| The treatment of this subject is divided into two parts:
I. Doctrinal Explanations;
II. Historical Ideas.
I. Doctrinal Explanations
Devotion to the Sacred Heart is but a special form of devotion to Jesus. We
shall know just what it is and what distinguishes it when we ascertain its
object, its foundations, and its proper act.
(1) Special object of the devotion to the Sacred Heart
The nature of this question is complex and frequently becomes more
complicated because of the difficulties arising from terminology. Omitting terms
that are over-technical, we shall study the ideas in themselves, and, that we
may the sooner find our bearings, it will be well to remember the meaning and
use of the word heart in current language.
(a) The word heart awakens, first of all, the idea of a material
heart, of the vital organ that throbs within our bosom, and which we vaguely
realize as intimately connected not only with our own physical, but with our
emotional and moral, life. Now this heart of flesh is currently accepted as the
emblem of the emotion and moral life with which we associate it, and hence the
place assigned to the word heart in symbolic language, as also the use of the
same word to designate those things symbolized by the heart. Note, for instance,
the expressions "to open one's heart", "to give one's heart", etc. It may happen
that the symbol becomes divested of its material meaning that the sign is
overlooked in beholding only the thing signified. Thus, in current language, the
word soul no longer suggests the thought of breath, and the word heart brings to
mind only the idea of courage and love. But this is perhaps a figure of speech
or a metaphor, rather than a symbol. A symbol is a real sign, whereas a metaphor
is only a verbal sign; a symbol is a thing that signifies another thing, but a
metaphor is a word used to indicate something different from its proper meaning.
Finally, in current language, we are constantly passing from the part to the
whole, and, by a perfectly natural figure of speech, we use the word heart to
designate a person. These ideas will aid us in determining the object of the
devotion to the Sacred Heart.
(b) The question lies between the material, the metaphorical, and the
symbolic sense of the word heart; whether the object of the devotion is the
Heart of flesh, as such, or the love of Jesus Christ metaphorically signified by
the word heart; or the Heart of flesh, but as symbol of the emotional and moral
life of Jesus, and especially His love for us. We reply that worship is rightly
paid to the Heart of flesh, inasmuch as the latter symbolizes and recalls the
love of Jesus, and His emotional and moral life. Thus, although directed to the
material Heart, it does not stop there: it also includes love, that love which
is its principal object, but which it reaches only in and through the Heart of
flesh, the sign and symbol of this love. Devotion to the Heart of Jesus alone,
as to a noble part of His Divine Body, would not be devotion to the Sacred Heart
as understood and approved by the Church, and the same must also be said of
devotion to the love of Jesus as detached from His Heart of flesh, or else
connected therewith by no other tie than that of a word taken in the
metaphorical sense. Hence, in the devotion, there are two elements: a sensible
element, the Heart of flesh, and a spiritual element, that which this Heart of
flesh recalls spiritual element, that which this Heart of flesh recalls and
represents. But these two elements do not form two distinct objects, merely co-ordinated
they constitute but one, just as do the body and soul, and the sign and the
thing signified. Hence it is also understood that these two elements are as
essential to the devotion as body and soul are essential to man. Of the two
elements constituting the whole, the principal one is love, which is as much the
cause of the devotion and its reason for existence as the soul is the principal
element in man. Consequently, devotion to the Sacred Heart may be defined as
devotion to the adorable Heart of Jesus Christ in so far as this Heart
represents and recalls His love; or, what amounts to the same thing, devotion to
the love of Jesus Christ in so far as this love is recalled and symbolically
represented to us by His Heart of flesh.
(c) Hence the devotion is based entirely upon the symbolism of the heart. It
is this symbolism that imparts to its meaning and its unity, and this symbolism
is admirably completed by the representation of the Heart as wounded. Since the
Heart of Jesus appears to us as the sensible sign of His love, the visible wound
in the Heart will naturally recall the invisible wound of this love. This
symbolism also explains that the devotion, although giving the Heart an
essential place, is but little concerned with the anatomy of the heart or with
physiology. Since, in images of the Sacred Heart, the symbolic expression must
dominate all else, anatomical accuracy is not looked for; it would injure the
devotion by rendering the symbolism less evident. It is eminently proper that
the heart as an emblem be distinguished from the anatomical heart: the
suitableness of the image is favourable to the expression of the idea. A visible
heart is necessary for an image of the Sacred Heart, but this visible heart must
be a symbolic heart. Similar observations are in order for physiology, in which
the devotion cannot be totally disinterested, because the Heart of Flesh toward
which the worship is directed in order to read therein the love of Jesus, is the
Heart of Jesus, the real, living Heart that, in all truth, may be said to have
loved and suffered; the Heart that, as we feel ourselves, had such a share in
His emotional and moral life; the Heart that, as we know from a knowledge,
however rudimentary, of the operations of our human life, had such a part in the
operations of the Master's life. But the relation of the Heart to the love of
Christ is not that of a purely conventional sign, as in the relation of the word
to the thing, or of the flag to the idea of one's country; this Heart has been
and is still inseparably connected with that life of benefactions and love.
However, it is sufficient for our devotion that we know and feel this intimate
connection. We have nothing to do with the physiology of the Sacred Heart nor
with determining the exact functions of the heart in daily life. We know that
the symbolism of the heart is a symbolism founded upon reality and that it
constitutes the special object of the devotion to the Sacred Heart, which
devotion is in no danger of falling into error.
(d) The heart is, above all, the emblem of love, and by this characteristic,
the devotion to the Sacred Heart is naturally defined. However, being directed
to the loving Heart of Jesus, it naturally encounters whatever in Jesus is
connected with this love. Now, was not this love the motive of all that Christ
did and suffered? Was not all His inner, even more than His outward, life
dominated by this love? On the other hand, the devotion to the Sacred Heart,
being directed to the living Heart of Jesus, thus becomes familiar with the
whole inner life of the Master, with all His virtues and sentiments, finally,
with Jesus infinitely loving and lovable. Hence, a first extension of the
devotion is from the loving Heart to the intimate knowledge of Jesus, to His
sentiments and virtues, to His whole emotional and moral life; from the loving
Heart to all the manifestations of Its love. There is still another extension
which, although having the same meaning, is made in another way, that is by
passing from the Heart to the Person, a transition which, as we have seen, is
very naturally made. When speaking of a large heart our allusion is to the
person, just as when we mention the Sacred Heart we mean Jesus. This is not,
however, because the two are synonymous but when the word heart is used to
designate the person, it is because such a person is considered in whatsoever
related to his emotional and moral life. Thus, when we designate Jesus as the
Sacred Heart, we mean Jesus manifesting His Heart, we mean Jesus manifesting His
Heart, Jesus all loving and amiable. Jesus entire is thus recapitulated in the
Sacred Heart as all is recapitulated in Jesus.
(e) In thus devoting oneself to Jesus all loving and lovable, one cannot fail
to observe that His love is rejected. God is constantly lamenting that in Holy
Writ, and the saints have always heard within their hearts the plaint of
unrequited love. Indeed one of the essential phases of the devotion is that it
considers the love of Jesus for us as a despised, ignored love. He Himself
revealed this when He complained so bitterly to St. Margaret Mary.
(f) This love is everywhere manifest in Jesus and in His life, and it alone
can explain Him together with His words and His acts. Nevertheless, it shines
forth more resplendently in certain mysteries from which great good accrues to
us, and in which Jesus is more lavish of His loving benefactions and more
complete in His gift of self, namely, in the Incarnation, in the Passion, and in
the Eucharist. Moreover, these mysteries have a place apart in the devotion
which, everywhere seeking Jesus and the signs of His love and favours, finds
them here to an even greater extent than in particular acts.
(g) We have already seen that devotion to the Sacred Heart, being directed to
the Heart of Jesus as the emblem of love, has mainly in view His love for men.
This is obviously not that it excludes His love for God, for this included in
His love for men, but it is above all the devotion to "the Heart that has so
loved men", according to the words quoted by St. Margaret Mary.
(h) Finally, the question arises as to whether the love which we honour in
this devotion is that with which Jesus loves us as Man or that with which He
loves us as God; whether it is created or uncreated, His human or His Divine
Love. Undoubtedly it is the love of God made Man, the love of the Incarnate
Word. However, it does not seem that devout persons think of separating these
two loves any more than they separate the two natures in Jesus. Besides, even
though we might wish to settle this part of the question at any cost, we would
find that the opinions of authors are at variance. Some, considering that the
Heart of Flesh is connected with human love only, conclude that it does not
symbolize Divine love which, moreover, is not proper to the Person of Jesus, and
that, therefore, Divine love is not the direct object of the devotion. Others,
while admitting that Divine love apart from the Incarnate Word is not the object
of the devotion, believe it to be such when considered as the love of the
Incarnate Word, and they do not see why this love also could not be symbolized
by the Heart of flesh nor why, in this event, the devotion should be limited to
created love only.
(2) Foundations of the devotion
The question may be considered under three aspects: the historical, the
theological, and the scientific.
(a) Historical foundations
In approving the devotion to the Sacred Heart, the Church did not trust to
the visions of St. Margaret Mary; she made abstraction of these and examined the
worship in itself. Margaret Mary's visions could be false, but the devotion
would not, on that account, be any less worthy or solid. However, the fact is
that the devotion was propagated chiefly under the influence of the movement
started at Paray-le-Monial; and prior to her beatification, Margaret Mary's
visions were most critically examined by the Church, whose judgment in such
cases does not involve her infallibility but implies only a human certainty
sufficient to warrant consequent speech and action.
(b) Theological foundations
The Heart of Jesus, like all else that belongs to His Person, is worthy of
adoration, but this would not be so if It were considered as isolated from this
Person and as having no connection with It. But it not thus that the Heart is
considered, and, in his Bull "Auctorem fidei", 1794, Pius VI authoritatively
vindicated the devotion in this respect against the calumnies of the Jansenists.
The worship, although paid to the Heart of Jesus, extends further than the Heart
of flesh, being directed to the love of which this Heart is the living and
expressive symbol. On this point the devotion requires no justification, as it
is to the Person of Jesus that it is directed; but to the Person as inseparable
from His Divinity. Jesus, the living apparition of the goodness of God and of
His paternal love, Jesus infinitely loving and amiable, studied in the principal
manifestations of His love, is the object of the devotion to the Sacred Heart,
as indeed He is the object of the Christian religion. The difficulty lies in the
union of the heart and love, in the relation which the devotion supposes between
the one and the other. Is not this an error long since discarded? If so, it
remains to examine whether the devotion, considered in this respect, is well
founded.
(c) Philosophical and scientific foundations
In this respect there has been some uncertainty amongst theologians, not as
regards the basis of things, but in the matter of explanations. Sometimes they
have spoken as if the heart were the organ of love, but this point has no
bearing on the devotion, for which it suffices that the heart be the symbol of
love, and that, for the basis of the symbolism, a real connection exist between
the heart and the emotions. Now, the symbolism of the heart is a fact and every
one feels that in the heart there is a sort of an echo of our sentiments. The
physiological study of this resonance may be very interesting, but it is in no
wise necessary to the devotion, as its foundation is a fact attested by daily
experience, a fact which physiological study confirms and of which it determines
the conditions, but which neither supposes this study nor any special
acquaintance with its subject.
(3) The proper act of the devotion
This act is required by the very object of the devotion, since devotion to
the love of Jesus for us should be pre-eminently a devotion of love for Jesus.
It is characterized by a reciprocation of love; its aim is to love Jesus who has
so loved us, to return love for love. Since, moreover, the love of Jesus
manifests itself to the devout soul as a love despised and outraged, especially
in the Eucharist, the love expressed in the devotion naturally assumes a
character of reparation, and hence the importance of acts of atonement, the
Communion of reparation, and compassion for Jesus suffering. But no special act,
no practice whatever, can exhaust the riches of the devotion to the Sacred
Heart. The love which is its soul embraces all and, the better one understands
it, the more firmly is he convinced that nothing can vie with it for making
Jesus live in us and for bringing him who lives by it to love God, in union with
Jesus, with all his heart, all his soul, all his strength.
II. Historical Ideas On The Development Of The Devotion
(1) From the time of St. John and St. Paul there has always been in the
Church something like devotion to the love of God, Who so loved the world as to
give it His only-begotten Son, and to the love of Jesus, Who has so loved us as
to deliver Himself up for us. But, accurately speaking, this is not the devotion
to the Sacred Heart, as it pays no homage to the Heart of Jesus as the symbol of
His love for us. From the earliest centuries, in accordance with the example of
the Evangelist, Christ's open side and the mystery of blood and water were
meditated upon, and the Church was beheld issuing from the side of Jesus, as Eve
came forth from the side of Adam. But there is nothing to indicate that, during
the first ten centuries, any worship was rendered the wounded Heart.
(2) It is in the eleventh and twelfth centuries that we find the first
unmistakable indications of devotion to the Sacred Heart. Through the wound in
the side of the wound Heart was gradually reached, and the wound in the Heart
symbolized the wound of love. It was in the fervent atmosphere of the
Benedictine or Cistercian monasteries, in the world of Anselmian or Bernardine
thought, that the devotion arose, although it is impossible to say positively
what were its first texts or were its first votaries. To St. Gertrude, St.
Mechtilde, and the author of the "Vitis mystica" it was already well known. We
cannot state with certainty to whom we are indebted for the "Vitis mystica".
Until recent times its authorship had generally been ascribed to St. Bernard and
yet, by the late publishers of the beautiful and scholarly Quaracchi edition, it
has been attributed, and not without plausible reasons, to St. Bonaventure ("S.
Bonaventurx opera omnia", 1898, VIII, LIII sq.). But, be this as it may, it
contains one of the most beautiful passages that ever inspired the devotion to
the Sacred Heart, one appropriated by the Church for the lessons of the second
nocturn of the feast. To St. Mechtilde (d. 1298) and St. Gertrude (d. 1302) it
was a familiar devotion which was translated into many beautiful prayers and
exercises. What deserves special mention is the vision of St. Gertrude on the
feast of St. John the Evangelist, as it forms an epoch in the history of the
devotion. Allowed to rest her head near the wound in the Saviour's she heard the
beating of the Divine Heart and asked John if, on the night of the Last Supper,
he too had felt these delightful pulsations, why he had never spoken of the
fact. John replied that this revelation had been reserved for subsequent ages
when the world, having grown cold, would have need of it to rekindle its love ("Legatus
divinae pietatis", IV, 305; "Revelationes Gertrudianae", ed. Poitiers and Paris,
1877).
(3) From the thirteenth to the sixteenth century, the devotion was propagated
but it did not seem to have developed in itself. It was everywhere practised by
privileged souls, and the lives of the saints and annals of different religious
congregations, of the Franciscans, Dominicans, Carthusians, etc., furnish many
examples of it. It was nevertheless a private, individual devotion of the
mystical order. Nothing of a general movement had been inaugurated, unless one
would so regard the propagation of the devotion to the Five Wounds, in which the
Wound in the Heart figured most prominently, and for the furtherance of which
the Franciscans seem to have laboured.
(4) It appears that in the sixteenth century, the devotion took an onward
step and passed from the domain of mysticism into that of Christian asceticism.
It was constituted an objective devotion with prayers already formulated and
special exercises of which the value was extolled and the practice commended.
This we learn from the writings of those two masters of the spiritual life, the
pious Lanspergius (d. 1539) of the Carthusians of Cologne, and the devout Louis
of Blois (Blosius; 1566), a Benedictine and Abbot of Liessies in Hainaut. To
these may be added Blessed John of Avila (d. 1569) and St. Francis de Sales, the
latter belonging to the seventeenth century.
(5) From that time everything betokened an early bringing to light of the
devotion. Ascetic writers spoke of it, especially those of the Society of Jesus,
Alvarez de Paz, Luis de la Puente, Saint-Jure, and Nouet, and there still exist
special treatises upon it such as Father Druzbicki's (d. 1662) small work, "Meta
Cordium, Cor Jesu". Amongst the mystics and pious souls who practised the
devotion were St. Francis Borgia, Blessed Peter Canisius, St. Aloysius Gonzaga,
and St. Alphonsus Rodriguez, of the Society of Jesus; also Venerable Marina de
Escobar (d. 1633), in Spain; the Venerable Madeleine St. Joseph and the
Venerable Marguerite of the Blessed Sacrament, Carmelites, in France; Jeanne de
S. Mathieu Deleloe (d. 1660), a Benedictine, in Belgium; the worthy Armelle of
Vannes (d. 1671); and even in Jansenistic or worldly centres, Marie de Valernod
(d. 1654) and Angelique Arnauld; M. Boudon, the great archdeacon of Evreux,
Father Huby, the appostle of retreats in Brittany, and, above all, the Venerable
Marie de l'Incarnation, who died at Quebec in 1672. The Visitation seemed to be
awaiting St. Margaret Mary; its spirituality, certain intuitions of St. Francis
de Sales, the meditations of Mère l'Huillier (d. 1655), the visions of Mother
Anne-Marguerite Clement (d. 1661), and of Sister Jeanne-Benigne Gojos (d. 1692),
all paved the way. The image of the Heart of Jesus was everywhere in evidence,
which fact was largely due to the Franciscan devotion to the Five Wounds and to
the habit formed by the Jesuits of placing the image on their title-page of
their books and the walls of their churches.
(6) Nevertheless, the devotion remained an individual or at least a private
devotion. It was reserved to Blessed Jean Eudes (1602-1680) to make it public,
to honour it with an Office, and to establish a feast for it. Père Eudes was
above all the apostle of the Heart of Mary; but in his devotion to the
Immaculate Heart there was a share for the Heart of Jesus. Little by little the
devotion to the Sacred Heart became a separate one, and on 31 August, 1670, the
first feast of the Sacred Heart was celebrated with great solemnity in the Grand
Seminary of Rennes. Coutances followed suit on 20 October, a day with which the
Eduist feast was thenceforth to be connected. The feast soon spread to other
dioceses, and the devotion was likewise adopted in various religious
communities. Here and there it came into contact with the devotion begun at
Paray, and a fusion of the two naturally resulted.
(7) It was to Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690), a humble Visitandine of the
monastery at Paray-le Monial, that Christ chose to reveal the desires of His
Heart and to confide the task of imparting new life to the devotion. There is
nothing to indicated that this pious religious had known the devotion prior to
the revelations, or at least that she had paid any attention to it. These
revelations were numerous, and the following apparitions are especially
remarkable: that which occurred on the feast of St. John, when Jesus permitted
Margaret Mary, as He had formerly allowed St. Gertrude, to rest her head upon
His Heart, and then disclosed to her the wonders of His love, telling her that
He desired to make them known to all mankind and to diffuse the treasures of His
goodness, and that He had chosen her for this work (27 Dec., probably 1673);
that, probably distinct from the preceding, in which He requested to be honoured
under the figure of His Heart of flesh; that, when He appeared radiant with love
and asked for a devotion of expiatory love—frequent Communion, Communion on the
First Friday of the month, and the observance of the Holy Hour (probably June or
July, 1674); that known as the "great apparition" which took place during the
octave of Corpus Christi, 1675, probably on 16 June, when He said, "Behold the
Heart that has so loved men ... instead of gratitude I receive from the greater
part (of mankind) only ingratitude ...", and asked her for a feast of reparation
of the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi, bidding her consult Father de
la Colombière, then superior of the small Jesuit house at Paray; and finally,
those in which solemn homage was asked on the part of the king, and the mission
of propagating the new devotion was especially confided to the religious of the
Visitation and the priests of the Society of Jesus. A few days after the "great
apparition", of June, 1675, Margaret Mary made all known to Father de la
Colombière, and the latter, recognizing the action of the spirit of God,
consecrated himself to the Sacred Heart, directed the holy Visitandine to write
an account of the apparition, and made use of every available opportunity
discreetly to circulate this account through France and England. At his death,
15 February 1682, there was found in his journal of spiritual retreats a copy in
his own handwriting of the account that he had requested of Margaret Mary,
together with a few reflections on the usefulness of the devotion. This journal,
including the account and a beautiful "offering" to the Sacred Heart, in which
the devotion was well explained, was published at Lyons in 1684. The little book
was widely read, even at Paray, although not without being the cause of
"dreadful confusion" to Margaret Mary, who, nevertheless, resolved to make the
best of it and profited by the book for the spreading of her cherished devotion.
Moulins, with Mother de Soudeilles, Dijon, with Mother de Saumaise and Sister
Joly, Semur, with Mother Greyfie, and even Paray, which had at first resisted,
joined the movement. Outside of the Visitandines, priests, religious, and laymen
espoused the cause, particularly a Capuchin, Margaret Mary's two brothers, and
some Jesuits, among the latter being Fathers Croiset and Gallifet, who were
destined to do so much for the devotion.
(8) The death of Margaret Mary, 17 October 1690, did not dampen the ardour of
those interested; on the contrary, a short account of her life published by
Father Croiset in 1691, as an appendix to his book "De la Devotion au Sacre C&oeligur",
served only to increase it. In spite of all sorts of obstacles, and of the
slowness of the Holy See, which in 1693 imparted indulgences to the
Confraternities of the Sacred Heart and, in 1697, granted the feast to the
Visitandines with the Mass of the Five Wounds, but refused a feast common to
all, with special Mass and Office, the devotion spread, particularly in
religious communities. The Marseilles plague, 1720, furnished perhaps the first
occasion for a solemn consecration and public worship outside of religious
communities. Other cities of the South followed the example of Marseilles, and
thus the devotion became a popular one. In 1726 it was deemed advisable once
more to importune Rome for a feast with a Mass and Office of its own, but, in
1729, Rome again refused. However, in 1765, it finally yielded and that same
year, at the request of the queen, the feast was received quasi officially by
the episcopate of France. On all sides it was asked for and obtained, and
finally, in 1856, at the urgent entreaties of the French bishops, Pope Pius IX
extended the feast to the universal Church under the rite of double major. In
1889 it was raised by the Church to the double rite of first class. The acts of
consecration and of reparation were everywhere introduced together with the
devotion. Oftentimes, especially since about 1850, groups, congregations, and
States have consecrated themselves to the Sacred Heart, and, in 1875—this
consecration was made throughout the Catholic world. Still the pope did not wish
to take the initiative or to intervene. Finally, on 11 June, 1899, by order of
Leo XIII, and with the formula prescribed by him, all mankind was solemnly
consecrated to the Sacred Heart. The idea of this act, which Leo XIII called
"the great act" of his pontificate, had been proposed to him by a religious of
the Good Shepherd from Oporto (Portugal) who said that she had received it from
Christ Himself. She was a member of the Drost-zu-Vischering family, and known in
religion as Sister Mary of the Divine Heart. She died on the feast of the Sacred
Heart, two days before the consecration, which had been deferred to the
following Sunday. Whilst alluding to these great public manifestations we must
not omit referring to the intimate life of the devotion in souls, to the
practices connected with it, and to the works and associations of which it was
the very life. Moreover, we must not overlook the social character which it has
assumed particularly of late years. The Catholics of France, especially, cling
firmly to it as one of their strongest hopes of ennoblement and salvation.
Transcribed by
Jean Bainvel
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