The feast day of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque is a fitting reminder of our seeking the Heart of Jesus. What else is the Christian journey the seeking the Heart of Christ??? Or more precisely, allowing the Heart of Jesus to seek us. That He, the Lord, wants to be in a relationship with us personally and forever. Margaret Mary Alacoque, the famous nun of the Order of the Visitation of the 17th century, gives us a personal witness to the deep love Christ had for her, and she had for Him. I encourage you to spend a few moments in prayer with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is not a quaint devotion of a former time. Is it is as Mother Dolores Hart, OSB said, love (faith) is an antagonism for life.
Prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque
I give myself and consecrate to the Sacred Heart of our
Lord Jesus Christ, my person and my life, my actions, pains, and sufferings, so
that I may be unwilling to make use of any part of my being other than to
honor, love and glorify the Sacred Heart. This is my unchanging purpose,
namely, to be all His, and to do all things for the love of Him, at the same
time renouncing with all my heart whatever is displeasing to Him. I therefore
take You, O Sacred heart, to be the only object of my love, the guardian of my
life, my assurance of salvation, the remedy of my weakness and inconstancy, the
atonement for all the faults of my life and my sure refuge at the hour of
death.
Be then, O Heart of goodness, my justification before God the Father,
and turn away from me the strokes of his righteous anger. O Heart of love, I
put all my confidence in You, for I fear everything from my own wickedness and
frailty, but I hope for all things from Your goodness and bounty.
Remove from
me all that can displease You or resist Your holy will; let your pure love
imprint Your image so deeply upon my heart, that I shall never be able to
forget You or to be separated from You.
May I obtain from all Your loving
kindness the grace of having my name written in Your Heart, for in You I desire
to place all my happiness and glory, living and dying in bondage to You.
