Devotion to the Sacred Heart is a worshipful relationship to the person of Christ 
and His redeeming love, under the aspect or symbol of his heart (see CCC #2011).

Scriptural Origins

   1.	The love of God for humankind is like a mother for her infant (Isaiah 49:14-15) 
	and like a husband for his wife (Hosea 1-2; CCC #1604).

   2.	The human heart, a person’s deepest self, is where God has written his covenant 
	(Jeremiah 31:31-34; CCC #s 1764-1765).

   3.	Jesus of John’s Gospel:

      •	At the Feast of the Tabernacles (John 7:37-39)- 
	“Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.”
      •	On the Cross (John 19:34)-when blood and water flowed from his pierced side
      •	As risen Lord (John 20:27)-with his wounds still visible

Historical Evolution

   1.	Between 800 and 1000, there developed the use of Jesus’ heart as a symbol to 
	focus the venerable devotion to his humanity and to the wounds of Christ.
   2.	St. John Eudes (1601-1680) promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart and to the 
	Heart of Mary, prompting Pope Pius XI to call him the father of the tradition.
   3.	Apparitions of Christ to Sr. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1673-1675), tell of his 
	concern about the indifference and coldness in the world in response to his 
	love. He asked her to promote these practices:
      •	Devotion to his heart, symbolic of his love for all
      •	Frequent Communion in a spirit of reparation, especially on the first 
	Friday of the month
      •	Holy hours and other devotions
   4.	Promotion by the Jesuits, at first through St. Margaret Mary’s Jesuit spiritual 
	director, Claude de la Colombière, became part of their institute, notably 
	through the Apostleship of Prayer (Sacred Heart League), which popularized 
	the Morning Offering and widely distributed the Sacred Heart badge.
   5.	Pope Pius XII’s encyclical in 1956 on the Sacred Heart.



The promises of Our Lord

Part of the apparitions to St. Margaret Mary, these promises to those devoted to the 
Sacred Heart were implicitly approved by the Church in the 1920 canonization of 
St. Margaret Mary.

   1.	I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.
   2.	I will establish peace in their houses.
   3.	I will comfort them in their afflictions.
   4.	I will be their strength during life and above all during death.
   5.	I will bestow a large blessing upon all their undertakings.
   6.	Sinners shall find in my heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
   7.	Tepid souls shall grow fervent.
   8.	Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.
   9.	I will bless every place where a picture of my heart shall be set up and 
	honoured.
  10.	I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
  11.	Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in my 
	heart, never to be blotted out.
  12.	I promise you in the excessive mercy of my heart that my all-powerful love 
        will grant to all those who communicate on the first Friday in nine 
	consecutive months the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in 
	my disgrace nor without receiving the sacraments; my divine heart shall 
	be their safe refuge in the last moment.

Traditional Practices of the Sacred Heart Devotion

Act of Consecration
The devotion renews the gift of ourselves that was made in Baptism and Confirmation 
(as well as Marriage and Holy Orders) and implies a total surrender to Christ in 
gratitude, promising fidelity. A most ancient form dates from the fifteenth century, 
popularized by the Benedictine monks at the Abbey of St. Matthias, Trier, Germany. 
The practice proliferated after St. Margaret Mary and later through the Apostleship 
of Prayer’s Morning Offering as a personal and daily consecration. It was formalized 
in 1925 by Pope Pius XI who ordered an annual, public consecration of the human race 
on the feast of Christ the King:

	Most sweet Jesus, Redeemer of the human race, look down upon us humbly 
	prostrate before Thine altar. We are Thine, and Thine we wish to be; 
	but to be more surely united with Thee, behold, each one of us freely 
	consecrates himself today to Thy most Sacred Heart. Many, indeed, have 
	never known Thee; many, too, despising Thy precepts, have rejected Thee. 
	Have mercy on them all, most merciful Jesus, and draw them to Thy Sacred Heart. 
	Be Thou King, O Lord, not only of the faithful who have never forsaken Thee, 
	but also of the prodigal children who have abandoned Thee; grant that 
	they may quickly return to their Father’s house, lest they die of wretchedness 
	and hunger. Be thou King of those whom heresy holds in error or discord keeps 
	aloof; call them back to the harbour of truth and the unity of faith, 
	so that soon there may be but one fold and one Shepherd. Grant, O Lord, 
	to Thy Church assurance of freedom and immunity from harm; give peace and 
	order to all nations, and make the earth resound from pole to pole with 
	one cry: Praise to the divine Heart that wrought our salvation; to it be 
	glory and honour forever. Amen

Acts of Reparation
This conscious turning to God, change of heart, and reconciliation with others, 
leads to and flows from the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

First Fridays (See promise twelve above)
These are memorials of Good Friday and a response in loving praise and gratitude 
for the grace flowing from the heart of the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins 
of the world.

Holy Hour
This special kind of vigil commemorates Jesus’ agony in the garden: 
“Could you not stay awake with me for one hour?” (Matthew 26:40).

Morning Offering
The Morning Offering was inspired by Christ’s requests to St. Margaret Mary and 
initiated by Jesuit Fr. Gaulrelet (1844). Popularized since 1860 by the 
Apostleship of Prayer (League of the Sacred Heart), it associates one’s 
“prayers, works, joys, and sufferings” with the Church’s Eucharist 
(“Dogmatic Constitution of the Church,” no. 34; 1 Peter 2:5).

-Excerpt from The Catholic Source Book, Harcourt Religion Publishers; Pages 374,375 & 376

Papal Reflections of The Mysteries

The Joyful Mysteries are marked by the joy radiating from the event of the Incarnation.
This is clear from the very first mystery, the Annunciation, where Gabriel’s greeting 
to the Virgin of Nazareth is linked to an invitation to messianic joy: “Rejoice, Mary.”  
The whole of salvation  . . . had led up to this greeting.  
(Prayed on Mondays and Saturdays, and optional on Sundays during Advent and 
the Christmas Season.)
Pray the Joyful Mysteries


The Luminous Mysteries: Moving on from the infancy and the hidden life in Nazareth 
to the public life of Jesus, our contemplation brings us to those mysteries which 
may be called in a special way “mysteries of light.” Certainly, the whole mystery 
of Christ is a mystery of light.  He is the “Light of the world” (John 8:12).  
Yet this truth emerges in a special way during the years of His public life.  
(Prayed on Thursdays.)
Pray the Luminous Mysteries

The Sorrowful Mysteries: The Gospels give great prominence to the Sorrowful Mysteries 
of Christ.  From the beginning, Christian piety, especially during the Lenten 
devotion of the Way of the Cross, has focused on the individual moments of the Passion, 
realizing that here is found the culmination of the revelation of God’s love and the 
source of our salvation. 
(Prayed on Tuesdays and Fridays, and optional on Sundays during Lent.)
Pray the Sorrowful Mysteries

The Glorious Mysteries: “The contemplation of Christ’s face cannot stop at the image 
of the Crucified One.  He is the Risen One!”  The Rosary has always expressed this 
knowledge born of faith and invited the believer to pass beyond the darkness of the 
Passion in order to gaze upon Christ’s glory in the Resurrection and Ascension . . . 
Mary herself would be raised to that same glory in the Assumption .  
(Prayed on Wednesdays and Sundays.)
Pray the Glorious Mysteries

Prayers of the Rosary

The Sign of the Cross
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.  I believe in 
Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.  He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, 
and born of the Virgin Mary.  He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died 
and was buried.  He descended to the dead.  On the third day He rose again, He ascended 
into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  He will come again to 
judge the living and the dead.  I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, 
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, 
and life everlasting.  Amen.

 
Our Father
Our Father, who art in heaven; hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive 
us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into
Temptation; but deliver us from evil.  Amen.

Hail Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, 
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.  Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for 
us sinners now and at the hour of our death.  Amen.

Glory be to the Father
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.  
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Hail, Holy Queen
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope, 
to thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, 
mourning and weeping in this valley of tears; turn, then, O most gracious Advocate, 
thine eyes of mercy towards us, and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed 
fruit of thy womb, Jesus.  O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!

Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.