The Sacred Heart and the Eucharist!
The Sacred Heart and the Eucharist!
“Behold this Heart, ”He said, “which has loved men so much, that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself, in order to testify to them its love. And in return I receive from the greater number nothing but ingratitude by reason of their irreverence and sacrileges, and by the coldness and contempt which they show Me in this Sacrament of love.”
It was especially the ingratitude towards Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar which the Sacred Heart deplored in His final and greatest revelation to St. Margaret Mary. It was in the spirit of reparation for this ingratitude that Pope Pius XI composed the familiar Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart: “Be Thou King, O Lord, not only of the faithful who have never forsaken Thee, but also of the prodigal children who have abandoned Thee. Grant that they may quickly return to their Father’s house lest they die of wretchedness and hunger
Cardinal Newman and the Sacred Heart
Cardinal Newman before his conversion to the Catholic faith, confessed that, “I did not believe the doctrine of Transubstantiation till I was a Catholic.” But once converted, he found in the Holy Eucharist the source of his greatest joy. He made the discovery that the Sacrament of the Altar contains the Sacred Heart, which contains the heart of God. This identification he crystallized in a short prayer that beautifully synthesizes the doctrine we have examined:
Let US Pray
O most Sacred, most loving Heart of Jesus, Thou art concealed in the Holy Eucharist, and Thou beatest for us still. Now as then Thou sayest, Desiderio desideravi—“With desire I have desired.” I worship Thee then with all my best love and awe, with my fervent affection, with my most subdued, most resolved will. O my God, when Thou dost condescend to suffer me to receive Thee, and Thou for a while takest up Thy abode with me, O make my heart beat with Thy Heart. Purify it of all that is earthly, all that is proud and sensual, all that is hard and cruel, of all perversity, of all disorder, of all deadness. So fill it with Thee, that neither the events of the day nor the circumstances of the time may have power to ruffle it, but that in Thy love and Thy fear it may have peace.
O most Sacred, most loving Heart of Jesus, Thou art concealed in the Holy Eucharist, and Thou beatest for us still. Now as then Thou sayest, Desiderio desideravi—“With desire I have desired.” I worship Thee then with all my best love and awe, with my fervent affection, with my most subdued, most resolved will. O my God, when Thou dost condescend to suffer me to receive Thee, and Thou for a while takest up Thy abode with me, O make my heart beat with Thy Heart. Purify it of all that is earthly, all that is proud and sensual, all that is hard and cruel, of all perversity, of all disorder, of all deadness. So fill it with Thee, that neither the events of the day nor the circumstances of the time may have power to ruffle it, but that in Thy love and Thy fear it may have peace.
Reparation to the Eucharistic
Heart of Christ
The Cry of the Angel at Fatima!
ACT OF CONSECRATION
TO THE SACRED HEART!
- Most sweet Jesus, Redeemer of the human race,
- look down upon us, humbly prostrate before Your altar.
- We are Yours and Yours we wish to be;
- but to be more surely united with You, behold each one of us
- freely consecrates himself today to Your most Sacred Heart.
- Many, indeed, have never known You;
- many too, despising Your precepts, have rejected You.
- Have mercy on them all, most merciful Jesus,
- and draw them to Your Sacred Heart.
- Be You King, O Lord,
- not only of the faithful who have never forsaken You,
- but also of the prodigal children who have abandoned You;
- grant that they may quickly return to Your Father's house,
- lest they die of wretchedness and hunger.
- Be You King of those who are deceived by erroneous opinions,
- or whom discord keeps aloof,
- and call them back to the harbour of truth and unity of faith,
- so that soon there may be but one flock and one shepherd.
- Be You King also of all those who sit
- in the ancient superstition of the Gentiles,
- and refuse not to deliver them out of darkness
- into the light and kingdom of God.
- Grant, O Lord, to Your Church,
- assurance of freedom and immunity from harm;
- give peace and order to all nations,
- and make the Earth resound from pole to pole with one cry:
- Praise to the divine Heart that wrought our salvation;
- to it be glory and honour forever. Amen.
