Sacred Heart of Jesus

“ Sacred Heart, Who art the object of the complacency of the Eternal Father, Heart worthy to reign over all hearts, to possess the hearts of men and angels; Adorable Heart of my beloved Jesus, Who lovest us with so marvellous a tenderness, and Who art, nevertheless, so little loved by those whom Thou lovest so tenderly: why cannot I, oh my loving Jesus, go to every place upon the earth, and make known to all, the ineffable sweetness and the extraordinary graces, Thou bestowest so abundantly on all those who honour Thee, and love Thee with their whole hearts! ”

“ The veneration we bear the Saints renders their hearts so precious to us, that we look upon them as the most precious of their relics. What, then, must we think of the adorable Heart of Jesus Christ? Its claims to our love are not only higher in degree but different in kind. Where is the heart that was ever animated with dispositions so admirable, and so conformable to our true interests? Where shall we find one whose movements could be a source of so much good to us? It is in this divine Heart that all the designs of our salvation have been formed. ”

“ REMEMBER, O most sweet Jesus, that no one who has had recourse to Thy Sacred Heart, implored its help, or sought its mercy was ever abandoned. Encouraged with confidence, O tenderest of hearts, we present ourselves before Thee, crushed beneath the weight of our sins. In our misery, O Sacred Heart of Jesus, despise not our simple prayers, but mercifully grant our requests. ”

“ O God! who out of thy immense love hast given to the faithful the most Sacred Heart of thy Son our Lord, as the object of thy tender affection; grant, we beseech thee, that we may so love and honour this pledge of thy love on earth, as by it to merit the love both of thee and thy gift, and be eternally loved by thee and this most blessed heart in heaven. Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. ”

“ O peerless mercy of my Jesus' Heart, how can I ever repay Thee? Heart of my Jesus, I shall endeavor to prove my love for Thee by atoning as far as is in my power for the many insults offered Thee. I shall adore and love Thee to the utmost of my power, I shall visit Thee, hidden as Thou art in the Holy Sacrament of the Altar, and delight in holding sweet converse with Thee. Thy side is open wide: for whom, if not for poor sinners? O my sweet Jesus, I can enter therein at will. In Thy Sacred Heart I can find true sorrow, and contrition for all my ingratitude and thanklessness. ”

“ O Most amiable and adorable heart of Jesus, centre of all hearts, glowing with charity, and inflamed with zeal for the interest of thy Father, and the salvation of mankind! O heart, ever sensible of our misery, and ever in motion to redress our evils, the real victim of love in the Holy Eucharist, and propitiatory sacrifice for sin on the altar of the cross! seeing that the generality of Christians make no other return for these thy mercies, than contempt of thy favours, forgetfulness of their own obligations, and ingratitude to the best of benefactors ”

“ We shall behold an unbounded love for the glory of God, His Father, and for all mankind, a solicitude, a zeal, an excessive eagerness for their salvation, and for mine in particular. We must represent to ourselves, what are the sentiments of Jesus Christ on that Altar, at the sight of so much contempt and so many outrages. Filled with the deepest sentiments of love and gratitude, we must say to Him all that grief and love can suggest to a generous and grateful heart. ”

“ But he who does not love those that work these wonders, is little touched either by what he sees or hears. We must feel little love for Jesus Christ, when the greatest and most loving of all miracles, that of the Eucharist, moves us so little. But, oh my loving Saviour, is not our insensibility itself, a miracle capable of touching our hearts? it is a prodigy, oh my divine Saviour, capable of drawing sighs continually from Thy Heart, if it were still in a condition to be pierced with sorrow and grief. ”

“ WAS love ever witnessed equal to that which Jesus Christ shows us on this occasion? His body is all lacerated with scourges, He has scarcely a few drops of blood remaining; He is become the laughing stock and the butt of a whole nation, and in this pitiable state, He is not at all touched by what He Himself suffers, He feels nothing, but what we are about to draw down upon ourselves, by our want of gratitude. Alas! if we have a heart capable of feeling, what can move it, if this cannot? ”

“ Creatures shall have no part in it. Do Thou, then, my loving Jesus, be my Father, my friend, my Lord, my All. Since Thou art pleased to be content with my heart, how can it desire anything but Thine? I wish, in future, to live only for Thee. Receive then, oh loving Saviour of the world, the sacrifice made to Thee by the most ungrateful of mankind, to repair the injury which, up to this time, I have not ceased to do Thee by offending Thee. ”