Month of the Sacred Heart

The Sacred Heart forms a part of the 
Sacred Body of our Blessed Lord; and, as 
such, by reason of its hypostatic union with 
the Eternal Word, claims, by its own right, 
our highest adoration. 

What, then, are the peculiar characteristics 
which distinguish the devotion to the Sacred 
Heart, as thus revealed ? In the first place, 
our Blessed Lord has declared His wish, that 
such a devotion should be practiced by the 
Faithful ; He has specified, in what manner 
He would have it practiced ; He has expressed 
the end to which these practices should be 
directed; and He has attached to them the 
most abundant promises. *• I ask," are His 
words, " that the first Friday, after the Octave 
of Corpus Christi, be set apart for a special 
Feast to honour my Heart, by making an act 

of reparation to it, and by receivng Holy 
Communion, on that day. 

The object, then, of the devotion to the 
Sacred Heart, as our Blessed Saviour has 
Himself declared, is the Sacred Heart itself ; 
the end of the devotion is, to acknowledge the 
love of that Sacred Heart, and to make repa- 
ration to it. 

Now any honour which is paid to the 
Sacred Body of our Lord, or to any portion of 
that Sacred Body, has, for its ultimate object, 
the Person of the Eternal Word, to which the 
Sacred Body, and every portion of it, is hypo- 
statically united. 

The devotion, then, to the 
Sacred Heart, as a portion of that Sacred 
Body, has, for its ultimate object, 

the divine Person of our Blessed Lord 

in the Blessed Sacrament 

as a memorial of His Death. The Sacred Heart 

may be aptly regarded as the seat of this love, 

and it is also the symbol of it. 

As revealed by Jesus Himself, how 
powerfully does it speak the tale of His love. 

The flames, which burst forth from the Sacred 
Heart, express the ardour of its divine love ; 
the Cross, with which it is surmounted, and 
the crown of thorns which encircles it, are 
emblems of the Passion and Death of our divine 
Lord, by which His love has been especially 
shown for man. The end of the devotion, is 
to acknowledge this love, and to make repara- 
tion for the indignities which it has met with, 
especially in the Blessed Sacrament. The 
reward, attached to the practice of this devo- 
tion, is a communication of divine 
grace. 

The Month of the Sacred Heart is divided 
into thirty-three days ; this number has been 
selected in order to honour the thirty-three 
years of our Blessed Lord's mortal life upon 
earth. Although this devotion may be prac- 
tised, with advantage, during any period of the 
year, the Month of June is commonly chosen 
as the most appropriate, for honouring the 
Sacred Heart. It is the month, in which the 
Feast of Corpus Christi most frequently falls, 
and that of the Sacred Heart always.