The Roman\u00a0Pontiffs have frequently averted to the scriptural basis of devotion to the\u00a0Sacred Heart of Jesus.<\/span><\/p>\n Jesus, who is one with the Father (cf. John 10, 30),\u00a0invites his disciples to live in close communion with him, to model their lives The Gospel of St. John recounts\u00a0the showing of the Lord’s hands and his side to the disciples (cf. John 20: 20),\u00a0and of his invitation to Thomas to put his hand into his side (cf. John 20:\u00a027). This event has also had a notable influence on the origin and development\u00a0of the Church’s devotion to the Sacred Heart.<\/span><\/p>\n These and other texts present\u00a0Christ as the paschal Lamb, victorious and slain (cf. Apoc 5,6). They were\u00a0objects of much reflection by the Fathers who unveiled their doctrinal\u00a0richness. They invited the faithful to penetrate the mysteries of Christ by\u00a0contemplating the wound opened in his side. Augustine writes: “Access is\u00a0possible: Christ is the door. It was opened for you when his side was opened by\u00a0the lance. Remember what flowed out from his side: thus, choose where you want\u00a0to enter Christ. From the side of Christ as he hung dying upon the Cross there\u00a0flowed out blood and water, when it was pierced by a lance. Your purification Devotion to the\u00a0Sacred Heart was particularly strong during the middle ages. Many renowned for\u00a0the learning and holiness developed and encouraged the devotion, among them St.\u00a0Bernard (+1153), St. Bonaventure (+ 1274), the mystic St. Lutgarda (+1246), St\u00a0Mathilda of Marburg (+ 1282), the sainted sisters Mathilda (+ 1299) and\u00a0Gertrude (+ 1302) of the monastery of Helfta, and Ludolf of Saxony (+1380).\u00a0<\/span>These perceived in the Sacred Heart a “refuge” in which to recover,\u00a0<\/span>the seat of mercy, the encounter with him who is the source of the Lord’s\u00a0<\/span>infinite love, the fount from which flows the Holy Spirit, the promised land,\u00a0<\/span>and true paradise.<\/span><\/p>\n In the modern period devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus\u00a0underwent new developments. At a time when Jansenism proclaimed the rigours of\u00a0divine justice, the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus served as a useful\u00a0antidote and aroused in the faithful a love for Our Lord and a trust in his\u00a0infinite mercy symbolized by his Heart. St. Francis de Sales (+ 1622) adopted\u00a0humility, gentleness (cf. Mt 11, 29) and tender loving mercy, all aspects of\u00a0the Sacred Heart, as a model for his life and apostolate. The Lord frequently\u00a0manifested the abundant mercy of his Heart to St. Margaret Mary (+ 1690); St.\u00a0John Eudes (+ 1680) promoted the liturgical cult of the Sacred Heart, while St.\u00a0Claude la Colombi\u00e8re (+ 1682) and St. John Bosco (+ 1888) and other saints Devotions to the Sacred\u00a0Heart of Jesus are numerous. Some have been explicitly approved and frequently\u00a0recommended by the Apostolic See. Among these, mention should be made of the At a time when sacramental communion was very rare among the faithful, the\u00a0first Friday devotion contributed significantly to a renewed use of the\u00a0Sacraments of Penance and of the Holy Eucharist. In our own times, the devotion\u00a0to the first Fridays, even if practised correctly, may not always lead to the\u00a0desired spiritual fruits. Hence, the faithful require constant instruction so Devotion to the Sacred Heart is a wonderful historical expression of the\u00a0Church’s piety for Christ, her Spouse and Lord: it calls for a fundamental\u00a0attitude of conversion and reparation, of love and gratitude, apostolic\u00a0commitment and dedication to Christ and his saving work. For these reasons, the\u00a0devotion is recommended and its renewal encouraged by the Holy See and by the Popular piety\u00a0tends to associate a devotion with its iconographic expression. This is a\u00a0normal and positive phenomenon. Inconveniences can sometimes arise:\u00a0iconographic expressions that no longer respond to the artistic taste of the\u00a0people can sometimes lead to a diminished appreciation of the devotion’s\u00a0object, independently of its theological basis and its historico-salvific\u00a0content.<\/span><\/p>\n This can sometimes arise with devotion to the Sacred Heart: perhaps\u00a0certain over sentimental images which are incapable of giving expression to the\u00a0devotion’s robust theological content or which do not encourage the faithful to\u00a0approach the mystery of the Sacred Heart of our Saviour.<\/span><\/p>\n Recent time have seen\u00a0the development of images representing the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the moment\u00a0of crucifixion which is the highest expression of the love of Christ. The\u00a0Sacred Heart is Christ crucified, his side pierced by the lance, with blood and <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It bears reading and knowing what the Church advocates with regard to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Why? Because we are meant to be in relationship with God through Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. We live in relation (communio) to Jesus –as Savior, brother, Redeemer, lover– through whom we see the face … Continue reading The Sacred Heart of Jesus: What does the Church teach?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[32098,2270,1813,3274,1793],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25624"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25624"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28210,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25624\/revisions\/28210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Sacred](\"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/Sacred%20Heart8.jpg\")
\non him and on his teaching. He, in turn, reveals himself as “meek and
\nhumble of heart” (Mt 11, 29). It can be said that, in a certain sense,
\ndevotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a cultic form of the prophetic and\u00a0evangelic gaze of all Christians on him who was pierced (cf. John 19, 37; Zac\u00a012, 10), the gaze of all Christians on the side of Christ, transfixed by a\u00a0lance, and from which flowed blood and water (cf. John 19, 34), symbols of the\u00a0“wondrous sacrament of the Church.”<\/span><\/p>\n
\nis in that water, your redemption is in that blood<\/span>” (ed. emphasis).<\/span><\/p>\n
\nwere avid promoters of devotion to the Sacred Heart.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nfollowing:<\/span><\/p>\n\n
\nreign in the hearts of all its members;<\/span><\/li>\n
\ncharacter and to which many indulgences have been attached;<\/span><\/li>\n
\nthat any reduction of the practice to mere credulity, is avoided and an active\u00a0faith encouraged so that the faithful may undertake their commitment to the\u00a0Gospel correctly in their lives. They should also be reminded of the absolute\u00a0preeminence of Sunday, the “primordial feast”, which should be\u00a0marked by the full participation of the faithful at the celebration of the Holy\u00a0Mass.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nBishops. Such renewal touches on the devotion’s linguistic and iconographic\u00a0expressions; on consciousness of its biblical origins and its connection with\u00a0the great mysteries of the faith; on affirming the primacy of the love of God\u00a0and neighbour as the essential content of the devotion itself.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nwater flowing from it (cf, John 19, 34). (167-173).<\/span><\/p>\n