"Enter into the Heart of Jesus as a traveler into the ship: love will be the pilot that will lead you happily through this stormy sea that must be crossed before reaching the port." (https://tinyurl.com/2p8kc3z4)
"The love of the Sacred Heart obliges me to suffer everything without ever saying that this is enough." (https://tinyurl.com/2p8kc3z4)
Sacred Heart, whose glow we cherish Devoted to Thee we shall not perish Dove-like souls therein find rest And joy in being amongst the blest. A poem I wrote. The image was a favorite of St. Therese of Lisieux.
"Pains, humiliations, scorns, contradictions and all that is most bitter to nature are turned into good in the adorable Heart of Jesus, which wants to be loved only." (https://tinyurl.com/2p8kc3z4)
"Consider how the first impulse of the natural life of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was an impulse of love for you." ~Fr. Dom Innocent Le Masson (1670 - 1703)
"Renounce, this day, before the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, all trust in yourself and in creatures. Say fervently the Act of Consecrations, to beg grace to begin, to do, and to suffer all things in this great and powerful Heart." "Sacred, Omnipotent Heart of Jesus, strengthen me in this hour." ~Little Manual of the Sacred Heart
O Heart of Jesus, may we feel Thy pure consuming fire: Kindle in us Thy ardent zeal, Be Thou our soul's desire. Absorb, dear Lord, our hearts in Thine, Let us with Thee remain; Nor ever may our souls incline to earth's vain joys again. (Little Manual of the Sacred Heart)
Cut off all superfluous words in time of silence, and keep your senses collected: as often as you can, make this aspiration: O Divine Heart of Jesus, living in the Heart of Mary, I beg you to live and reign in all hearts, and to consume them in your most pure love! ~St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
It is necessary to love the Divine Heart with all one's strength and power, whatever the cost. + If we see ourselves languid, cold, impure, imperfect, is not the Sacred Heart a burning furnace in which we must hurry and perfect ourselves like gold in the crucible, to be like a living Host, all immaculate and sacrificed to His adorable designs? ~Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque
When I consider the idea of a living Host, it links up with a poem composed by the Little Flower. It's contained in a book of her poems sent to me by a friend on the forum. It appears the Carmelites prepare the linens for Holy Mass, which prompted Therese to compose the following. (Translation into English by Alan Bancroft). Since I have to prepare the altar in anticipation of Holy Mass, this poem is wondrous for preparation. My Longings Before the Tabernacle O happy key, since you exist For this! - you open, every day, The prison of the Eucharist Where God, who's Love, is locked away! But I can turn the mortice (for My faith can do this wondrous thing) - Can open up the golden door, to hide, beside my Heav'nly King. I'd like to burn away, to be Consumed-near God by day and night; A steady glow of mystery, A sanctuary lamp, alight. What happiness is mine: I've flame Within me!...Daily thus can I Win Jesus souls, and by the same Heart's-fire He came to light them by. O Holy Altar-stone, you fill Me, every dawn, with envy too, As the Eternal, by His Will - A Bethlehem - is born in You. Then, enter this soul (my Own, My Saviour!), since for You it burns: Far from the coldness of a stone, It's that for which Your own Heart yearns. O Altar-cloth! where angels go- How, too, I envy you in this: I see my Jesus...there as though In swaddling-clothes, my Treasure is! Change my heart, Mary! so I am An Altar-cloth that's pure and bright. Then may my heart receive your Lamb Who hides Himself...the Host of White. Paten, I envy you as well!- Upon you Jesus takes His rest: May Endless Grandeur come and dwell (Though poor the lodging) as my Guest!... He's here with me- He doesn't wait Until the dusk of life I see: He comes, and - and how my joy is great!- A living Monstrance makes of me. Would I were you, to have your prize - The Blood of God, O happy Cup! But I, too, at the sacrifice, Those precious drops can gather up. Much dearer Jesus values me Than golden Vases, jewel-set: The Altar a new Calvary, His Blood for me is flowing yet. I am (O Jesus, Holy Vine, To whom all fruitfulness is due) A bunch of grapes - O King Divine - That ought to disappear for You. It's in the Winepress - Suffering - That I'll be proving what I say: The joy of love to which I cling Is self-oblation, every day! O happy lot! For, chosen there Among the grains of purest Wheat, I now may in their dying share, For Jesus: thus my joy's complete! I am Your Spouse: I'll always be My Love - come live in me! I say: O come...You have enraptured me- Transform me into You, I pray!
Very nice! I'll look into getting that book of poems. Thank you for mentioning it (I might've known she wrote poetry, but forgot).
St. Therese of Lisieux: Poems, translated by Alan Bancroft, published by Fount of Harper-Collins Publishers, 1996
Saint Lutgardis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutgardis Lutgardis was born at Tongeren in 1182. She was admitted into the Benedictine monastery of St. Catherine near Sint-Truiden at the age of twelve, not because of a vocation but because her dowry had been lost in a failed business venture. She was attractive, fond of nice clothes and liked to enjoy herself. For Lutgarde the cloister represented a socially acceptable alternative to the disgrace of unmarried life in the world.[2] She lived in the convent for several years without having much interest in religious life. She could come and go and receive visitors as she pleased.[3] According to her Vita, it was in the parlour, a welcome break in the monotony of monastic observance, that she was visited with a vision of Jesus Christ showing her his wounds, and at age twenty she made her solemn vows as a Benedictine.[4] Some of the sisters predicted that her change in behavior would not last. Instead, she became even more devout. Over the next dozen years, she had many visions of Christ, Mary and St. John the Evangelist.[3] Lutgardis was one of the great precursors of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The first recorded mystic revelation of Christ's heart is that of Lutgardis. [7] According to Thomas Merton, Lutgardis "…entered upon the mystical life with a vision of the pierced Heart of the Saviour, and had concluded her mystical espousals with the Incarnate Word by an exchange of hearts with Him."[8] When, in a visitation, Christ came to Lutgarde, offering her whatever gift of grace she should desire, she asked for a better grasp of Latin, that she might better understand the Word of God and lift her voice in choral praise. Christ granted her request and, after a few days, Lutgarde's mind was flooded with the riches of psalms, antiphons, readings and responsories. However, a painful emptiness persisted. With disarming candour she returned to Christ, asking to return his gift, and wondering if she might, just possibly, exchange it for another. “And for what would you exchange it?” Christ asked. “Lord, said Lutgarde, I would exchange it for your Heart.” Christ then reached into Lutgarde and, removing her heart, replaced it with his own, at the same time hiding her heart within his breast.[2] During this time she is known to have shown gifts of healing and prophecy, and was an adept at teaching the Gospels.[4]
Ecuador was the first nation to be consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. https://tinyurl.com/3esvwkmz The Archbishop of Quito, His Grace Jose Ignacio Checa y Barba, and President Gabriel Garcia Moreno jointly and solemnly consecrated Ecuador to the Sacred Heart on March 25, 1874. The importance of this national consecration can be surmised as it was foretold by Our Lady of Good Success two hundred seventy four years in advance when she said (to Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres), "A truly Catholic president will come in the nineteenth century, a man of character, to whom Our Lord God will give the palm of martyrdom in the plaza where this convent of mine is. He will consecrate the republic to the Divine Heart of my Blessed Son. This consecration will uphold the Catholic religion in subsequent years, which will be tragic for the Church." This book gives the history of the one hundred years following this consecration, to show how the battle for the Kingship of Christ in Ecuador continued to be fought, even after the martyrdom of the "Great Man" of Ecuador, President Gabriel Garcia Moreno. *** President Moreno commissioned this painting:
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." ~St. John 10:27 I'd been hoping to find a vintage holy card depicting a lamb with our Lord as the Sacred Heart. Found!
