BY Father Mateo Crawley-Boevey, SS.CC.
Oh! the profound meaning and importance of the great Feast of the Epiphany!
The King of Heaven shivers with cold in a manger of straw. He, Whose Empire extends over all creation, smiles and gives His blessing from Mary’s arms …
The Three Kings, the Wise Men, come from afar to acknowledge this Child as the great Liberator, the King of kings, the divine Conqueror of souls, of societies, and of nations …
Heaven had already proclaimed Him its Sovereign by singing the royalty of His love in the stable …
The happy shepherds had also adored Him, kissing His Feet and embracing Him …
Nothing was lacking to Him but a throne, a throne more royal than the crib, and a purple even more splendid than the mantle of His Immaculate Mother …
This throne is the Cross!
How wonderfully beautiful, how powerful, how majestic Jesus is covered with the purple of His Blood! …
Let His subjects, all those souls and nations that the Father has given Him as His heritage, come to celebrate the Epiphany of His glory, to acknowledge Him as King, and to submit to His Empire of truth, of mercy, and of love. Then His Royalty will be universally made manifest!
His Reign began twenty centuries ago and it has spread since then as a deep flood of light, penetrating regenerated humanity and giving it a new soul of Christian beauty … But only in the measure in which the Kingdom of the Crucified Master comes on earth, will a permanent Pentecost in the Church foster and stress His victory.
The great revelation at Paray-le-Monial has certainly given a strong impulse to the triumphal chariot of the King of Love … A new Pentecost of fire envelops the world … seizes souls … revolutionizes societies … re-animates the apostles … confirms hopes, and impels the Church victoriously onward …
And the whole earth from pole to pole resounds with this cry of hope, of victory, and of love: Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy Kingdom come!
Yes, the King of Love returns! … See on His Breast that radiant sun, His Heart, all aglow and bursting with love! …
See His gesture of benediction which beckons, which attracts with an irresistible force …
Be silent … Hearken to a divine word that fills the universe with an invincible hope for us, but fills with horrible dismay Satan and His followers! …
Jesus promised: “I will reign by My Sacred Heart!” …
Let us answer in the name of our families, in the name of our country, in union with the Church: “Hosanna to the Son of Mary, our King!”
(With heart-felt emotion)
All: Hosanna to the Son of Maty, our King!
Jesus, we wish Thee to rule over us! …
All: Jesus, we wish Thee to rule over us!
Hosanna to the Heart of Jesus, the only King! …
All: Hosanna to the Heart of Jesus, the only King!
(Calmly and slowly)
But even more than acclamations, the Heart of Jesus demands works which ratify the sincere Hosanna that resounds in His Tabernacle today …
Alas! Too often He has received ovations of lip-service and then … a deadly blow struck at His. Heart!
How often is the complete reversal of attitude of the people of Jerusalem renewed … Applause and songs of victory change in less than a week, to cries of anger and death … Palms and laurels become the scourges of cruel flagellation in the hands of these ingrates … They throw down the flowers they had gathered in order to pick up stones …
(With lively faith)
No, it is not thus, O King of kings, that we wish to welcome and acclaim Thee during this Holy Hour … Thou Who canst read the depths of our hearts, Thou Who dost see all, Thou knowest that we love Thee and that we wish, with a determination as deep as it is sincere, to co-operate in the extension of Thy Reign over souls and over society …
And it is with this intention, that we come as subjects and as soldiers to take Thy divine orders, resolved to give all, to sacrifice all in order to hasten the hour of Thy divine victory …
Behold Thyself, this time, O Jesus, a Prisoner in our hands — more of a Captive now than at Gethsemane …
But, Jesus, do not repeat today the miracle Thou hast worked twenty centuries ago to escape from Thy people when, for their own temporal interest, they had a moment’s fancy to acknowledge Thee King … Remain our Prisoner, this time, that for Thine own glory we may make Thee our King! …
Yes, Thy glory as well as ours is involved … Dictate Thy orders; command as Master, since too often, alas, Thou art refused that title and the right it confers! …
We have already learned the lessons, taught by Thee to Thy confidante and disciple of Paray …
But wilt Thou not, O King of Love, manifest to us also the brilliant light that shone before her eyes? …
Give us, good Jesus, a crumb, Oh! merely a crumb from that royal table where Thou revealest the secrets and the designs of Thy merciful Heart …
Show us that Thou art generous, more generous than the most liberal of all kings …
We will listen to Thee, Jesus …
(Great recollection, deep silence)
Jesus: Quid dicunt de Me? What do they say of Me? What do they think of Your Master, My children?
Do they believe in My Truth and My Justice? Above all, do they believe in My Love? …
My first Kingdom is interior; it is in your hearts … I insist on laying the foundation of My divine Sovereignty within you in the hidden sanctuary of your souls.
And this must be a kingdom of light, for I am the Light of the world and whosoever believes in Me shall not live in darkness.
O grief! that the Son of Man no longer finds great faith on earth …
(Slowly and gravely)
You believe in the wisdom of the learned and in the sincerity of intriguers … You believe in the friendship of creatures and the loyalty of the human heart … You believe in the promises of the great of this world, and in the flattery of persons serving their own interests … Yes, you believe in the nobility, the righteousness, the goodness of men in spite of horrible deceit, in spite of startling surprises of every moment … In the wound of the heart still bleeding, flourishes faith in the creature who has stabbed you …
But I, wounded to the Heart to spare you mortal wounds … I, the only Friend, the Friend Who is always faithful … I, the Truth, Who can neither deceive nor be deceived … I, Wisdom Who never errs … I, the infinite Love … the Mercy of the Father … I, the Savior nailed to a gibbet to bring to the threshold of Paradise My repentant executioners … I, alone, do not find faith, the sublime faith that would proclaim Me Master of intellects, and King of consciences …
And yet I am and I remain the Light of the World!
How much I desire to obtain this victory of light flooding your souls! … Give it to Me! …
Why are there fewer and fewer in the ranks of those who, famished for love, come to find Me at the Holy Table? …
It is their lack of faith which withdraws them from my Eucharist! …
Oh! the ignorance and false respect which arrests on the way, through lack of ardent faith, those whom I await here in order to give them to drink of the living waters of which I am the Source! …
If you had faith, great faith in My love, you would not allow yourselves to be deterred by this false fear which exhausts your affection, and wounds Me to the Heart so cruelly.
If you knew … and you would know if you were animated by a living faith … O yes, if you knew Who awaits you, Who it is that calls you to the Tabernacle! …
Let me conquer you and transfigure you by faith; faith that will reveal to you the secret treasures My Heart reserves for you; faith which will wrest from Me, as of old, the most startling miracles …
Let Me blind you by My light … then you will revel in the rapture caused by the revelation of My beauty and the magnificence of My love.
Children of My Heart, atoning friends, believe with deep, living, immense faith; believe in Me; above all believe in My love.
Do you really wish Me to reign in your souls by an intimate and permanent victory? … Ask Me to increase your faith! …
(If this Holy Hour could re-animate your faith, too often lifeless, it would be an immense benefit. The evil of our day is not so much the incredulity of the wicked as the weakness of the faith of believers. The glory of the Heart of Jesus is involved in this.)
Souls: Jesus, Light of our souls, put Thy creative Hands on our darkened souls … Command as King, and the scales will fall from our eyes! … Oh! grant us to see Thee! Reign over us by increasing our Faith!
All: Reign over us by increasing our Faith!
Jesus, Light of our souls, in the numbered hours of inner joy, when Thou allowest us to enjoy for a few moments the sunshine and flowers of life! Oh! grant that we may see Thee in those hours of joy. Reign over us by increasing our Faith!
All: Reign over us by increasing our Faith!
Jesus, Light of our souls, when in the bitterness of secret sorrows Thou allowest us to suffer anguish that creatures can neither console nor comprehend, Oh! grant that we may see Thee in this internal storm. Reign over us by increasing our Faith!
All: Reign over us by increasing our Faith!
Jesus, Light of our souls, in those harsh struggles between conscience and our miserable nature, between our desires and the hard realities of life, Oh! grant that we may see Thee in this painful conflict. Reign over us by increasing our Faith!
All: Reign over us by increasing our Faith!
Jesus, Light of our souls, in our happy and peaceful aspirations, when we plan for the temporal and Christian future of those dear to us, Oh! grant that we may see Thee in those plans. Reign over us by increasing our Faith!
All: Reign, over us by increasing our Faith!
Jesus, Light of our souls, in the agonizing uncertainties of life, when the horizon grows black around us, and when men and heaven seem to abandon us, Oh! grant that we may see Thee in this dark tempest. Reign over us by increasing our Faith!
All: Reign over us by increasing our Faith!
Jesus, Light of our souls, in the inevitable sacrifices that duty imposes upon us, when anguish of heart puts to a test the ones who love Thee, Oh! grant that we may see Thee in these bitter crises. Reign over us by increasing our Faith!
All: Reign over us by increasing our Faith!
Jesus, Light of our souls, in the delicate problems of our inner life, when Thou wisely permittest what we would not have willed: struggles, contradictions, and unforseen trials, Oh! grant us to see Thee in that grave hour. Reign over us by increasing our Faith!
All: Reign over us by increasing our Faith!
Thou only, Lord, art the Way, the Truth, and the Life. To whom shall we go when Thou alone hast the words of eternal life? … Like the blind man in the Gospel, we cry out with all our heart: Son of David, have pity on us, give light to our souls … Oh! grant us to see Thee everywhere and always. Reign over us by increasing our Faith!
All: Reign over us by increasing our Faith!
(Brief pause)
An angel came down to Nazareth one day to announce to the Queen of Virgins that, with her consent, the Savior-King would reign over Israel and over all the world.
But Heaven made as condition the construction of a Tabernacle, a home! Mary would be the Queen, and from there her Son would reign over the House of David and over all the races of the universe.
Today it is not an angel but the King of kings Himself Who comes down once more to propose to us His social Reign, His great victory which will be at the same time our salvation. It is Margaret Mary who has transmitted this wonderful message to us.
But this time again He requires living tabernacles, homes from whence He will rule triumphantly over the world.
These sanctuaries have been built already by Him and for Himself alone with a view to achieve the victory of His Calvary! … But alas! He has been banished from them … He is unknown there … He is often treated not as a King, but as a mendicant, and worse, as an intruder.
He knocks at all doors … Here out of ignorance they ask: Who is He? … There, with insolence: by what right does He knock? … Elsewhere they dismiss Him with courtesy or anger depending on mean human motives.
Again are realized the words of St. John: “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.”
If those souls and families but knew Who It is that raps in this hour of mercy at their doors … Who It is that brings them the peace they long for … What would not this divine Friend do if He reigned with the complete sovereignty of a Lover over those families! …
He is listening to us there, in the Tabernacle Oh! I profit by Jesus’ silence to draw here a simple, evangelical picture … Grasp and relish it as those fortunate ones who saw and heard the gentle Master when telling a parable to. the multitude enthralled by His divine words …
(Slowly with unction)
Listen: It is a cold winter night, the snow is falling …
About midnight a Pilgrim out of breath knocks at the door of a humble cottage. His Hair is wet; His Face drawn and pale is incomparably beautiful …
The door is opened to Him and He enters saying: “My peace be with you!”
The wonderful music of His Voice sweetly awakens the children, the little ones … They feel themselves secretly called; they come running; They press forward; they surround Him; they make Him sit near the fire …
“See,” the parents say in low tones, “you can read the cruel agony of His Heart in the beauty of His Eyes …”
The children whisper to one another: “How good and kind He is … but just see, there’s blood on His Hands, and His Forehead is cut!”
The Pilgrim speaks, and His words are revealing, they unveil a Heaven and what a Heaven it is! … All think to themselves: “He seems to carry heaven in His Heart! …”
From the time He has entered, a celestial air of ineffable peace has stolen sweetly over the happy, captivated souls … All their trouble has been quickly forgotten; no one now feels the icy cold that was blowing in before this mysterious Pilgrim came … How warm are all those hearts, close, very close to Him! …
One thing seems strange. They guess that He is a King, but no one is afraid of His Majesty: not the parents, for they have suffered … nor the children, for they are pure.
But the mild and piercing Eyes of the Pilgrim-King have already detected the deep anguish in the parents’ hearts. Out of pity for their grief, He does not speak of the absent … He has counted the empty places … The little ones are there, but the others … What has become of the older ones? …
They have gone from the shelter of their home! … Then to this anguish, other troubles have been added which the Pilgrim silently recalls to them by a heavenly glance, and the parents fall sobbing at His Feet …
“Do not weep without hope,” He says . . , “Weep, yes, but with Me, Who know you and Who love you … Your mourning and your tears drew Me here …”
Ah, the heavenly Stranger weeps too! … And as His tears moisten the brow and hair of the little ones who, leaning on His Heart, embrace Him … a calm, new, hitherto unknown peace hovers over this home … Heaven seems to have visited this corner of earth!
He wipes His Eyes only to cast a glance of pity, of deep love on this simple, beautiful Bethany, an exiled King’s oasis … Opening His smiling Lips, He says with sweet sadness: “I, too, had many children … They have left Me and I am always looking for them … I am always in quest of ‘their repentance, of their love …
“My hospitable friends, the cold outdoors, the gale in the countryside, is nothing in comparison with the anguish that rages, like a storm, here, in My Heart …”
As He says this, He uncovers His Breast … What a Wound He there discloses … His tunic is covered with blood! …
A moment’s silence, then He goes on: “Your kind welcome will be generously rewarded, for I am a King; but do not fear, for / am a King of Love!”
(Slowly, and with passionate love)
“And behold now, here is a secret, My secret: you who thirst for happiness, love Me! Tell Me all your troubles: yesterday’s griefs, today’s anguish, and the trials of the future. Confide to Me all your treasures, your hearts, your little ones, and especially your hope for the resurrection of those gone away. Confide everything to Me … Keep My secret of unalterable peace: Love Me with an immense love! … ”
Those words of healing, of strength, and of light caused a flood of tears, but they were happy tears … tears shedding hope and love! …
Those tears still flowed when parents and children, kissing His Hands which caressed them, spontaneously cried out: “King of Love, what is Your Name? … Who are You?”
“I am Jesus,” He said, stretching forth His Arms to them all … “I am your King!”
“Oh! yes,” Bethany answered; “then stay and live our life with us, forever … Be our Friend! …”
(Brief pause)
The Heart of Jesus wishes this scene to be a living reality in each of our homes … He knocks insistently on our doors. During this Holy Hour He wishes to enter as King … He asks to remain as Friend … He wishes to rule over our families with an intimate, profound, living reign … He asks our solemn promise; let us give it to Him loyally and sincerely.
Jesus: Behold your meek King comes to you. He brings you peace and He offers you the divine friendship of His Heart. But you can not serve two masters at the same time; you cannot unite Jesus and the world in the one same love … Which will prevail in your family? Who will be the King of Love?
Souls: Heart of Jesus, Thou only shatt be our King!
Jesus: And who is your choice as intimate friend ?
Souls: Thou alone, O Jesus, the Friend of Bethany!
Jesus: From now on, may I enjoin My divine Law upon you, and reign as Master in your home? … Will you hail Me as your King?
Souls: Heart of Jesus, Thou only shall be our King!
Jesus: And who will be the intimate friend in the secret sorrows of your family?
Souls: Thou alone, O Jesus, the Friend of Bethany!
Jesus: Henceforward, then, your persons and goods belong to Me … I may do with them as I will … But whom do you admit has the right to dispose of all events, sad and joyful, happy and unhappy, in your lives? Who will decide the path your family is to follow ?
Souls: Heart of Jesus, Thou only shalt be our King!
Jesus: When in My wisdom I impose struggles and sufferings on you, who will be your Confidant, your Consoler?
Souls: Thou alone, O Jesus, the Friend of Bethany!
Jesus: If I command as King, My authority must reach over all the actions of your daily life.
Will you accept that I design with wisdom and love the ordinary routine of everyday?
Souls: Heart of Jesus, Thou only shalt be our King!
Jesus: But I wish so much to have you always give Me My part and … the best part, even in the smallest details of your family life In the monotony of the daily task, who will always be your great friend?
Souls: Thou alone, O Jesus, the Friend of Bethany!
Jesus: Then invite Me to be always the Master and Counselor in important decisions … in the hours of cruel crises, when creatures abandon you to your sorrows … Shall I, as absolute King, rule from this moment, as I rule in Heaven, over this blessed corner of the earth, your home, which has become Mine? …
Souls: Heart of Jesus, Thou only shalt be our King!
Jesus: And at the hour of forced departures and painful separations, in the hour when death on the wings of illness or from an unforeseen misfortune draws near you … Who will be at that supreme moment the intimate, inseparable, the first and last Friend of your home?
Souls: Thou alone, O Jesus, the Friend of Bethany! ,
(Never let a great joy, a cruel sorrow, a grave decision, any anniversary whatever in the home, pass without receiving in the family, the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart, the Royal Friend of Bethany.)
The glorious victory of Jesus cannot remain a victory only in the family. It ought to become a social victory; still more, it must be transformed, when the hour comes, into a national victory.
As the World War rages, the suppliant cry rises unceasingly to Heaven: “Lord, give us the victory, it is justice, it is our right!”
So say all the belligerents who still have the faith … But, alas, how many fall on their knees to say to the dethroned King, to the ignored Master, to the exiled Lord: “Before all else, give us the grace and the glory of Thy own victory? …
“Heart of Jesus, Thy laurels first, Thy Kingdom come, then all things will be added unto us! …”
We are living in the providential hour of the Sacred Heart, King and center of the Catholic world … To save the nations from collapse, let us call to our aid the only Liberator, the divine King-Conqueror … It is an urgent necessity that we do so for the interests of peace, justice, and the felicity of families and of society …
Alas! Nations and governments have leagued together against God and against His Christ … The world has banished the One Who is the Peace of Heaven; it has crucified the One Who is Life. So we see the world, like the hill of Calvary, tremble and split asunder, in a convulsion of agony, a sigh of certain and near death. Let the people come back to the crucified One and His holy Gospel; let the King of Love be profoundly enthroned in hearts and homes, and the work of regeneration will begin; the world, hopelessly doomed to ruin, will be saved …
Let us call on the Savior-King for it is necessary and urgent that His social Reign extend over us.
Since the Holy Hour is above all, a great prayer of reparation, let us draw near to Our Lord, Who is treated as a malefactor, yea, as a fool, by modern social apostasy, and render Him the homage of deeply felt adoration; let us offer His ignored Royalty the amends of faith and love … Sharing His outrage and His sorrow, let us speak to Him from a deeply contrite heart.
Souls: O King of Love, show us the five adorable Wounds of Thy tortured Body! …
Thou art still nailed to an ignominious gibbet by the very ones Thou awaitest on the threshold of Eternity …
May our loving reparation transform Thy Wounds into sources of life! May Thy Cross become a throne of grace and mercy from which Thou wilt draw to Thy Sacred Heart the people who have strayed away! …
Guided by the Queen of Sorrows, we draw near Thee … In pressing our lips to Thy Wounds let us leave there the prayer of love and reparation Thou Thyself asked of Margaret Mary …
Let us kiss, while adoring it, the Wound of the right Hand, a Wound re-opened by the School without God.
All: We will love Thee, Jesus, for those who hate Thee! (3 times)
Let us kiss, while adoring it, the Wound of the left Hand, re-opened by Divorce law, as wicked as it is infamous.
All: We will love Thee, Jesus, for those who outrage Thee! (3 times)
Let us kiss, while adoring it, the Wound of the right Foot, re-opened by crimes that profane and destroy the Christian home.
All: We will love Thee, Jesus, for those who scourge Thee! (3 times)
Let us kiss, while adoring it, the Wound of the left Foot, re-opened by anti-Christian laws.
All: We will love Thee, Jesus, for those who betray Thee! (3 times)
Let us kiss, while adoring it, the Wound of the Sacred Side, constantly re-opened by ingratitude, by apostasy, by base social compromises, and by horrible Jansenism which insults the generosity of His Love …
All: We will love Thee, Jesus, for those who ignore Thee! (3 times)
(Brief pause)
(Say in your hearts a prayer of reparation for the sins of our country.)
And now, Adorable Master, forget the sentence of deicide by which many Pilates, abusing the power Thou hast conferred upon them, have tried so often to put Thee to death Pardon their wanderings, and, to save the people for the sake of the just who are found among them, come as Conqueror, ruling over the tempest; Heart of Jesus, extend Thy social Reign!
All: Heart of Jesus, extend Thy social Reign!
Lord, in our era there are many like the members of the Sanhedrin and the Doctors of old, law-makers of a day, who have worked with infernal fury to bar Thy Name, Thy Spirit, and Thy Laws from public institutions … Arise, Lion of Judah, and coming forth from the Tabernacle rule over the tempest; Heart of Jesus, extend Thy social Reign!
All: Heart of Jesus, extend Thy social Reign!
The race of Judas has long determined and worked with hellish rage to destroy Nazareth, profaning, and even wiping out if possible the Christian family … O adorable Nazarene, for the sake of Mary, Thy Mother, who is also our Mother, come back as Conqueror to this turbulent world, dispel by a royal gesture all the modern imitators of those who brought about Thy Crucifixion; there are so many of them today; rule over the tempest; Heart of Jesus, extend Thy social Reign!
All: Heart of Jesus, extend Thy social Reign!
And now, O King of Love, listen to the farewell and the last prayer of Thy faithful friends, of Thine apostles:
O Jesus, in the presence of the Immaculate Queen and of the Angels who adore Thee in this Host, in the face of Heaven and also of this ungrateful and rebellious earth … we acknowledge Thee, Jesus, the only Lord and Master, the only Source of all authority, of all virtue, of all justice, of all beauty …
That is why, in a spirit of solemn reparation, we assert that we do not recognize a social order without God or against God; Thou art the foundation of the social order, O Jesus!
All: Thou art the foundation of the social order, O Jesus!
We do not believe in the Utopias of a civilization without God or against God; Thou art the principle of civilization, O Jesus!
All: Thou art the principle of civilization, O Jesus!
We do not recognize any virtue of justice without God or against God; Thou art absolute Justice, O Jesus!
All: Thou art absolute justice, O Jesus!
We do not recognize law without God or against God; Thou art the source of law, O Jesus!
All: Thou art the source of Law, O Jesus!
We do not recognize liberty without God or against God; Thou art the only Liberator, O Jesus!
All: Thou art the only Liberator, O Jesus!
We do not recognize fraternity without God or against God; Thine is the only Fraternity, O Jesus!
All: Thine is the only Fraternity, O Jesus!
We do not recognize truth without God or against God; Thou art Truth itself, O Jesus! All: Thou art Truth itself, O Jesus!
We do not recognize love without God or against God; Thou art uncreated Love, O Jesus!
All: Thou art uncreated Love, O Jesus!
(Say the Credo or recite the Act of Consecration.)
Act of Consecration
of the Human Race to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus
(Leo XIII)
Most sweet Jesus, Redeemer of the human race, look down upon us, humbly prostrate before Thy Altar, We are Thine and Thine we wish to be; but to be more surely united with Thee, behold each one of us freely consecrates himself today to Thy most Sacred Heart. Many indeed have never known Thee; many too, despising Thy precepts, have rejected Thee, have mercy on them all, most merciful Jesus, and draw them to Thy Sacred Heart. Be Thou King, O Lord, not only of the faithful who have never forsaken Thee, but also of the prodigal children who have abandoned Thee; grant that they may quickly return to their Father’s house lest they die of wretchedness and hunger. Be Thou King of those who are deceived by erroneous opinions, or whom discord keeps aloof, and call them, back to the harbor of truth and unity of faith, so that soon there may be but one flock and one Shepherd. Be Thou King of all those who are still involved in the darkness of idolatry or of Islamism, and refuse not to draw them all into the light and kingdom of God. Turn Thine Eyes of mercy toward the children of that race, once Thy chosen people. Of old they called down upon themselves the Blood of the Savior; may it now descend upon them, a laver of redemption and life. Grant, O Lord, to Thy Church assurance of freedom and immunity from harm; give peace and order to all nations, and make the earth resound from pole to pole with one cry: Praise to the Divine Heart that wrought our salvation; to It be glory and honor forever. Amen.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy Kingdom come! (5 times)
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us. (3 times)
Saint Joseph, pray for us.
Saint Margaret Mary, pray for us.
Return to Table of Contents (21 Holy Hours by Father Mateo Crawley-Boevey, SS.CC.)