The Catholic Prayer Book and Manual of Meditations/Thoughts on the Sacred Heart
THOUGHTS ON THE SACRED HEART,
WHICH MAY BE USED AS MATTER FOR MEDITATIONS.
I.
THE features which mark his boundless love are thus described in the Canticles: “ Behold he standeth behind our wall , and clothes himself with his sacred humanity. He renders himself visible through his wounds and bleeding side, looking through these apertures as through the windows and through the lattices .” We may consider Divine Love residing in the Heart of our Redeemer as a sovereign seated on his throne. Through his wounded side it beholds the hearts of the children of men, never losing sight of them. As those who look through a lattice see without being seen, so the love of this Divine Heart, which may be called the Heart of Divine Love, being in reality its centre, incessantly considers all that passes in ours. — St. Francis of Sales.
ASPIRATION.
One thing have I asked of our Lord, that will I seek: to dwell for ever in his Sacred Heart.
II.
My dove in the clefts of the rock! come and contemplate my heart through the aperture of my bleeding side. The Heart of Jesus calls us all to him. "Come you all to me.” (Matt. xi. 28.) I place no bounds to my promises; my Heart is an inexhaustible source of goodness, which can efface all crimes. "Come you all to me, and I shall relieve you; the crimes — the wounds — are yours; the remedy — the cure — is mine.”
Come you all to me; my Heart is vast enough for all; the sea of my mercy is boundless enough to receive all sinners who rush into it — to absorb, to drown their offences. "I have found a Physician,” you may say now, my soul, “ who knows my disease and its cure. I have found what my soul thirsted for; I shall never any more suffer want.”
ASPIRATION.
" Lord, give me of that water ” flowing from your Heart, " and I shall never thirst.”
III.
All the wounds of our Lord are so many gates of salvation open to the whole world; but that of his Heart is the largest.
All his wounds are fountains of grace, but that of his Heart is the clearest and most delicious.
All his wounds are so many purple streams, in which we can plunge all the powers of our soul, to enhance the price of our thoughts, words, and actions; but the wound of the Heart gives them a higher colour, a more lively tinge, a more precious lustre.
All his wounds are so many places of refuge, where the most criminal find shelter; but that of the
Heart is the most secure. Redite praevaricatores ad cor. ASPIRATION.
“ I have found the Heart of my King, my brother,” my kind friend Jesus. “ What more can I desire in heaven or on earth ? ”
IV.
" My son , give me thy heart” Perfect resignation and entire conformity to the divine will, is the most grateful and most acceptable sacrifice that a man can possibly offer to God out of his own stock and treasure. God sets so high a value and esteem upon this holocaust of our heart, that it is this very one thing precisely he demands of us: “ My son , give me thy heart.” God does not need the gifts, no matter how precious, which we offer: what he most regards is the heart. Our heart cannot be divided and he satisfied. The heart of man is a narrow bed; it cannot contain any besides God alone. Had we a thousand hearts, we ought to offer them all to God, and look upon it as but little in regard of what we stand indebted to him. The love of God consists not in words, but in actions. Jesus Christ, speaking himself of the love he bore his Heavenly Father, says: “ That the world may know that I love my Father, and that as the Father hath given me commandment, so do I. Arise, let us go hence.” ( John xiv. 31.) Where was it he went ? To suffer death on a cross. Behold the Sacred Heart of Jesus! Adore and imitate.
ASPIRATION.
Heart of Jesus, you sought me when I fled from you; will you fly from me now that I seek you?
V.
The Heart of Jesus is the sweet support of those who worship it. O strong and delightful support! Thanks be to God, the support of creatures has failed me. Such support always fails sooner or later, and that for many reasons. None save God can adequately appreciate our spiritual and corporal distresses. His heart only then can adequately compassionate our miseries. Our distresses may be so long and so complex, so various and so intricate, as to try the patience of our dearest friends. Love only can sustain and pass through all opposition, and that love such as the embrace of Jesus Christ is alone able to inspire. Would you have him in readiness to press you to his bosom in the hour of your distress? Would you have him ready in the hour of fear to whisper, “ It is I, be not afraid? ” Would you, in your last agony, let fall your head on a pillow such as only he can furnish? O, then, secure now that adorable rest, and accept the invitation, “ Come and learn of me, all ye that are meek and humble of heart, and you shall find rest for your soul.”
ASPIRATION.
"Place me near thee, O Heart of Jesus, and let my enemy fight against me.” Pone me juxta te, et cujusvis manus pugnet contra me.
VI.
"I sleep, and my heart is watching." — Cant. v. 2.
"I sleep,” he says, "and my heart is watching.” Ah ! had Jesus simply said "I sleep,” and no more, his words, far from giving me that delight which they now convey, would but have created inquietude and alarm. Jesus sleeps, and the devil, my enemy, is awake, and going about like a lion ready to devour me! Jesus sleeps! and my senses, ever on the watch, are brooding over my soul in order to enslave it! Jesus sleeps! who then will keep guard over me? My beloved sleeps! in whom, then, shall I confide? My strength sleeps! who will sustain me? My hope sleeps! in whom shall I hope?
But He who is at once my love, my hope, and my strength, does not leave me long in suspense. “ I sleep,” he says, “ but my Heart is watching.” O words of sweet encouragement! That sleep which leaves the heart awake is not a torpid, inert sleep; that sleep in which the heart sleeps not, is not a sleep of forgetfulness. The Heart of Jesus is watching! He can then still love me. The Heart of Jesus is watching! He can then still aid me. That sacred Heart will never want secret words wherewith to instruct me, nor secret delights wherewith to charm me. What matters it if all within him sleep, provided his Heart be watching! His Heart, is it not most especially himself? Sleep, Lord Jesus, I am comforted. Thy Heart is watching!
VII.
So it is, then; the Heart of Jesus neither slumbers nor sleeps. Its love excites it, and keeps it ever in action. It is incessantly watching over my dearest interests— over my mind to enlighten it; over my heart to inflame it with its pure love; over my senses to quiet them; over my thoughts to direct them aright; over my commonest actions to ennoble them; over my entire life to make it divine.
Between the Heart of Jesus, and mine, alas, what a contrast!
When Jesus appears to sleep, His Heart is watching; but I sleep and my heart watches not. My senses are ever wakeful, my passions ever active, my mind is constant excitement. It is my heart that sleeps! O my God! let all within me sleep, all
except my heart, for it is upon my heart that Thy divine gaze is ever fixed. Dominus intuetur cor — “The Lord looketh at the heart.”
Thus let me pass my days, O my God! loving Thee with my heart, adoring Thee with my heart; serving Thee with my heart, and when Thou shalt call me to Thyself, be it mine to exclaim with my last sigh, “I am now about to sleep the sleep of death, but it will not be an utter sleep. My heart shall watch; it shall watch near Thee and in Thee, through a blissful eternity! Amen.”
ASPIRATION.
Heart of Jesus, hope of those who die in thee, have mercy on me!
VIII.
How blind am I! I have received wonderful graces that I never thought of; and none the less wonderful because they did not strike any of my senses. I felt nothing; I received what would surprise me, did I know it. How blind! — worse than that, I have been and am ungrateful! Perhaps I have been actually dissatisfied — almost displeased with certain graces and signal favours. A little wholesome severity on the part of him who reconciled me to God, disturbed my peace in the very moment that the angels rejoiced over one sinner doing penance. I am indeed blind and ungrateful! But the Heart of Jesus ! O the Heart of Jesus ! what consolation it felt — what thanksgiving, what delight, what sorrow for me; sorrow and joy, sorrow that I thought so little about such magnificent favours; — joy that God at least was appeased, and reconciled to justify me again. The Heart of Jesus then, has loved for me when I would not love — has thanked God for me fervently when I thanked Him only a little. And now I stand indebted ! My debts have accumulated since first I drew breath. The Heart of Jesus has done all these good offices for me, and the time has come to make payment. I owe gratitude, I owe thanksgiving, I owe sorrow, I owe reparation — I owe an act of love and thanksgiving for each of those times that the Sacred Heart made those acts for me. Let me look back and remember, and see how often.
ASPIRATION.
Heart of Jesus, wounded for my sins, have mercy on me. Give me, O Jesus, wherewith to pay thee ! Ego vero egenus et pauper sum; Deus adjuva me !
ACT OF REPARATION IN HONOUR OF THE SACRED HEART.
O MOST amiable and adorable Heart of Jesus, centre of all hearts, glowing with charity, and inflamed with zeal for the interests of thy Father and the salvation of mankind! O Heart, ever sensible of our misery, and ever in motion to redress our evils; the real victim of love in the Holy Eucharist, and a propitiatory sacrifice for sin on the altar of the cross; since the generality of Christians make no other return for these thy mercies than contempt of thy favours, forgetfulness of their obligations, and ingratitude to thee, the best of benefactors, is it not just that we thy servants, penetrated with a deep sense of such indignities, as far as is in our power, enter on a due and satisfactory reparation of honour to thy most sacred Majesty? Humbled therefore in mind before heaven and earth, we solemnly declare our sincere detestation and abhorrence of such conduct. Inexpressible, we know, was the bitterness with which the multitude of our sins overwhelmed thy tender Heart; insufferable the weight of our iniquities, which pressed thy face to the earth in the Garden of Olives; and insurmountable thy anguish, when, expiring with love, grief, and agony on Mount Calvary, in thy last breath thou wouldst reclaim sinners to their duty and repentance. This we know, O dear Redeemer, and would most willingly redress these thy sufferings by our own, or share with thee in thine.
O merciful Jesus, ever present on our altars, and with a Heart open to receive all who labour and are burdened! O adorable Heart of Jesus, source of true contrition, impart to our hearts the true spirit of penance, and to our eyes a fountain of tears, that we may bewail our sins and those of the world. Pardon, divine Jesus, all the injuries, reproaches, and outrages offered to thee through the course of thy holy life and bitter passion. Pardon all the impieties, irreverences, and sacrileges which have been committed against thee in the sacrament of the Eucharist from its first institution. Graciously receive the small tribute of our sincere repentance, as an agreeable offering in thy sight, in requital for the benefits we daily receive from the altar, where thou art a living and continual sacrifice, and in union with that bloody holocaust thou didst present to thy eternal Father on Mount Calvary. Divine Jesus, give thy blessing to the ardent desire we now entertain, and the holy resolution we have taken, of ever loving and adoring thee in thy sacrament of love, the Eucharist, thus to repair, by a true conversion of heart, and zeal for thy glory, our past negligences and infidelity. Be thou, O adorable Heart! who knowest the clay of which we are formed, be thou our Mediator with thy heavenly Father, whom we have so grievously offended; strengthen our weakness, confirm our resolution, and with thy charity, humility, meekness, and patience, cover the multitude of our iniquities; be thou our support, our refuge, and our strength, that nothing henceforward, in life or in death, may separate us from thee. Amen.
SPIRITUAL COMMUNION.
[in order to receive the Holy Communion spiritually, nothing more is required than to excite in the heart a fervent and earnest desire to receive it in reality if it were possible. St. Thomas Aquinas teaches that Spiritual Communion consists in an ardent desire to receive Jesus Christ in the most Holy Sacrament, and in an intimate union of affection with him, as if we had actually received him. The holy Council of Trent bestows especial praises Upon this kind of Communion, and encourages all the faithful to make it, particularly during holy Mass, when they have not the privilege of receiving the Blessed Sacrament. This Spiritual Communion may be made frequently during the day, even when we are occupied amid the daily distractions of life. We should not omit it when we make a visit in the church to the most Holy Sacrament.]
O MY Jesus, I believe that thou art truly present in this most Holy Sacrament, I love thee above all things, and I desire thee with my whole soul, but since I cannot now receive thee sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace thee as if thou wert already come: I unite myself entirely to thee. Never suffer me to be separated from thee.
OFFERING TO THE SACRED HEART.
I [N.], desirous to make the best return in my power for thy benefits, and the most ample atonement for my transgressions, give thee my heart, and consecrate my whole being to thee, O amiable Jesus; and I purpose, 'with the assistance of thy grace, never more to offend thee.
ACTS OF ADORATION TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS.
I. — The Word was made flesh , and dwelt amongst us.
ETERNAL Word, made man for the love of us, humbly prostrate at thy feet, we adore thee with our whole mind, and with the most profound veneration. To make amends for our ingratitude for so great a benefit, we unite in sincerity of heart with all those who love thee, and offer thee our most humble and affectionate thanksgivings. Deeply sensible of that excess of humility, goodness, and sweetness which we acknowledge in thy divine Heart, we petition thee for thy grace to imitate these virtues, so pleasing to thee.
Our Father, etc. Hail Mary, etc. Glory be to the Father, etc.
II. — He was crucified for us.
JESUS, our admirable Redeemer, humbly prostrate at thy feet, we adore thee with our whole mind and with the most profound veneration. To testify the grief which we feel for our past insensibility to all the outrages and sufferings which thy most loving Heart made thee endure for our salvation, in thy bitter passion and death, we unite in sincerity of heart with all those who love thee, in order that we may thank thee with our whole soul. We admire the infinite patience and generosity of thy divine Heart, and petition thee to replenish our hearts with that spirit of Christian mortification, which may make us courageously embrace sufferings, and fix our great consolation and all our glory in thy cross.
Our Father, etc. Had Mary, etc. Glory be to the Father, etc.
III. — Thou hast given them bread from heaven, which abounds with all delights.
O JESUS, inflamed with love of us, humbly prostrate at thy feet, we adore thee with our whole mind, and with the most profound veneration. In order to make atonement for the outrages which thy divine Heart daily receives in the most blessed Sacrament of the altar, we unite in sincerity of heart with all those who love thee, and render thee the most affectionate thanksgiving. We love, in thy divine Heart, that intensely-burning love which thou entertainest for thy eternal Father, and humbly beseech thee to inflame our hearts with an ardent love of thee and of our neighbour.
Our Father, etc. Hail Mary, etc. Glory be to the Father, etc.
Finally, O most amiable Jesus, we beseech thee, by the sweetness of thy most Sacred Heart, to convert sinners, to comfort the afflicted, to assist the agonising, and to afford relief to the holy souls suffering in purgatory. Unite our hearts in the bonds of true peace and charity, deliver us from an unprovided death, and grant that we may die in holiness and tranquillity of mind. Amen.
V. Heart of Jesus, burning with love of us.
R. Inflame our hearts with love of thee.
LET US PRAY.
GRANT, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that we who glory in the most Sacred Heart of thy beloved Son, and bear in mind the exceeding great benefits of his charity towards us, may delight in the good conferred on us, and enjoy its effects: through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
O divine Heart of Jesus, I adore thee with all the powers of my soul; I consecrate them to thee for ever, with all my thoughts, words, and actions, and my whole self. I desire to adore thee, to love thee, and to glorify thee, in the same manner, as far as possible, as thou dost adore, love, and glorify thy eternal Father. Be thou, I beseech thee, the restorer of my weakness, and the protector of my life, my refuge, and my asylum at the hour of death. I conjure thee, by the sighs and the anguish which thou didst endure for me during the whole course of thy mortal life, to grant me a true contrition for my sins, a contempt of earthly things, an ardent desire of eternal glory, a confidence in thy infinite merits, and final perseverance in thy grace.
O Heart of Jesus, all love, I offer thee these humble prayers for myself, and for all those who unite in spirit with me in adoring thee. Vouchsafe, through thy infinite goodness, to receive and hear them; above all, for him who among us shall first depart from this mortal life. O amiable Heart of my Saviour, pour down upon him, in the agony of death, thy interior consolations; receive him into thy sacred wounds; purify him from every defilement in this furnace of love, that thou mayst grant him admittance into thy glory, where he may become intercessor, before thy presence, for all those who remain in this exile.
O most holy Heart of my dearly beloved Jesus, I desire to renew and to offer thee these acts of adoration, and these prayers, every moment I breathe, to the end of my life, for myself, a miserable sinner, and for all who are associated with me to adore thee. I recommend to thee, O my Jesus, the holy Catholic Church, thy beloved spouse, and our true mother; also, the souls who are suffering in purgatory, and all poor sinners, the afflicted, the agonizing, and all mankind. Do not permit thy blood, poured out for them, to become useless to them. Vouchsafe, finally, to apply it for the relief of the souls in purgatory, and for those in particular who, during life, were wont devoutly to adore thee.
O most amiable heart of Mary, the most pure of all hearts of creatures, and the most replete with the love of the Heart of Jesus, at the same time most merciful towards us, poor sinners, obtain for us, from the Heart of our Redeemer, the graces we ask of thee. Mother of mercy, one look from thee, one only movement of thy heart, burning with love for that of Jesus, thy divine Son, can fully console us. Grant us, therefore, this favour; and then this divine Heart of Jesus, through the filial love which it bore, and always will bear towards thee, shall not fail to
hear and answer our request. Amen. PRAYER TO THE SACRED HEART WHEN THE CLOCK STRIKES.
St. Gertrude.
O MOST sweet Jesus, I recommend to thy divine Heart all that I have done in the hour that is gone, to be cleansed and purified, and offered to God the Father for his eternal praise. And whatsoever I shall do in the hour that is beginning, I resolve to do simply and purely for the glory of God and for the salvation of all mankind, in union with thy passion. Amen.
TO THE BLESSED SACRAMENT AND SACRED HEART OF JESUS.
BEHOLD, O most loving Jesus, the wonderful extent of thy excessive charity! Thou hast prepared for me, of thy sacred flesh, and most precious blood, a divine banquet, where thou givest me thyself without reserve. Who has urged thee to this excess of love? Assuredly no other than thy own most loving Heart. O adorable Heart of my Jesus, most ardent furnace of divine love, receive my soul into thy most sacred wound, in order that, in this school of charity, I may learn to make a return of love to that God who has given me such admirable proofs of his love.
NINE ASPIRATIONS TO THE SACRED HEART.
HEART of Jesus, perfect adorer of God, teach me to adore the Father with you and by you.
2. Heart of Jesus, burning with love of me, inflame me with your divine love.
3. Heart of Jesus, only victim worthy of God, unite me to your divine sacrifice.
4. Heart of Jesus, overwhelmed with bitterness for the sins of men, break my heart with sorrow for my sins.
5. Heart of Jesus, sovereignly humble, annihilate my pride!
6. Heart of Jesus, perfect model of meekness, inspire my heart with this salutary virtue.
7. Heart of Jesus, infinitely pure and without stain, give me an inviolable purity of body, mind, and heart.
8. Heart of Jesus, consumed with zeal for the glory of the Father, animate my heart with an ardent zeal for your glory, and my own sanctification.
9. Heart of Jesus, reign for ever in my heart, and grant me the grace to reign one day with you in heaven.