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My earliest devotion was to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In high school I had a small meditation book on the Litany of the Sacred Heart. Reading and reflecting on these beautiful acclamations about the Heart of Jesus led me into meditation. I remember sitting in Church before the Tabernacle quietly reflecting on the Heart of Jesus and sensing His love for me. That is why I am excited about the month of June 2025. It will be a special time of grace for the Church, marking the 350th Anniversary of the fourth and final revelation of the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in June of 1675. She was a religious of the Visitation Order in Paray le Monial and only a novice when the revelations began.
The first revelation occurred on Dec. 27th, 1673, the Feast of St. John the Beloved Disciple. During that apparition Jesus revealed His Heart to her and His great love for all humankind. He wanted to make known this Love of His Heart to the world through her. He then asked for her heart which she willingly offered. In exchange He placed flames of His Love in her side, saying she would experience pain there as a share in His sufferings. He also said she would be known as the beloved disciple of His Heart.
The second revelation occurred on July 2nd, 1674, beginning with the presentation of the iconic Image of His Sacred Heart on a throne of flames, wounded and surrounded by thorns with a cross at the top. He revealed that He earnestly desired to be known, loved and honored by men in order to lead them back from the edge of perdition. He made a promise at this time that anyone who wore an image of His Heart on their person, He would “imprint His love on their hearts and destroy all unruly inclinations.”[i] This promise was the reason that it became a custom in the recent past to present badges of the Sacred Heart to the members of AA. The making and wearing of a badge of the Sacred Heart began with St. Margaret Mary herself. When she was the mistress of novices they would make them by hand. During the French revolution, the peasants of Vendee wore the image of the Heart of Jesus during their battle against the revolutionaries.
The third revelation occurred also in July of 1674. Jesus appeared as she knelt before the Blessed Sacrament “with His five wounds shining like so many suns. From all parts of His Sacred Humanity there issued flames but especially from His adorable breast, which was like a furnace. Opening His breast He showed me His loving and lovable Heart as the living source of these flames.”[ii] He proceeded to ask of her Holy Communions of Reparation and a monthly Holy Hour of Reparation for all the ingratitude and contempt He receives in exchange for His Love. It was then He requested the devotion of the First Fridays of receiving Holy Communion of Reparation in nine consecutive months in exchange for which He made the twelve promises. Reparation means to offer our love and sacrifices in the place of those who do not love or honor the Heart of Jesus.
The final revelation occurred during the Octave of Corpus Christi in 1675. He again showed her His Heart and said,” Behold this Heart which has so loved men that it spared nothing, even going as far as to exhaust and consume itself to prove to them its love. And in return I receive from the greater part of men, nothing but ingratitude by the contempt , irreverence, sacrileges and coldness with which they treat Me in the Sacrament of Love.”[iii] He then asked that the first Friday after the feast of Corpus Christi be dedicated as a Feast in honor of His Sacred Heart on which an Act or Reparation be offered and Holy Communion received to atone for the outrages committed against It during the time it has been exposed on the Altars.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus spread with the help of Saint Claude de Colombiere, S.J., who was the chaplain to the Visitation Convent and Sister Margare Mary’s spiritual director. The book, These Three Hearts by Margaret Yeo, documents their relationship and how the devotion was spread abroad first to England and then the world.
In honor of this anniversary a Jubilee of the Sacred Heart is being held at the Basilica of the Sacre Cooer in Paray Le Monal, France from Dec. 27, 2023, to June 27, 2025, inviting people to renew their devotion to the Heart of Jesus through reparation, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and deepening their awareness of His Love. Pope Francis has written an encyclical which was published in September of 2024 titled, Dilexit Nos, He Has Loved Us, inviting us to renew our devotion to the Heart of Jesus in this 21st century.
This year also marks a 100th Anniversary in reference to the Heart of Mary. It was in December of 1925 that both Mary and the Child Jesus appeared to Sister Lucia in the convent at Pontevedra and requested the following devotion to the Heart of Mary. Lucia was 10 only years old when Mary had appeared to her and her two young cousins at Fatima in 1917.
“Look my daughter at my Heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierced me at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console me and announce in my name that I promise to assist at the moment of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the 1st Saturday of five consecutive months, shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the rosary, and keep me company for 15 minutes while meditating on the 15 mysteries of the rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me. “ [iv]
In 1969, Pope Paul the VI moved the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, formerly celebrated on August 22, to the Saturday after the Feast of the Sacred Heart. It is only right that these two hearts be celebrated together since they are never apart. On First Fridays we make reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and on First Saturdays we make reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
This June they fall on June 6th and seventh followed by the great Feast of Pentecost. Open your hearts to the powerful graces that are available. If you have not observed the First Friday or First Saturday Devotions in the past this June would be a wonderful time to begin. And as June begins with powerful graces, it ends with powerful graces with the Feast of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart celebrated on June 27th and 28th. Plan to observe them with a Holy Communion of Reparation and an Act of Consecration to the Heart of Jesus on His Feast and to the Heart of Mary on Her Feast. They have both opened their Hearts to us. In all difficulties and troubles of life we can take refuge in them. Give thanks to Jesus and Mary for the abundance of grace they give us and especially for the Love flowing from their Hearts. Every night and especially in the night time of our life find rest on their Hearts.
Bernice Dumitru
[i] Churchpop.com/visions of the Sacred Heart
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] Fatima. org
Bernice Pillart Dumitru lives in Pittsburgh Pa with her black cat Magellan. Her husband of 32 years having died in May of 2019, she is now in the third phase of her life, having been a Sister of the Holy Family of Nazareth for 27 years, married for 32 years and now a widow. She is a retired Lay Ecclesial Minister of the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese, has a Masters in Religious Education and another in Christian Spirituality, a Certificate in Pastoral Counseling and Certification as a Chaplain. She has taught elementary school, served as Director of Religious Education, Directed a House of Prayer, given Ignatian Directed Retreats and spiritual direction, served as a hospital chaplain and as psychotherapist. She is now a member of the Legion of Mary. Her mission is to spread, first to her family and then others the good news of God’s love and mercy and to help them wake up to the need of taking refuge in the Heart of Mary in these times of great difficulty in our world. She feels called to make people aware also of the Servant of God Louisa Piccaretta and her writings about God fulfilling the request of the Lord's prayer of bringing the Kingdom of the Divine Will to our world. She also interacts with a number of large Catholic families who live in her neighborhood and assists in homeschooling at times. You can find her on Messenger and on Catholic365.
