SACRED HEART OF JESUS NOVENA - EIGHTH DAY

     The Despised Heart of Jesus

There is not a greater sorrow for a heart that loves, than to see its love despised: and so much the more when the proofs given of this love have been great, and, on the other hand, the ingratitude great. 

If every human being were to renounce all his goods, and to go and live in the desert, to feed on herbs, to sleep on the bare earth, to macerate himself with penances, and at last give himself up to be murdered for Christ’s sake, what recompense could he render for the sufferings, the Blood, the life that this great Son of God has given for his sake? If we were to sacrifice ourselves every moment unto death, we should certainly not recompense in the smallest degree the love that Jesus Christ has shown us, by giving Himself to us in the most Holy Sacrament. Only conceive that God should conceal Himself under the species of bread to become the food of one of His creatures! 

But, O my God, what recompense and gratitude do men render to Jesus Christ? What but ill-treatment, contempt of His laws and His maxims, —– injuries such as they would not commit towards their enemy, or their slave, or the greatest villain upon earth. And can we think of all these injuries which Jesus Christ has received, and still receives every day, and not feel sorrow for them? And not endeavor, by our love, to recompense the infinite love of His Divine heart, which remains in the most Holy Sacrament, inflamed with the same love towards us, and anxious to communicate every good gift to us, and to give Himself entirely to us, ever ready to receive us into His heart whenever we go to Him? Him that cometh to Me, I will not cast out.
 We have been accustomed to hear of the Creation, Incarnation, Redemption, of Jesus born in a stable, of Jesus dead on the Cross. O my God, if we knew that another man had conferred on us any of these benefits, we could not help loving him. It seems that God alone has, to to say, this bad luck with men, that, though him has done His utmost to make them love Him, yet He cannot attain this end, and, instead of being loved, He sees Himself despised and neglected. All this arises from the forgetfulness of men of the love of God. 

      Affections and Prayers

O Heart of Jesus, abyss of mercy and love, how is it that, at the sight of the goodness Thou hast shown me, and of my ingratitude, I do not die of sorrow? Thou, O my Savior, after having given me my being, hast given me all Thy Blood and Thy life, giving Thyself up for my sake, to ignominy and death; and, not content with this, Thou hast invented the mode of sacrificing Thyself every day for me in the Holy Eucharist, not refusing to expose Thyself to the injuries which Thou shouldst receive, and which Thou didst foresee, in this Sacrament of love. O my God, how can I see myself so ungrateful to Thee without dying with confusion! O Lord, put an end, I pray Thee, to my ingratitude, by wounding my heart with Thy love, and making me entirely Thine. Remember the Blood and the tears that Thou hast shed for me, and forgive me. Oh, let not all Thy sufferings be lost upon me. But though Thou hast seen: how ungrateful and unworthy of Thy love I have been, yet Thou didst not cease to love me even when I did not love Thee, nor even desire that Thou shouldst love me; how much rather, then, may I not hope for Thy love, now that I desire and sigh after nothing but to love Thee, and to be loved by Thee. Oh, do Thou fully satisfy this my desire; or rather this Thy desire, for it is Thou that hast given it to me. Grant that this day may be the day of my thorough conversion; so that I may begin to love Thee, and may never cease to love Thee, my sovereign good. Make me die in everything to myself, in order that I may live only to Thee, and that I may always burn with Thy love. 

O Mary, thy heart was the blessed altar that was always on fire with Divine love: my dearest Mother, make me like to thee; obtain this from thy Son, Who delights in honoring thee, by denying thee nothing that thou askest of Him. 

Act of Reparation Sacred Heart of Jesus

Animated with a desire to repair the outrages unceasingly offered to Thee, we prostrate before Thy throne of mercy, and in the name of all mankind, pledge our love and fidelity to Thee!

The more Thy mysteries are blasphemed, the more firmly we shall believe them, O Sacred Heart of Jesus! The more impiety endeavors to extinguish our hopes of immortality, the more we shall trust in Thy Heart, sole hope of mankind!

The more hearts resist Thy Divine attractions, the more we shall love Thee, O infinitely amiable heart of Jesus!

The more unbelief attacks Thy Divinity, the more humbly and profoundly we shall adore It, O Divine Heart of Jesus!

The more Thy holy laws are transgressed and ignored, the more we shall delight to observe them, O most holy Heart of Jesus!

The more Thy Sacraments are despised and abandoned, the more frequently we shall receive them with love and reverence, O most liberal Heart of Jesus!

The more the imitation of Thy virtues is neglected and forgotten, the more we shall endeavor to practice them, O Heart, model of every virtue!

The more the devil labors to destroy souls, the more we shall be inflamed with desire to save them, O Heart of Jesus, zealous Lover of souls!

The more sin and impurity destroy the image of God in man, the more we shall try by purity of life to be a living temple of the Holy Spirit, O Heart of Jesus!

The more Thy Holy Church is despised, the more we shall endeavor to be her faithful children, O Sweet Heart of Jesus!

The more Thy Vicar on earth is persecuted, the more we will honor him as the infallible head of Thy Holy Church, show our fidelity and pray for him, O kingly Heart of Jesus!

O Sacred Heart, through Thy powerful grace, may we become Thy apostles in the midst of a corrupted world, and be Thy crown in the kingdom of heaven. Amen.

St. Alphonsus Liguori – Sacred Heart of Jesus Novena: Day 8

SACRED HEART OF JESUS NOVENA - SEVENTH DAY

     The Grateful Heart of Jesus

The heart of Jesus is so grateful, that it cannot behold the most trifling works done for the love of Him our smallest word spoken for His glory, a single good thought directed towards pleasing Him without giving to each its own reward. He is besides so grateful, that He always returns a hundredfold for one: You shall receive a hundredfold. Men, when they are grateful, and recompense any benefit done to them, recompense it only once; they, as it were, divest themselves of all the obligation, and then they think no more of it. Jesus Christ does not do thus, with us; He not only recompenses a hundredfold in this life every good action that we perform to please Him, but in the next life He recompenses it an infinite number of times throughout eternity. And who will be so negligent as not to do as much as he can to please this most grateful heart?

But, O my God, how do men try to please Jesus Christ? Or rather, I will say, how can we be so ungrateful towards this our Saviour? If He had only shed a single drop of Blood, or one tear alone for our salvation, yet we should be under infinite obligation to Him; because this drop and this tear would have been of infinite value in the sight of God towards obtaining for us every grace. But Jesus would employ for us every moment of His life. He has given us all His merits, all His sufferings, all His ignominies, all His Blood, and His life; so that we are under, not one, but infinite, obligations to love Him.

But alas! We are grateful even towards animals: if a little dog shows us any sign of affection, it seems to constrain us to love it. How, then, can we be so ungrateful towards God? It seems as if the benefits of God towards men change their nature, and become ill-usage; for, instead of gratitude and love, they obtain nothing but offenses and injuries. Do Thou, O Lord, enlighten these ungrateful ones, to know the love that Thou bearest them.

Since Christ Himself has said, This is My Body who shall dare to doubt that It is His Body?

Affections and Prayers

O my beloved Jesus, behold at Thy feet an ungrateful sinner. I have been grateful indeed towards creatures; but to Thee, alone I have been ungrateful to Thee, Who hast died for me, and hast done the utmost that Thou couldst do to oblige me to love Thee. But the thought that I have to do with a heart full of goodness and infinite in mercy, of one Who proclaims that He forgives all the offenses of the sinner who repents and loves Him, consoles me and gives me courage. My dearest Jesus, I have in times past offended Thee and despised Thee; but now I love Thee more than everything more than myself. Tell me what Thou wouldst have me to do; for I am ready to do everything with Thy help. I believe that Thou hast created me, Thou hast given Thy blood and Thy life for the love of me. I believe also that for my sake Thou dost remain in the Blessed Sacrament; I thank Thee for it, O my love. Oh, permit me not to be ungrateful in future for so many benefits and proofs of Thy love. Oh, bind me, unite me to Thy heart; and permit me not, during the years that remain to me, to offend Thee or grieve Thee any more. I have displeased Thee sufficiently. O my Jesus, it is time that I should love Thee now. Oh, that those years that I have lost would return! But they will return no more, and the life that remains for me may be short; but whether it be short or long, my God, I desire to spend it all in loving Thee, my sovereign good, Who dost deserve an eternal and infinite love.

O Mary, my Mother, let me never again be ungrateful to thy Son. Pray to Jesus for me.

SACRED HEART OF JESUS NOVENA – SIXTH DAY

         The Generous Heart of Jesus 

It is the characteristic of good-hearted people to desire to make everybody happy, and especially those most distressed and afflicted. But who can ever find one who has a better heart than Jesus Christ? He is infinite goodness, and has therefore a sovereign desire to communicate to us His riches: With Me are riches, that I may enrich them that love Me.

He for this purpose made Himself poor, as the Apostle says, that He might make us rich: He became poor for your sakes, that through His poverty you might be rich. For this purpose also He chose to remain with us in the most Holy Sacrament, where He remains constantly with His hands full of graces, as was seen by Father Balthazar Alvarez, to dispense them to those who come to visit Him. For this reason also He gives Himself wholly to us in Holy Communion, giving us to understand from this that He cannot refuse us any good gifts, since He even gives Himself entirely to us: How hath He not also, with Him, given us all things?

For in the heart of Jesus we receive every good, every grace that we desire: In all things you are made rich in Christ, so that nothing is wanting to you in any grace. And we must understand that we are debtors to the heart of Jesus for all the graces we have received graces of redemption, of vocation, of light, of pardon, the grace to resist temptations, and to bear patiently with contradictions; for without His assistance we could not do anything good: Without Me you can do nothing. And if hitherto, says our Savior, you have not received more graces, do not complain of Me, but blame yourself, who has neglected to seek them of Me: Hitherto you have not asked anything; ask, and you shall receive. Oh, how rich and liberal is the heart of Jesus towards everyone that has recourse to Him! Rich unto all that call upon Him. Oh, what great mercies do those souls receive who are earnest in asking help of Jesus Christ. David said, For Thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild, and plenteous to all who call upon Thee. Let us therefore always go to this heart, and ask with confidence, and we shall obtain all we want.

        Affections and Prayers

Ah, my Jesus, Thou hast not refused to give me Thy Blood and Thy life, and shall I refuse to give Thee my miserable heart? No, my dearest Redeemer, I offer it entirely to Thee. I give Thee all my will; do Thou accept it, and dispose of it at Thy pleasure. I can do nothing, and have nothing; but I have this heart which Thou hast given me, and of which no one can deprive me. I may be deprived of my goods, my blood, my life, but not of my heart. With this heart I can love Thee; I with this heart I will love Thee. I beseech Thee, O my God, teach me a perfect forgetfulness of myself; teach me what I must do to arrive at Thy pure love, of which Thou in Thy goodness hast inspired me with the desire. I feel in myself a determination to please Thee; but in order to put my resolve into execution, I expect and implore help from Thee. It depends on Thee. O loving heart of Jesus, to make entirely Thine my poor heart, which hitherto has been so ungrateful, and through my own fault deprived of Thy love. Oh, grant that my heart may be all on fire with the love of Thee, even as Thine is on fire with the love of me. Grant that my will may be entirely united to Thine, so that I may will nothing but what Thou wiliest, and that from this day forth Thy holy will may be the rule of all my actions, of all my thoughts, and of all my desires. I trust, O my Savior, that Thou wilt not refuse me Thy grace to fulfill this resolution which I now make prostrate at Thy feet, to receive with submission whatever Thou mayest ordain for me and my affairs, as well in life as in death. Blessed art thou, O Immaculate Mary, who hadst thy heart always and entirely united to the heart of Jesus; obtain for me, O my Mother, that in future I may wish and desire that which Jesus wills and thou willest.

Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

O adorable heart of my Savior Jesus, loving heart of my good master, how great is thy tenderness to have remained for me in the divine Eucharist! Alas, thy creatures forget thy love, despise thy complaints, and withdraw themselves from thee; forgetting that, in thy agony in the garden, thou didst endure all the bitterness of our sins. We now again by our iniquities renew thy sorrows. Thou languishest here with love and sadness, and how few think of thee, care for thee, or are touched by thy loneliness. Let me at least, sensible to thy sorrows, listen to thy tender complaint, for I desire to repair the outrages which are unceasingly directed against thee. Prostrate, annihilated in spirit before the holy tabernacle in which thou dost display thy love, I beseech thee to pardon my sins, and those of the whole world, for their contempt and indifference, their insults and their sacrilege. If I cannot wash away with my blood my own faults, and those of all thy guilty children, may I at least silently weep over the outrages of which thou art the victim. Oh that I could dispose of the hearts of all mankind, and fill them with regret and gratitude, in order to offer them to thy love as the only homage which it desires to receive. Lord Jesus, I offer myself as a holocaust. Behold my heart, purify it, consume it with love, sacrifice it to thy will, that henceforth I may love thee only, and Guard thou my heart, lest I should reclaim it, hide it in thy wounds as in a safe asylum, so that there I may live and die in order to be united to thee for ever. Amen.

SACRED HEART OF JESUS NOVENA - FIFTH DAY

Where shall we ever find a heart more compassionate or tender than the heart of Jesus, or one that had a greater feeling for our miseries? 

This pity induced Him to descend from Heaven to this earth; it made Him say that He was that good shepherd Who came to give His life to save His sheep. In order to obtain the pardon of our sins, He would not spare Himself, but would sacrifice Himself on the Cross, that by His sufferings He might satisfy for the chastisement that we have deserved. This pity and compassion makes Him say even now: Why will ye die, O house of Israel? return ye, and live. O men, He says, my poor children, why will you damn yourselves by flying from Me? Do you not see that by separating yourselves from Me you are hastening to eternal death? I desire not to see you lost; do not despair; as often as you wish to return, return, and you shall recover your life: Return, and live. 

This compassion even makes Him say that He is that loving Father Who, though He sees Himself despised by His son, yet, if that son returns a penitent, He cannot reject him, but embraces him tenderly and forgets all the injuries He has received: I will not remember all his iniquities. It is not thus that men behave; for though they may forgive, yet they nevertheless retain the remembrance of the offense received, and feel inclined to revenge themselves; and even if they do not revenge themselves, because they fear God, at least they always feel a great repugnance against conversing and entertaining themselves with those persons who have vilified them.

O my Jesus, Thou dost pardon the penitent sinners, and dost not refuse in this world to give them everything in Holy Communion during their life, and everything in the other world, even in Heaven, with eternal glory, without retaining the slightest repugnance towards being united to the soul that has offended Thee, for all eternity. Where, then, is there to be found a heart so amiable and compassionate as Thine, O my dearest Savior? 

Affections and Prayers

 O compassionate heart of my Jesus, have pity on me: “Most sweet Jesus, have mercy on me.” I say so now, and beseech
Thee to give me the grace always to say to Thee, “Most sweet Jesus, have mercy on me.” Even before I offended Thee, O my Redeemer, I certainly did not deserve any of the favors Thou hast bestowed upon me. Thou hast created me, Thou hast given me so much light and knowledge; and all without any merit of mine. But after I had offended Thee. I not only did not deserve Thy favor, but I deserved to be forsaken by Thee and cast into Hell. Thy compassion has made Thee wait for me and preserve my life even when I had offended Thee. Thy compassion has enlightened me, and offered me pardon; it has given me sorrow for my sins, and the desire of loving Thee; and now I hope from Thy mercy to remain always in Thy grace. O my Jesus, cease not to show Thy compassion towards me. The mercy which I implore of Thee is that Thou wouldst grant me light and strength to be no longer ungrateful towards Thee. No, O my love, I do not expect that Thou shouldst again forgive me, if I again turn my back towards Thee; this would be presumption, and would prevent Thee from showing mercy to me any more. For what pity could I expect any more from Thee if I were so ungrateful as to despise Thy friendship again, and to separate myself from Thee. No, my Jesus; I love Thee, and I will always love Thee; and this is the mercy which I hope for and seek from Thee: “Permit me not to be separated from Thee, permit me not to be separated from Thee.” 

And I beseech thee also, O Mary my Mother, permit me not to be ever again separated from my God.

SACRED HEART OF JESUS NOVENA - FOURTH DAY

      The Sorrowful Heart of Jesus 

It is impossible to consider how afflicted the heart of Jesus was for love of us and not to pity him. He Himself tells us that His heart was overwhelmed with such sorrow, that this alone would have sufficed to take His life away, and to make Him die of pure grief, if the virtue of His Divinity had not, by a miracle, prevented His death: My soul is sorrowful even unto death.

The principal sorrow which afflicted the heart of Jesus so much was not the sight of the torments and infamy which men were preparing for Him, but the sight of their ingratitude towards His immense love. He distinctly foresaw all the sins which we should commit after all His sufferings and such a bitter and ignominious death. 

He foresaw, especially, the horrible insults which men would offer to His adorable heart, Which He has left us in the Most Holy Sacrament as a proof of His affection. O my God, what affronts has not Jesus Christ received from men in this Sacrament of love? One has trampled Him under foot, another has thrown Him into the gutters, others have availed themselves of Him to pay homage to the devil! 

And yet the sight of all these insults did not prevent Him from leaving us this great pledge of His love. He has a sovereign hatred of sin; but still it seems as if His love towards us had overcome the hatred He bore to sin, since He was content to permit these sacrileges, rather than to deprive the souls that love Him of this Divine food. Shall not all this suffice to make us love a heart that has loved us so much? 

Has not Jesus Christ done enough to deserve our love? Ungrateful that we are, shall we still leave Jesus forsaken on the altar, as the majority of men do? And shall we not unite ourselves to those few souls who acknowledge Him, and melt with love more even than the torches melt away which burn round the ciborium? The heart of Jesus remains there, burning with love for us; and shall we not, in His Presence, burn with love for Jesus? 

Agnus Dei

Affections and Prayers

 My adorable and dearest Jesus, behold at Thy feet one who has caused so much sorrow to Thy amiable heart. O my God, how could I grieve this heart, Which has loved me so much, and has spared nothing to make Itself loved by me? But console Thyself, I will say, O my Saviour, for my heart having been wounded, through Thy grace, with Thy most holy love, feels now so much regret for the offenses I have committed against Thee, that it would fain die of sorrow. Oh; who will give me, my Jesus, that sorrow for my sins which Thou didst feel for them in Thy life! 

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the sorrow and abhorrence Thy Son felt for my sins; and, for His sake, I beseech Thee to give me so great a sorrow for the offenses I have committed against Thee, that I may lead an afflicted and sorrowful life at the thought of having once despised Thy friendship. And Thou, O my Jesus, do Thou give me, from this day forth, such a horror of sin, that I may abhor even the lightest faults, considering that they displease Thee, Who dost not deserve to be offended much or little, but dost deserve an infinite love. 

My beloved Lord, I now detest everything that displeases Thee, and in future I will love only Thee, and that which Thou lovest. Oh, help me, give me the strength, give me the grace to invoke Thee constantly, O my Jesus, and always to repeat to Thee this petition: My Jesus, give me Thy love. give me Thy love, give me Thy love. And thou, most holy Mary, obtain for me the grace to pray to thee continually, and to say to thee, O my Mother, make me love Jesus Christ. 

MEMORARE TO THE SACRED HEART

Remember, O most sweet Jesus, that no one who has had recourse to Thy Sacred Heart, implored its help, or sought it mercy was ever abandoned. Encouraged with confidence, O tenderest of hearts, we present ourselves before Thee, crushes beneath the weight of our sins. In our misery, O Sacred Heart of Jesus, despise not our simple prayers, but mercifully grant our requests. Amen.

SACRED HEART OF JESUS NOVENA - THIRD DAY

The Heart of Jesus Christ Panting to be Loved

Jesus has no need of us; He is equally happy, equally rich, equally powerful with or without our love; and yet, as St. Thomas says, He loves us so, that He desires our love as much as if man was His God, and His felicity depended on that of man. This filled holy Job with astonishment: What is man that Thou shouldst magnify him or why dost Thou set Thy heart upon him? 

Can God desire or ask with such eagerness for the love of a worm? It would have been a great favor if God had only permitted us to love Him. If a vassal were to say to his king, “Sire, I love you,” he would be considered impertinent. But what would one say if the king were to tell his vassal, “I desire you to love me”? The princes of the earth do not humble themselves to this; but Jesus, Who is the King of Heaven, is He Who with so much earnestness demands our love: Love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart.  So pressingly does He ask for our heart: My son, give Me thy heart. And if He is driven from a soul, He does not depart, but He stands outside of the door of the heart, and He calls and knocks to be let in: I stand at the gate and knock. And He beseeches her to open to Him, calling her sister and spouse: Open to Me, My sister, My love. In short, He takes a delight in being loved by us, and is quite consoled when a soul says to Him, and repeats often, “My God, my God, I love Thee.”

All this is the effect of the great love He bears us. He who loves necessarily desires to be loved. The heart requires the heart; love seeks love: “Why does God love, but that He might be loved Himself,”  said St. Bernard; and God Himself first said, What doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but that thou fear the Lord thy God, and love Him? Therefore He tells us that He is that Shepherd Who, having found the lost sheep, calls all the others to rejoice with Him: Rejoice with Me, because I have found My sheep that was lost. He tells us that He is that Father Who, when His lost son returns and throws himself at His feet, not only forgives him, but embraces him tenderly. He tells us that he that loves Him not is condemned to death: He that loveth not abideth in death. And, on the contrary, that He takes him that loves Him and keeps possession of him: He that abideth in charity, abideth in God, and God in him.  Oh, will not such invitations, such entreaties, such threats, and such promises move us to love God, Who so much desires to be loved by us? 

Affections and Prayers

My dearest Redeemer, I will say to Thee, with St. Augustine, Thou dost command me to love Thee, and dost threaten me with Hell if I do not love Thee; but what more dreadful Hell, what greater misfortune, can happen to me than to be deprived of Thy love! If, therefore, Thou desirest to frighten me, Thou shouldst threaten me only that I should live without loving Thee; for this threat alone will frighten me more than a thousand hells. If, in the midst of the flames of Hell, the damned could burn with Thy love, O my God, Hell itself would become a paradise; and if, on the contrary, the blessed in Heaven could not love Thee, Paradise would become hell. Thus St. Augustine expresses himself. I see, indeed, my dearest Lord, that I, on account of my sins, did deserve to be forsaken by Thy grace, and at the same time condemned to be incapable of loving Thee; but still I understand that Thou dost continue to command me to love Thee, and I also feel within me a great desire to love Thee. This my desire is a gift of Thy grace, and it comes from Thee. Oh, give me also the strength necessary to put it in execution, and make me, from this day forth, say to Thee earnestly, and from the bottom of my heart, and to repeat to Thee always, My God, I love Thee, I love Thee, I love Thee. Thou desirest my love; I also desire Thine. Blot out, therefore, from thy remembrance, O my Jesus. the offenses that in past times I have committed against Thee; let us love each other henceforth forever. I will not leave Thee, and Thou wilt not leave me. Thou wilt always love me, and I will always love Thee. My dearest Saviour, in Thy merits do I place my hope; oh, do Thou make Thyself to beloved forever, and loved greatly, by a sinner who has offended Thee greatly.

O Mary, Immaculate Virgin, do thou help me, do thou beseech Jesus for me.

Act of consecration to the Sacred Heart

O Lord Jesus, I consecrate my heart to you; place it in yours. It is therein I wish to breathe, to love, to live unknown to men. And known only to you. It is in this sacred heart I shall derive those loving ardors which should consume mine; it is there 1 shall find strength, light, courage, and true consolation. When sad, it will rejoice me; when languishing, it will animate me; when troubled and disquieted, it will encourage and uphold me. 0 heart of Jesus! May my heart be the altar of your love. May my memory preserve for ever the precious remembrance of Your mercies. May all in me express my love for your heart, 0 Jesus, and may my heart be disposed to offer you every sacrifice. 0 heart of Mary, the most amiable, compassionate, and merciful, after that of Jesus, present to his divine heart my love, my resolutions, my consecration. It will be moved by my miseries; it will deliver me from them: and, after having been my protectress on earth, O blessed Mother, you will be my queen in heaven. Amen.

For we do not eat God simply, God being impalpable and incorporeal; nor again, the flesh of man simply, which would not profit us. But God having taken flesh into union with Himself; that flesh is quickening. Not that it has changed its own for the Divine nature; but, just as heated iron remains iron, with the action of the heat in it; so our Lord's flesh is quickening, as being the flesh of the Word of God.

SACRED HEART OF JESUS NOVENA - SECOND DAY

            The Loving Heart of Jesus

Oh, if we could but understand the love that burns in the heart of Jesus for us! He has loved us so much, that if all men, all the Angels, and all the Saints were to unite, with all their energies, they could not arrive at the thousandth part of the love that Jesus bears to us. He loves us infinitely more than we love ourselves, He has loved us even to excess: They spoke of His decease (excess) which He was to accomplish in Jerusalem. And what greater excess of love could there be than for God to die for His creatures? He has loved us to the greatest degree: Having loved His own. He loved them unto the end; since, after having loved us from eternity, for there never was a moment from eternity when God did not think of us and did not love each one-of us: I have loved thee with an everlasting love, for the love of us He made Himself Man, and chose a life of sufferings and the death of the Cross for our sake. Therefore He has loved us more than His honor, more than His repose, and more than His life; for He sacrificed everything to show us the love that He bears us. And is not this an excess of love sufficient to stupefy with astonishment the Angels of Paradise for all eternity? 

This love has induced Him also to remain with us in the Holy Sacrament as on a throne of love; for He remains there under the appearance of a small piece of bread, shut up in a ciborium, where He seems to remain in a perfect annihilation of His majesty, without movement, and without the use of His senses; so that it seems that He performs no other office there than that of loving men. Love makes us desire the constant presence of the object of our love. It is this love and this desire that makes Jesus Christ reside with us in the Most Holy Sacrament. It seemed too short a time to this loving Savior to have been only thirty-three years with men on earth; therefore, in order to show His desire of being constantly with us, He thought right to perform the greatest of all miracles, in the institution of the Holy Eucharist. But the work of redemption was already completed, men had already become reconciled to God; for what purpose, then, did Jesus remain on earth in this Sacrament? Ah, He remains there because He cannot bear to separate Himself from us, as He has said that He takes a delight in us.

Again, this love has induced Him even to become the food of our souls, so as to unite Himself to us, and to make His heart and ours as one: He that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood, abideth in Me and I in him. O wonder! O excess of Divine love! It was said by a servant of God, if anything could shake my faith in the Eucharist, it would not be the doubt as to how the bread could become flesh, or how Jesus could be in several places and confined into so small a space, because I should answer that God can do everything; but if I were asked how He could love men so much as to make Himself their food, I have nothing else to answer but that this is a mystery of faith above my comprehension, and that the love of Jesus cannot be understood. O love of Jesus, do Thou make Thyself known to men and do Thou make Thyself loved! 

                   Affections and Prayers

 O adorable heart of my Jesus, heart inflamed with the love of men, heart created on purpose to love them, how is it possible that Thou canst be despised, and Thy love so ill corresponded to by men? Oh, miserable that I am, I also have been one of those ungrateful ones that have not loved Thee. Forgive me, my Jesus, this great sin of not having loved Thee, Who art so amiable, and Who hast loved me so much that Thou canst do nothing more to oblige me to love Thee. I feel that I deserve to be condemned not to be able to love Thee, for having renounced Thy love, as I have hitherto done. But no, my dearest Savior, give me any chastisement, but do not inflict this one upon me. Grant me the grace to love Thee, and then give me any affliction Thou pleasest. But how can I fear such a chastisement, whilst I feel that Thou continuest to give me the sweet, the pleasing precept of loving Thee, my Lord and my God? Love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart. [Matt. xxii. 37] Yes, O my God, Thou wouldst be loved by me, and I will love Thee; indeed I will love none but Thee, Who hast loved me so much. O Love of my Jesus; Thou art my Love. O burning heart of my Jesus, do thou inflame my heart also. Do not permit me in future, even for a single moment, to live without Thy love; rather kill me, destroy me; do not let the world behold the spectacle of such horrid ingratitude as that I, who have been so beloved by Thee, and received so many favors and lights from Thee, should begin again to despise Thy love, No, my Jesus, do not permit this. I trust in the Blood that Thou hast shed for me, that I shall always love Thee, and that Thou wilt always love me, and that this love between Thee and me will not be broken off for eternity.

         MEMORARE TO THE SACRED HEART

Remember, O most sweet Jesus, that no one who has had recourse to Thy Sacred Heart, implored its help, or sought it mercy was ever abandoned. Encouraged with confidence, O tenderest of hearts, we present ourselves before Thee, crushes beneath the weight of our sins. In our misery, O Sacred Heart of Jesus, despise not our simple prayers, but mercifully grant our requests.

Short Daily Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

O, Sacred Heart of Jesus, filled with Infinite Love, broken by our ingratitude, and pierced by our sins, yet loving us still, accept the consecration we make to Thee of all that we are and all that we have. Take every faculty of our souls and bodies, only day by day draw us nearer and nearer to Thy Sacred Heart, and there, as we shall hear the lesson, teach us Thy Holy Way.

SACRED HEART OF JESUS NOVENA - FIRST DAY

                  The Amiable Heart of Jesus

He who shows himself amiable in everything must necessarily make himself loved. Oh, if we only applied ourselves to discover all the good qualities by which  Jesus Christ renders Himself worthy of our love, we should all be under the happy necessity of loving Him. And what heart among all hearts can be found more worthy of love than the Heart of Jesus? 

A heart all pure, all holy, all full of love towards God and towards us; because all His desires are only for the Divine glory and our good. This is the heart in which God finds all his delight. Every perfection, every virtue reign in this heart; —–a most ardent love for God, His Father, united to the greatest humility and respect that can possibly exist; a sovereign confusion for our sins, which He has taken upon Himself, united to the extreme confidence of a most affectionate Son; a sovereign abhorrence of our sins, united to a lively compassion for our miseries; an extreme sorrow. United to a perfect conformity to the will of God. 

In Jesus is found everything that there can be most amiable. Some are attracted to love others by their beauty, others by their innocence, others by living with them, others by devotion. But if there were a person in whom all these and other virtues were united, who could help loving him? If we heard that there was in a distant country a foreign prince who was handsome, humble, courteous, devout, full of charity, affable to all, I who rendered good to those who did him evil; then, I although we knew not who he was, and though he knew not us, and though we were not acquainted with him, nor was there any possibility of our ever being so, yet we should be enamored of him, and should be constrained to love him. How is it, then, possible that Jesus Christ, Who possesses in Himself all these virtues, and in the most perfect degree, and Who loves us so tenderly, how is it possible that He should be so little loved by men, and should not be the only object of our love? 

O my God, how is it that Jesus, Who alone is worthy of love, and Who has given us so many proofs of the love that He bears us, should be alone, as it were, the unlucky one with us, Who cannot arrive at making us love Him; as if He were not sufficiently worthy of our love! This is what caused floods of tears to St. Rose of Lima, St. Catherine of Genoa, St. Teresa, St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi, who, on considering the ingratitude of men, exclaimed, weeping, “Love is not loved, Love is not loved.”

Affections and Prayers

 O my amiable Redeemer, what object more worthy of love could Thy Eternal Father command me to love than Thee? Thou art the beauty of Paradise, Thou art the love of Thy Father, Thy heart is the throne of all virtues. O amiable heart of my Jesus, Thou dost well deserve the love of all hearts; poor and wretched is that heart which loves Thee not! Thus miserable, O my God, has my heart been during all the time in which it hath not loved Thee. But I will not continue to be thus wretched; I love Thee, I will always continue to love Thee, O my Jesus. O my Lord, I have hitherto forgotten Thee, and now what can I expect? That my ingratitude will oblige Thee to forget me entirely, and forsake me forever? No, my Saviour, do not permit this. Thou art the object of the love of God; and shalt Thou not, then, be loved by a miserable sinner, such as I am, who have been so favored and loved by Thee? O lovely flames that burnt in the loving heart of my Jesus, enkindle in my poor heart that holy fire which Jesus came down from Heaven to kindle on earth. Consume and destroy all the impure affections that dwell in my heart, and prevent it from being entirely His. O my God, grant that it may only exist to love Thee, and Thee alone, my dearest Saviour. If at one time I despised Thee, Thou art now the only object of my love. I love Thee, I love Thee, I love Thee, and I will never love anyone else but Thee. My beloved Lord, do not disdain to accept the love of a heart which has once afflicted Thee by my sins. Let it be Thy glory to exhibit to the Angels a heart now burning with the love of Thee, which hitherto shunned and despised Thee.

 Most holy Virgin Mary, my hope, do thou assist me, and I beseech Jesus to make me, by His grace, all that He wishes me to be. 

Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

To the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 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. Amen.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus have Mercy on us!

Litany to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, hear us.

Christ, graciously hear us.

God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.

God, the Son, Redeemer of the World, *

God, the Holy Ghost, *

Holy Trinity, one God, *

Heart of Jesus, Son of the Eternal Father, *

Heart of Jesus, formed in the womb of the Virgin Mother by the Holy Ghost, *

Heart of Jesus, united substantially with the word of God, *

Heart of Jesus, of infinite majesty, *

Heart of Jesus, holy temple of God, *

Heart of Jesus, tabernacle of the Most High, *

Heart of Jesus, house of God and gate of heaven, *

Heart of Jesus, glowing furnace of charity, *

Heart of Jesus, vessel of justice and love, *

Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love, *

Heart of Jesus, abyss of all virtues, *

Heart of Jesus, most worthy of all praise, *

Heart of Jesus, king and center of all hearts, *

Heart of Jesus, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, *

Heart of Jesus, in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Divinity, *

Heart of Jesus, in whom the Father is well pleased, *

Heart of Jesus, of whose fullness we have all received, *

Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills, *

Heart of Jesus, patient and rich in mercy, *

Heart of Jesus, rich to all who invoke Thee, *

Heart of Jesus, fount of life and holiness, *

Heart of Jesus, propitiation for our sins, *

Heart of Jesus, saturated with reviling, *

Heart of Jesus, crushed for our iniquities, *

Heart of Jesus, made obedient unto death, *

Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance, *

Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation, *

Heart of Jesus, our life and resurrection, *

Heart of Jesus, our peace and reconciliation, *

Heart of Jesus, victim for our sins, *

Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who hope in Thee, *

Heart of Jesus, hope of those who die in Thee, *

Heart of Jesus, delight of all saints, *

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

Jesus, meek and humble of Heart, make our hearts like unto Thine.

Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, look upon the Heart of Thy well-beloved Son and upon the acts of praise and satisfaction which He renders unto Thee in the name of sinners; and do Thou, in Thy great goodness, grant pardon to them who seek Thy mercy, in the name of the same Thy Son, Jesus Christ, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, world without end. Amen.

* Have mercy on us.

THE QUEENSHIP OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

FEAST DAY OF THE QUEENSHIP OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY - Transferred from May 31

The Virgin Mary having been elevated to the dignity of Mother of the King of Kings, the holy Catholic Church gives her the title of Queen, and wishes that all her children should salute her in that quality. "If the Son be King, says St. Athanasius, why should not the Mother be Queen?" '' From the moment that Mary consented to become the Mother of God," says St. Bernardine of Sienna, "she merited to receive Sovereignty over all creatures." "Mary and Jesus having but one same flesh," says St. Arnand, Abbot, "why should not the Mother enjoy, conjointly with the son, the honors of Royalty; nay this glory of Jesus Christ is not only common to his most holy Mother, but it is the same for both." Mary is then Queen of the universe, since Jesus is its King; thus as St. Bernardine again observes, "as many creatures as obey God, so many obey the glorious Virgin, everything in heaven and on earth, which is subject to God, is also under the empire of His most holy Mother!!" "Reign, O Mary," says the Abbot of Guerric, "Dispose at pleasure of the goods of your son; power and dominion belong to the Mother and Spouse of the King of Kings." Mary is Queen, but let us tell Christians for their consolation, that she is a Queen full of clemency and Sweetness, and only occupied in assuaging the miseries of her subjects. "The word Queen" says Albertus Magnus," "signifies compassion and care of the poor, whereas the word Empress means rigor and severity." "Kings and Queens, says Seneca, "manifest their great ness in succoring the unfortunate, hence it is that at their coronation, oil, the symbol of mercy is diffused on the head justice, since they are obliged to punish the guilty. Yet this is not the case with Mary; she is Queen of mercy alone; she is a Sovereign, not to punish sinners, but to pardon and forgive them. Writing on those words [of the Psalmist]: "I have learned two things, power belongs to God, and mercy to the Lord; Gerson observes, that as the Kingdom of God consists in Mercy and Justice, the Lord has as it were divided it, reserving to himself, the dominion of justice, and yielding to His Mother that of mercy. St. Thomas confirms this explanation, when he says in his preface to the Canonical Epistles, that one half of the Kingdom of God was given to Mary when she conceived and brought forth the eternal Word, so that she became Queen of mercy, as her Son is King of justice. A learned interpreter, writing on this verse of the Psalm, "Lord give thy judgment to the King, and thy justice to the King's son" says to God, "Lord you have given justice to the King your Son, because you have reserved mercy for the Queen his Mother. St. Bonaventure, and Ernest, Archbishop of Prague, explain this verse in nearly the same terms. "The Lord has anointed you with an oil of gladness" says David, speaking prophetically of Mary. The holy Virgin has indeed then received from God, a sacred unction to heal the wounds of the guilty sons of Adam. Albertus Magnus says, that Mary was prefigured by Queen Esther, of whom we read in the holy Scripture, that she had been raised to the throne for the preservation of her brethren, the Jewish people. What Mordechai said to this woman, poor sinners may address to Mary. Imagine not omnipotent and ever glorious Virgin, that God has elevated you to the dignity of Queen, merely for your personal honor and advantage, but rather that you may mediate, and obtain pardon for men, your offending brethren: and if Assuerus heard the petition of Es ther through love, will not God who has an infinite love for Mary, fling away at her suit the thunderbolts which he was going to hurl on wretched sinners? When coming before the throne she says, my King and my God, if I have found favor in your sight, (and she well knows that among all the children of Eve, she is the only one who has found the grace forfeited by our first parents,) give me the life of my people; save those sinners whose cause I advocate. And will God reject her prayer? Is it not of her it was said," the law of clemency is on her lips?" Indeed every petition she offers is as a law emanating from the Lord, by which he obliges himself to be merciful to those for whom she intercedes. St. Bernard asking the question, why the Church calls Mary Queen of mercy, answers it himself by saying, it is because she opens at pleasure the abyss of the divine mercy, so that no sinner, however enormous his crimes may be, can perish if he is protected by Mary. But perhaps the immaculate holiness of this Virginal Queen terrifies you and hinders you from approaching her, sullied as you are with innumerable crimes. Ah no says St. Gregory, fear nothing, the more holy is Mary, the more elevated in glory, the more sweet and merciful she is towards the sinner who wishes to be converted. Mary not only gives, but offers to all men without exception milk and wool; the milk of mercy, and the wool of her inter cession, the former to reanimate our confidence, and the latter as a rampart against the thunders of Almighty Vengeance. Suetonius recounts, that the Emperor Titus never refused any petition presented to him, and when reproached for it by his courtiers, he used to say, that a Prince should not dismiss any one dissatisfied. This at most was but a vain show of clemency, for often he could not keep his word from inability, or unwillingness to grant the desired favor. But it is not so with Mary, she disappoints no one; she can do all she promises, and she does not want the will; none depart from her presence dis contented. "Mary," says St. Bernard to her, " how can you refuse to assist poor sinners, since you are a Queen of mercy? Who are the subjects of mercy but the miser able? Hence being the most miserable of all sinners, I am the first of your subjects, and you should take more care of me than the rest.

Prayer to Our Queen of Heaven

Pity us then Queen of mercy, and think of our salvation: say not (that I may use the expression of St. Gregory of Nicomedia,) that our sins render us unworthy of your aid, for your clemency surpasses our malice. Nothing resists your power, because the Creator of all, honors you as his Mother, making your glory his own. Queen of heaven and earth! Mother of God! My sovereign mistress! I present myself before you as a poor mendicant before a mighty Queen. From the height of your throne deign to cast your eyes on a miserable sinner, and lose not sight of him, till you render him truly holy. O illustrious Virgin! You are Queen of the universe, and consequently mine; I de sire then to consecrate myself more particularly to your service, dispose of me according to your good pleasure; direct me, I abandon myself wholly to your conduct, never more let me be guided by myself; chastise me if I disobey you; your correction will be sweet and agreeable; I am then no longer mine; I am all yours, save me!