The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Devotion to the Sacred Heart grew from centuries of Christian meditation on the pierced side of Christ in John 19:34, where blood and water flowed from Jesus on Calvary. In the Middle Ages, saints such as Bernard of Clairvaux, Gertrude the Great, and John Eudes helped deepen devotion to Christ’s human love. The modern liturgical devotion became especially associated with Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, a Visitation nun in Paray-le-Monial, France, who reported visions of Christ between 1673 and 1675.

The feast developed gradually, was extended to the universal Church by Pope Pius IX in 1856, and was raised in prominence as Catholic devotion to Christ’s mercy and Eucharistic love spread throughout the world. Historically, it emerged in a Europe marked by religious conflict, Jansenist rigorism, and spiritual anxiety, offering the faithful a vision of the Lord whose heart is wounded but merciful. The Sacred Heart still calls the Church to reparation, trust, tenderness, and missionary love.

Prayer: Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, make our hearts like yours: humble, merciful, faithful, and full of love. Amen.