From Father Ken – June: The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
The month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Sacred Heart expresses the immense love and compassion God has for us. The devotion to the Sacred Heart invites us all to venerate, meditate upon and imitate the immense love and compassion of God symbolized by the Sacred Heart. This devotion spread in the Church as a result of the series of visions received by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a French nun who belonged to the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary (Visitandines) in eastern France in the 1670’s.
In the visions, which continued for 18 months, Jesus revealed to St. Margaret ways to venerate His Sacred Heart and explained the immense love He has for humanity. On June 16, 1675, Jesus told her to promote a feast in honour of His Sacred Heart. He also gave her 12 promises made to all who venerate and promote the devotion.
Today, the feast of the Sacred Heart is celebrated in the universal Church as a solemnity on the Friday following the feast of the Corpus Christi. The feast was officially established by Pope Pius IX in 1856. This feast usually falls in the month of June. The entire month of June has traditionally since become a time for a more extensive and focused devotion to the Sacred Heart. This allows the faithful to immerse themselves in the contemplation of this profound mystery.
The 12 promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus made to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque for all who venerate and promote the devotion are as follows:
1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
2. I will give peace in their families.
3. I will console them in all their troubles.
4. I will be their refuge in life and especially in death.
5. I will abundantly bless all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in my heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall rise speedily to great perfection.
9. I will bless those places wherein the image of my Sacred Heart shall be exposed and venerated.
10. I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.
11. Persons who propagate this devotion shall have their names eternally written in my heart.
12. In the excess of the mercy of my heart, I promise you that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the first Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: They will not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and my heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour.
Join us every Friday of June for devotions to the Sacred Heart immediately after the 6:30 a.m. Mass. God bless.
Fr. Kenneth Ahanonu
