Feast of the Sacred Heart

Litany of the Sacred Heart


Lord, have mercy
Christ, have mercy
Lord, have mercy

Christ, hear us
Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
God, the Holy Spirit,
Holy Trinity, One God,
Heart of Jesus, Son of the Eternal Father,
Heart of Jesus, formed by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mother,
Heart of Jesus, substantially united to the Word of God,
Heart of Jesus, of Infinite Majesty,
Heart of Jesus, Sacred Temple of God,
Heart of Jesus, Tabernacle of the Most High,
Heart of Jesus, House of God and Gate of Heaven,
Heart of Jesus, burning furnace of charity,
Heart of Jesus, abode of justice and love,
Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love,
Heart of Jesus, abyss of all virtues,
Heart of Jesus, most worthy of all praise,
Heart of Jesus, king and center of all hearts,
Heart of Jesus, in whom are all treasures of wisdom and knowledge,
Heart of Jesus, in whom dwells the fullness of divinity,
Heart of Jesus, in whom the Father was well pleased,
Heart of Jesus, of whose fullness we have all received,
Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills,
Heart of Jesus, patient and most merciful,
Heart of Jesus, enriching all who invoke Thee,
Heart of Jesus, fountain of life and holiness,
Heart of Jesus, propitiation for our sins,
Heart of Jesus, loaded down with opprobrium,
Heart of Jesus, bruised for our offenses,
Heart of Jesus, obedient to death,
Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance,
Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation,
Heart of Jesus, our life and resurrection,
Heart of Jesus, our peace and our reconciliation,
Heart of Jesus, victim for our sins
Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who trust in Thee,
Heart of Jesus, hope of those who die in Thee,
Heart of Jesus, delight of all the Saints,

Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, O Lord.


V. Jesus, meek and humble of heart.

R. Make our hearts like to Thine.

Let us pray;

Almighty and eternal God, look upon the Heart of Thy most beloved Son and upon the praises and satisfaction which He offers Thee in the name of sinners; and to those who implore Thy mercy, in Thy great goodness, grant forgiveness in the name of the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who livest and reignest with Thee forever and ever. Amen.

The Crown of Thorns Which Surrounds the Sacred Heart - Cardinal Bacci

The Crown of Thorns Which Surrounds the Sacred Heart

1. When Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary, He showed her His Heart encircled by a crown of sharp thorns. What was the significance of this? In Heaven Jesus is happy and cannot suffer any more. The Angels, Saints and the whole of creation sing a hymn of unceasing praise in His honour. Nevertheless, He sees the immense tide of sin which surges forth from the human race which He redeemed by His Precious Blood, a redemption now made futile by many. He is aware of the insane blasphemies hurled by so many against His lofty throne. He sees how His gifts, His sacraments and His graces are abused by many. He sees, finally, the number of privileged souls, often consecrated to His service, who are indifferent and ungrateful while they should be trying to make reparation for the evils of mankind by their love, prayers and penances. The explanation for this mystical crown of thorns lies in His infinite love. He does not suffer any more, because He cannot suffer, but He still has an immense love for all men, even for sinners and for those who are lukewarm and ungrateful. He loves and wishes to save all men. In spite of their sinfulness and ingratitude, He still calls them appealingly to His Heart, which they by their sins have crowned with thorns and pierced with a lance.

This is a mystery of love which we cannot properly understand. Only a man who loves Jesus fervently can even have the slightest understanding of it. If we sincerely love the divine Heart of Jesus, we shall realise that these sharp thorns which once pierced His Heart in Gethsemane and on Calvary were caused by our sins. Then we shall do our best to make a generous return for such love and to make reparation, even with grave sacrifice, for the offences which are still being committed by men against the loving Heart of the Redeemer.

2. There are many ways of showing our love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of making reparation for our sins and for the sins of mankind. We can console ourselves with the reflection that by these acts of love and reparation we are removing the thorns which encircle the Heart of Jesus. The simplest ways of doing this are by prayers, ejaculations, and expressions of love directed towards the adorable Heart of our Redeemer; and by visits to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. In silence and recollection before the Tabernacle we shall feel the Heart of Jesus beating with love and shall offer in return for His infinite love the affection of our poor hearts.

We can also receive Holy Communion in reparation. When Jesus is in us and we are in Jesus, it will be easier and more pleasant to offer Him our love and expiation. We can make reparation also by practicing the devotion of the First Fridays of the month. This pious practice, so pleasing to the Heart of Jesus, aims at being a mass offering of love and reparation for the sins of the entire human race.

3. We can also make reparation by voluntary penances or at least by offering up our daily sufferings in a spirit of loving generosity. But the course most pleasing of all to the Sacred Heart is the continual imitation of His outstanding virtues in such a way as to become living reproductions of our adorable Redeemer.

Ejaculation: Sacred Heart of Jesus, convert poor sinners.

The Worship of the Sacred Heart in Relation to the Love of God and of Our Neighbour - Cardinal Bacci

The Worship of the Sacred Heart in Relation to the Love of God and of Our Neighbour

1. There is nothing sentimental about having devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Neither does this devotion consist only in prayers and pious practices. It is much deeper than this. It should flood our whole being, enkindle the fire of divine love in our hearts, and transform our lives in accordance with the commands of Jesus. A love which is not active cannot be genuine; it is only a passing emotion.

Our love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus should be real and effective. As far as possible it should change us into living replicas of Jesus Christ.

“You are my friends,” He said, “if you do the things I command you.” (John 15, 14) Which commands does He mean? All of them, of course. “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart. (Mt. 11, 29) If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (Mt. 16, 24) Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with thy whole soul.” (Mt. 22, 37)
Anyone who practises these precepts and all others which are contained in the Gospel is sincerely devoted to the Sacred Heart. If anyone neglects to put them into practice, but is satisfied with prayers, ejaculations and the performance of spiritual exercises, his devotion is empty and has no foundation.

These prayers, ejaculations and pious practices have their value in so far as they can attract God’s grace. But we must co-operate with God’s grace by our good actions. Then our devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus will be sincere and effective.

2. The cult of the Sacred Heart demands especially the practice of the two great fundamental precepts of Christianity, namely, that we should love God above all things and our neighbour as ourselves. The implementation of this teaching can transform our lives.

Do we love God above all things and more than we love ourselves? What is the predominant concept in our minds? Is it the concept of God? What is the first love in our hearts? Is it the love of God? What is our main desire in life? Is it the glory of God? Or is it our own glory or our own pleasure?

We have still a long way to go in the way of the love of God, which is the way of perfection. We can only really be said to be ourselves, moreover, when we love God above all things and more than ourselves. If a man does not love God above all things, neither does he love himself in the way in which he ought to love himself, because God is our only true happiness.

Do we love our neighbour as ourselves? How much moral and physical wretchedness do we see around us? But do we try and remedy it by every means in our power, no matter what the sacrifice? Or are we cold and disinterested? Let us remember the words of St. John, the apostle of charity. “In this we have come to know his love, that he laid down his life for us; and we likewise ought to lay down our life for the brethren.” (I John 3, 16) Are we prepared to do this? Are we at least prepared to give away whatever we do not need ourselves in order to relieve poverty and want?

3. Anyone who is lacking in an effective love for God and for his neighbour has no real devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Ejaculation: My Jesus, mercy!

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus - Cardinal Bacci

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

1. All devotions which have been approved by the Church are valuable because they are acts of religion which have as their object the author of all holiness and source of all goodness. By these acts God is adored, thanked and supplicated by His children who have been redeemed by the Precious Blood of Christ. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin and to the Saints is also directed ultimately towards God, Who has endowed His faithful servants, especially the Mother of Jesus, with His gifts and graces and has established them as mediators by His throne. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, however, is not one of the many pious practices merely permitted or recommended by the Church. Fundamentally, it is a devotion which is essential for any Christian in so far as it is the cult of the love of God made man for our sakes.

We know that Christianity is the religion of love. “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” (1 John 4:16) Everything flows from God's love for mankind—both the Creation and the Redemption, for God created us out of love and redeemed us with the love of His only-begotten Son Who became man and died for us; and both the Old and the New Law, for the basis of the Old Law was “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength,” (Deut. 6:4) and the commandment of charity was called by Jesus His own commandment, on which His entire teaching was based. The Sacraments, especially the Blessed Eucharist, have their origin in the same infinite love. So have the graces which God gives us, our justification through the merits of our Redeemer, and the final reward for which we hope in Heaven. Devotion to the Sacred Heart is the worship of this infinite love, of which it is a living symbol.

2. When we consider it under its fundamental aspect as the cult of the love of God rather than of the Incarnate Word, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is as old as Christianity, even though it is only in recent centuries that it has assumed its present symbolism. “He who does not love does not know God,” says St. John, “for God is love.” (1 John 4:8) “And we have come to know,” he continues, “and have believed, the love that God has in our behalf. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” (1 John 4:16) This cult of the love of God, particularly of the love of God made man, vibrates throughout the pages of the Gospel and of the writings of the Apostles, especially of St. John and of St. Paul. In the works of the Fathers there are references to the Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance, from which flowed all the infinite graces of the Church for our redemption. We are reminded of this in the Encyclical published by Pope Pius XII in the year 1956. But the specific cult of the love of God as symbolised by the Heart of Jesus was explicitly approved by the Church after Jesus Himself appeared in the year 1674 to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and showed her His Heart on fire with love for men.

3. We should have a very high regard, therefore, for this devotion to the Sacred Heart. We should excite in our hearts acts of love which will compensate in some way for the infinite love which Jesus has for us. Finally, we should try and make our lives correspond with our love by emulating as far as possible the holy and immaculate life of Jesus Christ.

Ejaculation: May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere known and loved.