Feast of the Sacred Heart. 19/6/20

Feast of the Sacred Heart. 19/6/20

It was Pope Pius IX in 1856 who instituted this Feast for the Universal Church. Previously it had been celebrated in local churches, particularly in France due to the apparitions of the Sacred Heart to St Margaret Mary Alacoque.

Pope Pius XII wrote about the Sacred Heart in his 1956 encyclical, Haurietis Aquas (You will draw waters) He wrote “Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is devotion to Jesus Christ Himself, but in the particular ways of meditating on his interior life and on His threefold love: His divine love, His burning love that fed His human will, and His sensible love that affects His interior life”. 

Join with Fr Joe tonight at 7pm to pray the Sacred Heart Litany and Consecration Prayer composed by St Margaret Mary Alacoque and prayers composed by St John Eudes. These two saints were instrumental in promoting devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Although St John Eudes had composed a Mass and Office for the Holy Heart of Mary in 1648 it was not celebrated universally in the Catholic Church. When Our Blessed Lady appeared at Fatima in 1917, it was Her desire that this devotion be established universally in the Catholic church. It was not until the 31st of October 1942 which was in fact the 25th Anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady in Fatima, that Pope Pius XII consecrated the whole world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. A feast to the Immaculate Heart of Mary was instituted two years later and was celebrated on the 22nd of August. This was transferred to the first Saturday after the Solemnity of Corpus Christi in 1969. The following is what St Pope Paul VI said about the Immaculate Heart of Mary

“May the Immaculate Heart of Mary shine before the eyes of all Christians as the model of perfect love toward God and toward our fellow beings; may it lead them toward the Holy Sacraments by virtue of which souls are cleansed from the stains of sin and are preserved from it. May it also stimulate them to make reparation for the innumerable offenses against the Divine Majesty. Lastly, may it shine like a banner of unity and a spur to perfect the bonds of brotherhood among all Christians in the bosom of the one Church of Jesus Christ, which “taught by the Holy Spirit, honours her with filial affection and piety as a most beloved mother.”

Please join Fr Joe on Saturday and Sunday evening at 7pm to pray the Rosary together as a Parish and Family united around the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.