus, who loved us to the point of being visibly wounded by the lance on the tree of the Cross, and invisibly wounded, every day, by forgetfulness, ingratitude and the sins of men.
This is why the Association has more particularly in view:
a. To consecrate its members to the pierced Heart of Jesus, “the source from which we must draw to attain the true knowledge of Jesus Christ and to experience his love more fully” (Benedict XVI)
b. To invite them to the duty of reparation towards this Sacred Heart wounded by our sins.
c. To root their personal life of faith, as well as their apostolic life and the exercise of their professional activity, in the love that devotes them and unites them to Jesus. Which is the meaning of the expression “devotion to the Sacred Heart”.
d. To invite them also to a greater fraternal love, lived consciously.
The Heart of Jesus, pierced by the lance, placed in the centre, like a radiant sun, animates and vivifies the world of souls with its light and its warmth.
The 12 stars, those bearing the 12 hours of the dial, illuminated by this Heart, recall “the twelve apostles, these twelve foundations of the heavenly Jerusalem, adorned with twelve doors formed of twelve precious pearls” (Rev 21:21). Everything starts from the centre, everything converges there, the more souls advance towards the divine Heart, the more they are vivified, illuminated, transformed.
At the request of the Honor Guard, the name is written with the initial of the first name, at the time chosen by the new Associate, or if there is no space, at another time. The Dial is displayed in an oratory, a Chapel or in the Church. When a Dial is filled, it is not destroyed; it is kept in the frame, behind the one that replaces it. By a perpetual cult of consolation, reparation and love, of offering, united with Jesus who sacrificed himself for us on the Cross and whose offering is perpetuated on our altars at each Eucharist and prolonged in the Presence at the Tabernacle.
The Guard seeks to unite himself with the act of love, reparation and immolation of the first three Honor Guards: Madeleine, Jean and Marie.
(Medal) In the first degree. With Madeleine, it is repentant, filial, grateful love, prostrated before the wounded Heart of Jesus. Fruit a greater repentance of one’s faults, a tender, filial, grateful love towards Jesus. In the second degree.
With St. John, it is reparative love, standing in front of the pierced side of Christ, seizing the Blood and Water coming out of the Wound of his Heart and making of this pure oblation, of this very precious chalice, a reparative and apostolic weapon in favor of the Church, of souls, and of the return of peoples under the scepter of love of Jesus Christ. Fruit a spirit of reparation, of zeal, of devotion to God and to souls. We unite the offering of our daily life to the Sacrifice of Jesus, for the glory of the Father and the salvation of the world. This precious Offering can be made according to the formula specific to the Guard of Honor, or by a simple impulse of the heart. In the third degree.
With Mary, it is heroic love rising to the altar of sacrifice glorifying supreme love and cooperating with it in the salvation of the world. The special office is the union with the Savior perpetually immolated. Fruit spirit of sacrifice, of immolation; we are closely united with the life and states of victim of Jesus, our Savior. We “offer our bodies as a living, holy, pleasing to God”, within the Body of Christ that we form, and in communion with the offering of his Eucharist. CCC n°2031
Comments on the chosen Hour
Each hour corresponds to a general intention of the Church and benefits from a holy Protector. It is not necessary to choose one’s Hour according to these elements, Jesus being responsible for pouring out graces for the intentions of the Hour. But, this information can help us to determine the choice of Hour.
From noon (or midnight to 1 o’clock): With the Blessed Virgin: The holy Church. The Pope, the Bishops, the Deacons, the Religious, the Secular Institutes, the Seminarians and the Novices.
1 to 2 hours (or 1 to 2 p.m.): With Saint Joseph and the Saints: The nations and those who govern them – the various civil administrations – peace and solidarity.
2 to 3 hours (or 2 to 3 p.m.): With the Righteous of the earth: All the great political, civil and social institutions – the respect of Sunday and Religious Feasts.
3 to 4 hours (or 3 to 4 p.m.): With the Seraphim: The Family – parents, children, grandparents; reciprocal duties – Daily worries.
4 to 5 a.m. (or 4 to 5 p.m.): With the Cherubim: The teaching and education of youth – teachers – educational institutions – the choice of careers and vocations.
5 to 6 a.m. (or 5 to 6 p.m.): With the Thrones: Work and workers of all conditions, temporal enterprises – travelers.
6 to 7 a.m. (or 6 to 7 p.m.): With the Dominations: The afflicted – the poor, the sick, the handicapped, the injured, the homeless, prisoners and all tested people.
7 to 8 a.m. (or 7 to 8 p.m.): With the Virtues: The propagation of the Faith and the works of the Missions and the people who devote themselves to them.
8 to 9 a.m. (or 8 to 9 p.m.): With the Powers: The conversion of sinners and all those who are far from the faith, those who do not believe and those who doubt. The persecution of the faith and those who suffer it: the persecutors and the blasphemers.
9 to 10 a.m. (or 9 to 10 p.m.): With the Principalities: The dying. The seriously ill, people at the end of their lives, the freedom to die a Christian death.
10 to 11 a.m. (or 10 to 11 p.m.): With the Archangels: The souls in Purgatory – deceased associates.
11 a.m. to 12 p.m. (or 11 p.m. to midnight): With the Angels: The reign of the Heart of Jesus! – The Eucharistic Works. The prosperity and expansion of the Guard of Honor, the fidelity and union of its members – Thanksgiving for the benefits received.
The Protectors
With Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, the Virgin Mary is the Mother of Jesus and the Mother of us all. “Jesus therefore, seeing his Mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near her, said to his Mother Woman, behold your son, and to the disciple Behold your Mother.” Jn 19 26-27
With Saint Joseph and the Saints: Saint Joseph, adoptive father of Jesus, Protector of the Church and the Holy Family, our protector in our family, health, work concerns and especially at the hour of our death.
With the Righteous of the Earth The righteous will possess the earth, there they will dwell forever… Ps 37-29 The choirs of Angels follow… What is the meaning of the names given to the Angels? The Angels are known to us through Scripture: – the Gospels and the liturgy speak of nine choirs of angels –
The Seraphim, whose name means burning, expressing all the fire of their charity towards God. The primary goal is the purification and dissipation of darkness and doubts. (Is 6:2)
The Cherubim, that is to say the strong ones, who owe all their supernatural strength to an admirable science of God. Their virtue is the science of God. (Gen 3:24)
The Thrones, whose character is peace, well-established firmness, which is born of their perfect union with God. They are the bearers of divine justice. (Col 1:16)
The Dominations, represent the sovereign domain of the Creator, discerning and distributing the things to be done, realized or created. They instruct when doubt and discouragement set in.
The Virtues, “who have the strength of God”, they symbolize strength and vigor during a project undertaken. They are invoked to restore strength and courage because they exercise their almost absolute empire over demons. (Eph 1:21)
The Powers, whose attribute is divine justice. They show the faithful of the Church the path of their faith and preserve them from doubt. (1P 3:22)
The Principalities, their mission is to establish a certain order on Earth through their celestial intervention, charged with watching over the nations.
The Archangels, are the extraordinary messengers of God to men. (St. Gabriel: Lk 1:11-38; St. Raphael: Tobit; St. Michael: Rev. 12:7-9)
The Angels. They pray to our us; they offer to God our good deeds; they defend us against demons, and they protect us against dangers. (Acts 12:7-8; Matthew 18:10)
The Most Precious Offering
Being united to the Heart of Jesus present in the Tabernacle, this is indeed the function of the Guard of Honor during the Hour of Presence. In return, Jesus invests us with an apostolate as fruitful as it is sublime. Placing in our hands the most precious Blood and Water that came from his divine Wound, he entrusts to our zeal the mission of pouring out on the guilty world this copious redemption by which the earth will be purified, regenerated and saved. A single drop of this divine Blood would be enough to purify a thousand worlds more capable than ours… His divine Heart manifests the desire that his Guards of Honor cooperate with Him, in this way, for the salvation of the world, at the difficult hour that we are going through. Let us respond with faithful love to this desire of Jesus: let us take spiritually the chalice of blessing that his Heart presents to us; let us raise it unceasingly towards heaven, and may our supplications, united with that of this supplicating Heart and victim because of our sins, finally bring down upon the world waves of mercy and pardon! Nothing is more effective than this practice, nor is anything easier: the sole impulse of the heart is enough.
During the Hour of Presence one is charged with offering this chalice of blessing to the Adorable Trinity; and one can do it in a mental and unnoticed manner, by going and coming, by working, by suffering, even by conversing; in a word, by each beat of one’s heart. During the rest of the day, the Associate can repeat this holy practice as often as possible, especially when he sees God offended or when he has had the misfortune to offend Him himself. “Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her.” This royal Bride of Christ came forth from the Wound of the Heart of Jesus on the Tree of the Cross; it is by the Blood and Water of this divine Wound that she can still be purified, rejuvenated; and from this Wound, finally, that she will spring forth victorious and triumphant over her enemies.
Art. 5 –
1 -The Associates of the Hour of Presence in the Heart of Jesus profess a special love and respect for the Holy Eucharist, the actualization of the Sacrifice of Jesus for men and the Sacrament of the permanent presence on Earth.
2 – this is why they strive to participate frequently in the Mass and to receive sacramental communion if possible, if not at least spiritually, and by preparing themselves for it by regular sacramental confession.
3 – Adorers of the divine Eucharist, they are also recommended to visit the Blessed Sacrament frequently and to attend the monthly Hour of Adoration.
The King and the five patrons of the Guard of Honor
“One day,” said Saint Margaret Mary, “the most holy Virgin showed me the Sacred Heart of Jesus as a source of living water, where there were five channels that flowed with pleasure into five hearts that He had chosen to fill with this divine abundance.” Thus were shown the Patrons placed at the head of the Guard of Honor. Each can be considered as the model and special guide of the groups that make up our association. ▪
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart rallies virgins, wives and mothers. She elevates the vocation of women to heroism, to the glory of the King of hearts. ▪
Saint Joseph takes under his paternal protection Christians of all conditions: the student, the teacher, the farmer, the worker, the magistrate, the soldier…; he arranges them around the Heart of Jesus, like “these 60 brave men from among the strong of Israel… all very experienced in war and invincible in danger”. ▪
Saint Francis of Assisi leads the Religious and the Consecrated in the great combat of love ▪
Saint Francis de Sales guides in particular the Bishops, the Priests and the Seminarians who wish to give glory, love, reparation to the Heart of Jesus. ▪
Saint Margaret Mary leads in her wake the crowd of the disinherited, the poor, the unfortunate, the little ones that we all are.