There are many practices to do in the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Christ Jesus. The two elements of this devotion are the consecration to the Sacred Heart and reparation for the sins committed against the love of Christ. We can do this through prayers such as praying the offering, praying the litany, praying the novena, enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Eucharistic Adoration and visits to the Blessed Sacrament, and the First Friday devotion. Moreover, these practices of devotion should be sincere and integrated into our daily lives.
Consecration
It is an act of giving ourselves, our whole life and being, back to the Sacred Heart of Christ, where we put our entire being in His care and under His authority, trusting Him with all sincerity. As Christ is God, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, by trusting Him, we follow His commandments and live His words by living our lives according to His Holy Will for us. As the consecration prayer of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque says: “O Sacred Heart of Jesus, to Thee I consecrate and offer up my person and my life, my actions, trials, and sufferings, that my entire being may henceforth only be employed in loving, honouring, and glorifying Thee. This is my irrevocable will, to belong entirely to Thee, and to do all for Thy love, renouncing with my whole heart all that can displease Thee.” Another prayer that shows us how to trust God more is the “Suscipe” prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola: “Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all I have and call my own. You have given all to me. To You, Lord, I return it. Everything is Yours; do with it what You will. Give me only Your love and Your grace; that is enough for me.” Thus, by giving and entrusting our hearts back to God, we are loving Him first and foremost, above everything and everyone else. By consecrating ourselves to the Sacred Heart of Christ, we say to Him: “Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in Thee.”
Reparation
Reparation is an act of being sorry and turning away from the sins committed. In this devotion, the very sin that Christ highlighted is the coldness, indifference, and ingratitude of the hearts of humanity after all He did and endured in His Passion just to save us. As a result of this coldness and ingratitude, humans have gone too far in abusing the goodness of the Lord by committing sacrilege, blasphemy, immorality, and more.
Offering
It is a good practice to offer oneself to the Sacred Heart of Christ. By praying such an offering, our being will be guided, as we are reminded that we are for God as God is for us, and we are with God as God is with us. By offering and consecrating ourselves to Christ, we will be guided in our daily activities, reminded that we are under the care of Christ and should respond to His love by obeying and following Him.
Litany of the Sacred Heart
Litany is “a prayer consisting of a series of invocations and supplications.” The Litany of the Sacred Heart of Christ is a series of invocations that honor Him while appreciating Him and His Love for humanity. It is also an acknowledgment of Him as our loving God, as the response in these invocations says: “Have mercy on us!”
Novena to the Sacred Heart
The term “novena” comes from the Latin word novem, which means “nine.” A novena is “a spiritual devotion consisting of the recitation of a set form of prayer for nine consecutive days.” It is derived from the preparation of the apostles with Mary as they waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit. A novena is a petition for divine favor or preparation for a liturgical feast. In the devotion to the Sacred Heart, one may pray a novena to petition for a favor from the Sacred Heart of Christ or to prepare for the feast of the Sacred Heart of Christ.
Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
It fulfills the Lord Jesus Christ’s second promise: “I will establish peace in their homes”, and ninth promise: “I will bless every dwelling where an image of My Heart is both exposed and honored.” The Enthronement of the Sacred Heart is an act of welcoming the Heart of Christ as the King of one’s home, family, and community. As St. Margaret Mary Alacoque says: “He will shower them in abundance on every place where an image of this loving Heart shall be exposed to be loved and honoured. By this means He will reunite broken families and assist and protect those in any necessity. He will spread the soothing unction of His ardent charity on every religious community in which this divine image is honored.”
Eucharistic Adoration and visits to the Blessed Sacrament
Christ told St. Margaret Mary Alacoque to stay with Him in Eucharistic Adoration. He wanted companions, as His apostles slept when He was praying in the garden of Gethsemane. He is thirsty for our love. As the Lord said to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque: “I have a burning thirst to be honored by men in the Blessed Sacrament, and I find hardly anyone who strives, according to My desire, to allay this thirst by making Me some return of love.” He is waiting for us to spend a moment with Him. He is present in the Eucharist. His presence in the Eucharist throughout the world is what quenches the anger of the Father towards sinful humanity. The continued experience of peace, love, life, and all good things we have is all because of Christ’s love. If the presence of Christ were removed from this world, we would have perished long ago, as we do not deserve it at all. As in the parable of the barren fig tree, it is the Father who says: “…I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. [So] cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?” (Luke 13:7), but the Gardener, who is the Son, always pleads: “Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not, You can cut it down.” (Luke 13:8). It is the love of God that keeps and nurtures us. By visiting, honoring, and adoring Him in the Blessed Sacrament, we give our love to God as He first loved us. How much more when we receive Him in Holy Communion! We are uniting with Christ. He Himself is the fertilizer for the tree of humanity in the parable, nourishing us. Love is given, so love should be our response.
First Friday Devotion
It should be natural for us Catholics to attend Holy Mass and receive the Eucharist every Sunday or even every day. It should be natural for us, as followers of Christ, to receive His Sacraments. But most of us are not aware of our identity as Catholics. This lack of self-awareness is one of the results of a heart that does not love, an act of ingratitude and coldness toward the Love of Christ for humanity. It is our duty to know Him, as loving requires knowing. We cannot love what we do not know. For this reason, God revealed Himself and made Himself known to us.
However, this ingratitude and coldness are heavier on those who know Christ yet do not follow Him, choosing instead to go against Him. Those who do not follow Christ do not belong to God but follow the voice and temptations of the serpent—the same serpent who deceived Adam and Eve and is the enemy of both God and humanity.
This ingratitude and coldness of humanity hurt the Heart of Christ Jesus. Anyone who makes a sacrificial act yet is met with ingratitude and abuse knows how deeply it hurts. Despite these wounds, Christ’s love for humanity is more powerful, conquering, and above all the darkness of negativity. Because of His great Love, He came to us and taught us how to conquer the coldness and ingratitude of our human hearts. This Friday devotion is one of His ways. This is to attend Holy Mass and receive Him in the Eucharist every First Friday of the month. As Christ said to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque: “You are to receive Holy Communion on the First Friday of each month.”
The Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ’s twelfth promise says: “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.”
To receive the Eucharist, we should also prepare ourselves by going to confession. As the voice of the one crying out in the desert, St. John the Baptist, tells us: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” (Luke 3:4–6) By confessing our sins, we follow the humility of God. We lower the mountains and hills of pride and self-dependence. Sincere confession and repentance for sins committed are true reparation to the Sacred Heart of Christ, while receiving the Eucharist is receiving the Sacred Heart of Christ. By receiving the Eucharist, we consecrate every aspect of our being; mind, body, soul, and spirit, and unite ourselves to Christ.
The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Christ Jesus helps us honor Him with sincerity as we receive His Sacraments. But it does not end there. Beyond this reception, upon receiving Him in the Eucharist and uniting with Him, we should let our whole being be transformed into His image and likeness. May the heartbeat of Jesus Christ be our heartbeat as we live our lives. May the image of Christ shine in us, in our thoughts, desires, will, words, actions, and our whole being indeed. May we fix our gaze upon Him and live His commandments, to keep honoring and loving God more and more.
References / For Further Reading:
- Carmelites Sisters - Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
- Sisters of Carmel - Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
- Merriam-Webster - Definition of Litany
- Britannica - Novena