The Sacred Heart and the Eucharist

The importance of associating the Holy Eucharist with devotion to the Sacred Heart can scarcely be overemphasized. Our instinctive Catholic sense tells us that no devotion is worth cultivation unless it is grounded on the solid dogmas of revelation and its roots go back to the tradition of the Apostolic Church. The question before us, therefore, is whether and to what extent the cultus of the Sacred Heart, which in its modern form is only three hundred years old, actually rests on that sublime mystery of love which the Son of God instituted at the Last Supper when He gave us the Sacrament of the Altar. The answer to this question will determine in great measure our attitude toward the Sacred Heart, whether we shall consider it just another devotion, based on some private revelations given to a saintly nun in the seventeenth century, or whether we should associate it with an essential doctrine of the Catholic Faith, outside of which there is no salvation.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart Today

We may say that devotion to the Sacred Heart began on Calvary. When the Heart of Christ was pierced on the Cross, it opened the door to realizing how deeply Jesus loves us. In return, He wants nothing more than for us to love Him with all our hearts. There is nothing that God wants more than for us to love Him without reserve.

The Sacred Heart is the Holy Eucharist

Our focus will be on what we mean when we say the Sacred Heart is the Holy Eucharist. Then, we shall discuss why this is so and how we can put Sacred Heart devotion into practice.

The Doctrinal Foundation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart

Most of us know that Devotion to the Sacred Heart is part of our Catholic religion. We have known from childhood about the nine first Fridays. We often recite the Litany of the Sacred Heart. Annually we celebrate the solemn feast of the Sacred Heart. I am sure that we know several aspirations, like: "Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in thee." Over the years, every time I pick up the telephone, before I talk to whoever called, I make an aspiration to the Sacred Heart. It helps; you never know who is on the other side.

Teaching the Devotion to the Sacred Heart - Title / Preface / Introduction / Contents

Devotion to the Sacred Heart is as simple and as complex, as evident and as elusive, as love. No one who is familiar with the authentic literature on the subject can doubt that devotion to the Sacred Heart is an infinitely rich treasure. Our Lord Himself referred to His Heart, and to the devotion centered on it, as an inexhaustible store of graces and blessings.

Teaching the Devotion to the Sacred Heart - Part I: Principles and Methodology

The touchstone of sincerity in the spiritual life for all Christians, of whatever age or mental maturity, is to serve God with their whole heart in the person of Christ, and their neighbor as themselves for the love of God. But we do not serve unless we love. Unless our wills are duly trained to respond to the goodness of God, to His great mercy and love for us even to becoming man and remaining with us in the Eucharist, we shall not serve Him, at least not in the measure that His goodness deserves.

Teaching the Devotion to the Sacred Heart - Part II: Sample Methods and Projects

The Week of the Sacred Heart is given to children as a small brochure, which they are told to keep and use as their own. Each day, from Sunday through Saturday, has an appropriate set of resolutions, a typical practice or duty, and a special aspiration to the Sacred Heart. Opposite the daily program is a pen sketch of some mystery in the life of Christ that will appeal to children.

Teaching the Devotion to the Sacred Heart - Part III: A Heart-to-Heart Talk With Jesus After Holy Communion

The vast majority of people seem to depend completely upon their prayer books to entertain Christ in their hearts after Holy Communion. Small wonder, then, they do not enjoy that sweet intimacy which could be theirs if they learn to listen to Him while pressing Him close to their hearts, and talk to Him in that intimate, familiar, and confident converse which they use for their closest friends, telling them their troubles, their joys, their sorrows, and asking them for advice when they dont know or are not sure what they ought to do.

Teaching the Devotion to the Sacred Heart - Part IV: Sodality and the Sacred Heart Devotion

Many schools have found that the Apostleship of Prayer prospers in the degree to which it cooperates with the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The cooperation takes on as many forms as circumstances allow. As an elite group, Sodalists often make the best promoters. They also need an outlet for their zeal, which the Apostleship in and around the school can easily furnish. Above all, joining the Sodality spirit with devotion to the Heart of Christ produces that balanced form of piety for which there is no real substitute.

Teaching the Devotion to the Sacred Heart - Part V: Monthly Examination of Conscience for High School Students

These monthly examination-of-conscience outlines were originally prepared for use by Sodalists, but they were revised to make them applicable to all high school students.

Teaching the Devotion to the Sacred Heart - Part VI: Dramatization

The theme of the Sacred Heart can be adapted to almost any form of dramatic presentation. It has all the elements that make for aesthetic appeal and strong imagery, and a certain touch of simplicity that even adult "children" can appreciate. This presumes, however, that the teacher has mastered the idea that the whole gamut of Christs life on earthmortal and risen, mystical and Eucharisticbelongs to the Sacred Heart devotion.

Teaching the Devotion to the Sacred Heart - Part VII: Classroom Technique - How to Organize Promoters of the Apostleship of Prayer

My greatest success in spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Apostleship of Prayer has been through the promoters group. In the beginning, the group must be hand picked. I chose good promoters by having a teacher screen each of the upper three years and give me names of boys whom they thought would be likely candidates for the group. Some were eliminated in the course of talks with the teachers, and we finally got the list down to two or three boys in each class. Then I extended a personal invitation to each one to come to an organizational meeting. At this meeting I explained the purpose of the groupto make the Sacred Heart devotion a way of life for themselves and to help spread it to others. Out of an original forty-four or so, thirty persevered. Others have also have since asked to join, and of course I have accepted them, since I had intended to make the group "open" after the original hand-picking.

Teaching the Devotion to the Sacred Heart - Part VIII: Classroom Technique - Eucharistic Crusade

The Eucharistic Crusade is a special section of the Apostleship of Prayer for children of grammar-school and junior-high school age. Its purpose is to teach children to live the morning offering in union with the Mass. Since it is a section of the Apostleship of Prayer, it retains the basic practices of the Apostleship. But it develops these practices somewhat to make them more immediately intelligible and attractive to children and adds a training program designed to make the spirit and the practices of the Apostleship a life-long possession.