Introduction
Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque of the ORDER OF VISITATION, RONIEM CONVENT at Paray-le-monial in France between 1673-1675. On June 16, 1675 during the octave of Corpus Christi, our Lord appeared to her and pointing to His Heart said: “Behold this heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing to testify its love for them, even to the exhausting and consuming of itself for their sake. But in return for this I receive nothing from the generality of mankind but ingratitude through the contempt, irreverences, sacrileges and coldness with which I am treated in the Sacrament of Love”.
Among the words spoken to her, she heard Jesus make 12 promises to those who would respond to the pleading of His Heart and make an effort to return His love. The 12 promises are as follows:
- I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.
- I will establish peace in their homes.
- I will comfort them in all their afflictions.
- I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all, in death.
- I will bestow abundant blessings upon all their undertakings.
- Sinners will find in My Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
- Lukewarm souls shall become fervent.
- Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.
- I will bless every place in which an image of My Heart is exposed and honoured.
- I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
- Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart.
- I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays in nine consecutive months the grace of final perseverance; they shall not die in My disgrace, nor without receiving their sacraments. My divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.
He commissioned Margaret Mary to spread the devotion to His Sacred Heart, to encourage the faithful to receive Holy Communion in reparation for the offences and indifference of men, and to offer themselves in consecration to His Sacred Heart.
St. Margaret Mary once said, “I do not know of any other exercise in the spiritual life that is more calculated to raise a soul in a short amount of time to the height of perfection and to make it taste the true sweetness to be found in the service of Jesus Christ”.
Let us examine each of the 12 promises our Lord Jesus gave to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque for those who persevere in devotion to His Sacred Heart.
- I will give them all the graces necessary for their state in life.
This is a universal call to Holiness, applicable to Priests, Consecrated Religious, Married persons and Single persons.
- I will give peace in their families.
Peaceful homes are marked by charity, kindness, obedience, and self-sacrifice.
- I will console them in all their troubles.
We all have troubles, some greater and some smaller. As we say in the Salve Regina (Hail, Holy Queen), we go to our Blessed Mother and through her to God, “mourning and weeping in this vale of tears.”
But our Lord tells us, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” – Mt. 11:28
We can find consolation especially in the Holy Eucharist.
We can find consolation in prayer – I suggest frequent visits to the Blessed Sacrament and the recitation of the Rosary, as well as reading Scripture, particularly the Psalms (a treasure house of prayer that encompasses every emotion) and the Gospels.
Christ knows what it is to suffer and longs to console us.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart helps us to unite ourselves to the Cross.
- They shall find in My Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour of death.
Think of what refuge means. A refuge is any place of shelter and safety.
The Sacred Heart is a refuge against our own sinful inclinations, against the temptations and evils of the world, and against the devil.
It is a refuge at the hour of death (What is the grace of a happy death? Primarily it is dying in a state of sanctifying grace, which assures our entrance into heaven, either immediately or after a period of purification/purgation).
- I will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings.
This refers especially to spiritual blessings, but also to temporal blessings, as long as those temporal blessings are for our greater good.
Our Lord promised St. Margaret Mary that, It is certain we should experience every kind of help if only we had a true and genuine love for the Divine Heart. My loving Savior once assured me that He kept in eternal remembrance whatever a soul has done for the glory of His Sacred heart, and that not only would He recompense that person Himself, but also all his relatives and friends and those in whom he was in any way interested.”
This promise does not mean we’ll get rich, famous, etc. It does mean that Jesus will help us and bless us and our loved ones if we stay truly devoted to His Sacred Heart.
In a letter to her spiritual director St. Margaret Mary wrote, My Divine
Saviour gave me to understand that through means of this admirable devotion souls will experience the blessings of heaven in all their enterprises.
- Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
Mercy: What is it? If justice is giving each person his/her due, mercy means that we receive better than we deserve.
Christ’s mercy is poured out in a special way in the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist
Jesus, in speaking to St. Margaret Mary about his mercy, uses the terminology, “Ocean of Mercy” – Our Lord also uses this term several hundred years later in speaking to St. Faustina about His Divine Mercy.
- Tepid souls shall become fervent.
“Tepid” is synonymous with “lukewarm”, moderately warm, lack of enthusiasm.
See Revelation 3:15-20 about what our Lord says through the Apostle John about the results of one being lukewarm.
Lukewarmness is not mere weakness, but actually a lack of caring about grace and sin, good and evil. In her diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul, St.
Faustina relates that it was the lukewarm that caused Jesus his greatest agony in his passion.
In the Life and Writings of St. Margaret Mary, the Lord says to her,
Behold this Heart which has so loved men to such a degree that It has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming Itself, to prove to them Its love; and in return I receive from the greater part of men but ingratitude, contempt, irreverence, sacrilege and coldness, which they show Me in this Sacrament of love.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus helps turn tepid souls fervent for Christ, enthusiastic for love of God and neighbour.
- Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.
What is meant by perfection? Living out the two great commandments (love of God and love of neighbor) fully. This is not done through sentimentality, but through concrete actions, aided by God’s grace. These concrete acts of love help bring about the fruits of freedom for God and freedom from sin and its attachments
We must pray that our hearts resemble Christ’s Heart. O Jesus, meek and humble of Heart, make my heart like unto Thine.
- I will bless the homes in which the image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and honoured.
- I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.
Through their own holiness of life.
Through their devotion to and solicitude for their respective flocks.
Through their love of the Holy Mass and the Eucharist.
Through their strong fidelity to hearing peoples’ Confessions in the
Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation and celebration of the Anointing of the Sick.
Through their faithful praying of the Liturgy of the Hours.
Through tender devotion to the Mother of God, who is, as St. Louis de Montfort and so many other saints emphasize, the most direct route to the Heart of Jesus, e.g. Wedding at Cana
Through sound, faithful, and concrete preaching of the word of God so as to touch minds and hearts.
Through solid doctrinal instruction of their people through their preaching, sacramental instruction, education of adults and children in the Faith, etc.
Through works of charity including the visiting of the sick and dying and care for the poor.
- Those who propagate this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, and it shall never be effaced.
This promise is especially for promoters of this devotion.
It implies deep friendship with the Lord and the grace of final perseverance.
Let us spread this devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and practice it.
- The all-powerful love of My Heart will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under My displeasure, nor without receiving their Sacraments; My Heart shall be their assured refuge at the last hour.
Of course, as with all the promises, it implies that one will persevere in trying to live the Christian life devoutly.
It implies that one will receive the Eucharist with the proper dispositions, i.e. especially that one will be in a state of sanctifying grace when he/she receives Holy Communion.
This promise really implies, in its essence, that persons who are devoted to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus during life will receive the grace of a happy death, i.e. death in a state of sanctifying grace, which would, in turn, assure one’s eternal salvation.
It implies that if we have true devotion to the Heart of Christ, we will persevere. This promise implies the grace of final perseverance and special graces for final repentance.
Conclusion
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is devotion to Jesus Christ Himself. The devotion has two elements – consecration and reparation:
We consecrate ourselves to the Sacred Heart by acknowledging Him as Creator and Redeemer and as having full rights over us as King of Kings, by repenting, and by resolving to serve Him.
We make reparations for the indifference and ingratitude with which He is treated and for leaving Him abandoned by humanity.
The devotions attached to these promises are:
Receiving Communion frequently (in state of grace).
First Fridays: going to Confession and receiving the Eucharist (Holy Communion) on the first Friday of each month for nine consecutive months (in reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for men’s “ingratitude through the contempt, irreverences, sacrileges and coldness” with which He is treated in the Blessed Sacrament).
Holy Hour: Eucharistic Adoration for one hour on Thursdays (“Could you not watch one hour with me?”). The Holy Hour can be made alone or as part of a group with formal prayers.
Celebrating of the Feast of the Sacred Heart.
MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS, HAVE MERCY ON US!
Ogunu is International President of the World Apostolate of Fatima