BY Father Mateo Crawley-Boevey, SS.CC.
Additional Devotions for Fridays Subsequent to the First
January. — Meditation for The 2nd Friday
For The 3rd Friday
For The 4th Friday
“Behold this Heart which has so loved men! …
My children, contemplate It weighed down with opprobrium in this divine Host … Listen to the throbbing of Its love … Behold the flames of charity which devour It. Here is My Heart all inflamed with love … for you … and for you alone. And not being able to restrain any longer the burning desires which consume It, It has willed to be delivered up even to those who with the cruel sword — the sword of the blackest ingratitude — have pierced that Heart through and through. In thus confiding to you My Heart, I am making the supreme sacrifice for the salvation of the world.
Behold this Heart, beloved apostles, I give it to you in exchange for your wretched and ungrateful hearts! … O, if you knew the thirst of love, of infinite love which consumes Me in the Sacrament of the holy Altar!
Until now I have often been a King in a vast desert … a Monarch too often forsaken … nay, ignored … But behold the hour marked by Providence for My victory has arrived. I come now as conqueror … and in spite of Satan and his satellites I will vanquish the world by the omnipotence of My adorable Heart. Will you pay homage to it, My friends? … O, then stretch forth your hands … Open wide your hearts to receive the supreme gift of My redemptive mercy … Remember that I came on earth and that I returned to Paray to enkindle the fire of holy love, that living fire which will beget a life of sanctity and sacrifice … And what would I but that it be enkindled? …
Fix your eyes on the Wound of My Side … Through this divine opening contemplate the Heart which has loved you unto the unspeakable abasements of Bethlehem … even to the renouncement and humiliations of Nazareth … nay more … to the agony of a Calvary of shame and of woe … Yes, My children, it is this same Heart which, ceasing to beat on Calvary, never ceases to love you. Behold It is all yours in the holy Eucharist — the inextinguishable burning bush of the holy Altar.
Alas! … My love … My great love is not loved! …
That is why, sorrowful unto death, I again experience the pangs of the agony I suffered in reaping the harvest of thorns brought forth by My dearly loved vineyard. O souls devoted to reparation, during this Holy Hour draw out the thorns encircling My Heart! … It is an hour of happiness for you, but above all an hour of glory for Me, Captive-God, ever offering My love, yet awaiting and demanding yours in return!
I die of love! … Come near and sustain Me in My mystic agony … I have been enduring it on the holy Altar for you for twenty centuries. Will you this evening be angels of consolation to me for one hour?
Ah! You do not know how ardently I love you! … But too well I know what little love I receive in return from my favored children.
Alas! the world willfully ignores all My goodness … It will have none of My tender caresses … It abuses My mercies.
Behold, wherefore My soul is sorrowful unto death. Come … See, here is the Heart which has never ceased loving you … Hasten eagerly, for I wish to confide It to you as a pledge of resurrection.
Come, and in exchange for this Divine Heart give Me yours, consecrate to Me your souls, your entire life, with your joys, and your sufferings. Give Me all! … I am craving only your love: “Love Me and I will forgive you!” …
I await this word of love from you … You will say it to Me this very moment … and in accepting the incomparable gift of My Heart you will acknowledge Me as your King of Love!
(Pause)
(We are certainly very unworthy of such a gift, but since it is His boundless mercy which offers it to us, let us accept it with all gratitude and humility for our own sanctification and for His glory.)
Souls: Lord Jesus, our hearts are too poor; we dare not offer them to Thee; … But they are Thine, take them, but in exchange, give us Thy adorable Heart forever! …
(Aloud) All: Give us Thy adorable Heart forever! …
In the name of the Virgin Mary, O Jesus, give us Thy Heart in our hours of fervor when we feel the desire to love Thee and suffer as the Saints did …
All: Give us Thy adorable Heart forever! …
In the name of Saint John, the Beloved, give us, O Jesus, Thy Heart in hours of peace when we enjoy the sweet calm of an innocent or a pardoned conscience …
All: Give us Thy adorable Heart forever! …
In the name of Thy friends of Bethany, give us, O Jesus, Thy Heart in hours of care and pain when our souls feel the tortures of affliction! …
All: Give us Thy adorable Heart forever! …
In the name of the privileged Apostles of Tabor and Gethsemane, give us, O Jesus, Thy Heart in our moments of joy and our hours of agony! …
All: Give us Thy adorable Heart forever! …
In the name of the penitent Magdalen and of the compassionate women of Jerusalem give us, O Jesus, Thy Heart in our hours of human weakness and when touched by the grace of repentance! …
All: Give us Thy adorable Heart forever! …
In the name of Holy Church, give us, O Jesus, Thy Heart during those hours of combat when the tribute of our zeal and of our sacrifices are asked of us! …
All: Give us Thy adorable Heart forever! …
In the names of Saint Bernard, Saint Augustine, Saint Francis de Sales, Saint Mechtilde, and Saint Gertrude, happy forerunners of this admirable devotion, give us, O Jesus, Thy Heart, to make good resolutions when Thou wilt demand greater fervor from us! …
All: Give us Thy adorable Heart forever! …
In the name of Thy spouse and first Apostle, Margaret Mary, give us, O Jesus, Thy Heart, in every moment of life and especially in the agony of death! …
All: Give us Thy adorable Heart forever! …
O, yes! Jesus, give us Thy Heart as a source of life, as an oasis of rest, as a foretaste of Heaven … In spite of our unworthiness may It be ours, O Jesus, with all Its treasures of light, of peace, and of strength, for in this divine sanctuary we wish to learn to love Thee … to glorify Thee … Jesus, Thou hast already given us the Cross … Thou hast given us Thy Mother … Thou hast given us Thy Blood. O, give us then the paradise of Thy Heart for time and for eternity! …
Having It we desire nothing more either in Heaven or on earth.
(Pause or hymn)
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| Sunday School Hymn Book, page 56 |
Sisters of Notre Dame Boston, 1907 |
|---|---|
| 1. O Sacred Heart, what shall I render Thee, For all the gifts Thou hast bestowed on me? O Heart of God, Thou seem’st but to implore, That I should love Thee daily more and more. CHORUS |
CHORUS Then I will love Thee, Then I will love Thee, Then I will love Thee Daily more and more. |
| 2. O Heart of Jesus, come and live in me, That with thy love my heart consumed may be; O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I implore, That I may love Thee daily more and more. CHORUS |
3. O Sacred Heart, the sunshine of our days, Be Thine the songs of everlasting praise, Whose strains shall break, on the eternal shore, Where we shall love and praise Thee evermore. CHORUS |
| 4. Dear Sacred Heart in life’s last, awful hour, Oh! let us feel Thy love’s Almighty pow’r, Oh! Then o’er all this grace we Thee implore, That we may love and trust Thee more and more. CHORUS |
5. O Sacred Heart, be this our life’s one aim, To labor for the glory of Thy name; O dearest Heart, this grace we Thee implore, That all the world may know and love Thee more. CHORUS |
(Let us ask for fidelity, for generosity in order to make some return for this incomparable gift from our Savior … Implore Him to give us during this Holy Hour greater light to appreciate the loveliness and infinite bounty of a God, Who offers us the source of His own life … to communicate new life to us … Let us humble ourselves … Let us love Him Who has loved us so much … Listen to His voice …)
Jesus: You call Me Master and Lord and you say well, for so I am … But listen, I am happy to have become the slave of man here in the Tabernacle out of love for ungrateful man … Has it ever occurred to you that in calling you to My Altar … in eagerly soliciting your love … in confiding to you the treasure of My Heart … in seeking you, little flowers of the fields, arid sands of the desert, I, Lord of Heaven and Master of earth, I sought My delights, I looked for consolation? … And why? Ah! … Because I love you, my little ones, with such a great love that I have made you, in a way, necessary to Myself so that without you My Heart suffers.
O, yes, believe Me … Without you, who have so often forgotten Me … without you, who have oftentimes preferred the vanities of earth to Me … without you, the prodigal children of My Heart, I, Jesus, could not live after having tasted your love, were it only the love of one faithful soul! … Ah! I must see you in Heaven in the eternal companionship of men redeemed by My Blood so that My glory there be complete! … Do not forget this, for the most beautiful jewels in your Savior’s crown must be the ransomed souls of His brothers … Ah! You have cost Me so much! …
Acknowledge it during this Holy Hour, at least you, My privileged, My spoiled children … Admit it to Me this evening, for since the world refuses to believe that I have loved it and still love it to this extent, I need to hear you say it. Therefore, for My consolation, for My triumph of love, for My rightful glory … tell Me, yes, tell Me that you accept the gift of My Heart.
Affirm that you accept this treasure of paradise that you accept it because you are determined to render Me this testimony of faith in My love; … because you firmly believe that I, God of the Tabernacle, have created the heart of man, your heart, to make it a living Tabernacle, the garden of My delights … Even though I am God from all eternity, My Heart needs you in time!
Come, My faithful friends, draw close to My Heart, for I am sorrowful … I am wounded by love … Do not tarry … I languish with the desire of finding a shelter of exquisite tenderness, of ardent faith and of burning charity in all your souls … Thrill with joy, for it is I. It is Jesus Who says to you: I hunger for you!
Speak to Me now … Open, open wide your souls to receive Me; above all, tell Me that you really love Me … that you love Me with a love beyond measure!
(We have come to speak to Him, to open to Him our souls, and to give Him those souls aglow with love … What an admission Jesus has made! … Telling us that He needs us! … Begging for our love which is His due! … Let us answer Him by an ardent profession of love, for it is our heart which needs Him.)
Souls: O Jesus, beholding Thee so approachable and so good, unlike the Apostle who cried: Depart from us, because we are sinful men, we run to Thee in order that the sweet bonds of intimacy which unite Thy Heart and ours may be strengthened.
Come, Jesus, come and be refreshed, taking delight in our hearts, when those who rule over others scorn Thy Law and curse Thy Name. Remember that we are Thine, that we are consecrated to the glory of Thy divine Heart! …
Come, Jesus, come and be refreshed, taking delight in our hearts, when the multitudes led by satanic powers profane Thy sanctuaries and clamor for Thy Blood. Remember that we are Thine, that we are consecrated to the glory of Thy divine Heart! …
Come, Jesus, come and be refreshed, taking delight in our hearts, when the deceitful and worldly wise, whose pride Thou hast patiently but firmly condemned, grieve Thee by the insults and outrages they heap upon Thy Holy Church. Remember that we are Thine, that we are consecrated to the glory of Thy divine Heart.
Come, Jesus, come and be refreshed, taking delight in our hearts, when thousands of Christians, unmindful of Thy adorable Person, wound Thee cruelly by the sword of their indifference … Remember that we are Thine … Turn on us Thy sad and suppliant glance … Do not forget that we are Thy children, consecrated forever to the glory of Thy divine Heart! …
On the altar of our sacrifice, we will chant to Thy glory: Honor to Thy Sacred Heart, O beloved Master! Thy Kingdom come! …
(If you feel remorse for some secret fault, for a relapse into sin, especially for a lack of generosity, which, as you know, grievously wounds our Lord, ask His pardon … He knows all …but He wants a protestation of love and repentance from you … Let not discouragement weary you; come back to listen to the words of our sweet Master.)
Jesus: My greatest desire, My little ones, is to see you relish My Life … I have given it to you by My Blood, and I wish you to live it … I give it to you as the source of new life in giving you My Heart. I wish to live in you because you need Me to calm your troubled conscience, to sustain you in your weakness, to confirm your resolutions.
Come, you the elect of My Eucharist … I alone am Your Strength!
(Slowly with unction)
Delight in My Life; … I give it to you, in giving you My Heart. I give it to you for that moment when you must endure the brunt of violent temptations … Do not lose heart; do not yield to the suggestions of the enemy of your salvation … Be strong; keep yourselves in My grace; … do not forsake Me lest you would be alone in the strife. Remain united to Me so that you may keep your soul in peace … Come, you the elect of My Eucharist … I alone am your Victory!
Delight in My Life; … I give it to you in giving you My Heart. I give it to you for that moment when, bowed down under the weight of sin, your wretchedness will reproach you; for that moment when the threat of My justice will overwhelm you like the crushing burden of a revengeful mountain. Rise up again, do not without hope weep over that guilty fall! Come … come all, the needy, the infirm, the sinner … Be forever Mine, children of My great mercy! … Came, be the elect of My Eucharist … I am the Pardon of God … I alone am Love!
Delight in My Life; … I give it to you in giving you My Heart. I give it to you for that moment when you feel the thick cloud of sadness and the bitterness of grief weighing on your heart … Life is sad and full of uncertainty. Curse it not, nevertheless, nor lose the precious treasure of your tears … groan not in the dangerous and dark path of isolation. Come … O, come … delay not … be the elect of My Eucharist … I am the balm that heals all wounds … I am the great Consoler … I am your Jesus!
(He gives us His Heart, not only to seek for Himself consolation in us … but above all to strengthen us, to infuse new life into us, and to give us fresh proofs of His great mercy … Let us thank Him … Let us implore Him to leave us His Heart as a pledge of love during life, at the hour of death, and for eternity.)
(Pause)
Souls: Thank Thee, Lord Jesus, for the tender mercy with which to ward off from us great evil, Thou offerest us the sovereign remedy of Thine Own Heart. Thank Thee, Jesus, for the delicate yet incomprehensible interest which Thou takest in our concerns when Thou shouldst have been unmindful of them as a just punishment for our own neglect and for all our many offenses … Thank Thee, O thank Thee a thousand times, gentle and kind Jesus of the Tabernacle! …
And now, Lord, as evidence of sincere and lively gratitude on the part of the favored ones here present, and in reparation for our ingratitude and for that of our fellow men, we wish during this Holy Hour with all the anxious solicitude of burning love to concern ourselves with Thy dearest and most sacred interests …
Adorable Master, there are so many conspirators who plot deicide by blasphemy and the public and social negation of Thy divine Kingship! …
Alas, O Jesus, numerous also are those compromisers who condemn Thee by their hypocritical silence, those who disdain to pronounce Thy Name, or what is still more wounding, those who pretend not even to know Thee!
They do not consider Thee worthy, Lord, of even a passing glance, but … they strike Thy adorable Face … Thou art not only an Unknown … the phantom of a legend of the past … But they have the audacity to disregard Thee, in order to safeguard, say they, liberty of conscience and social peace, for reasons of justice and for the welfare of civilized nations on the march towards progress … Thou art condemned to banishment and death …
That shall not be, O King of Love, a thousand times no! Rather with Thee they will crucify us also! … Adorable Jesus, behold this phalanx of friends drawing its ranks closer around our threatened Master Who presides over this Cenacle … Vivified by the fire of a new Pentecost — that of the divine Eucharist — we protest against this legal deicide of our apostate day.
Fired with ardent zeal for the glory of Thy cause, we proclaim Thee in the face of Thy enemies, Conqueror of Light and King of Love! …
And since Thou art Conqueror and King by divine right … since Thou art a faithful God, we will not leave here until Thou hast again promised us Thy victory … that victory already promised to armies whose battlecry is: “Thy Kingdom come, O Heart of Jesus!”
O, yes, Jesus-Savior, Thou wilt reign over us, and Thou alone, Jesus Crucified! …
Draw near, sweetest Master, and here among Thine own, surrounded by Thy children, receive from their hands the crown of royalty … a crown which those who are nothing but dust, yet consider themselves powerful, would snatch from Thee, because recognizing the depths of Thy humility, they believe they can insult Thee from their pretended heights!
Advance triumphant in this fervent gathering of true brothers … Efface not the wounds of Thy hands and of Thy feet … Adorn not, embellish not Thy Head already so beautiful, empurpled by Thy Blood … Ah! above all, close not … leave wide open the deep and celestial Wound in Thy breast … Thus, O bloody King, clothed with this purple of love and with the tunic of opprobrium … without transfiguring Thyself, O Jesus … just as Thou wert, the same Jesus of that appalling night of Holy Thursday, present Thyself, come and receive the Hosanna of this guard of honor which keeps vigil for the glory of Christ Jesus, its King! …
All: Hail, the Heart of Jesus our King!
Kings and rulers may trample under foot the tables of Thy laws, but while they fall from their thrones into the tomb of oblivion, we, Thy subjects, will continue to acclaim Thee:
All: Hail, the Heart of Jesus out King!
Lawmakers will say that Thy Gospel is a drawback, and that it is a duty to discard it in favor of progress … but while they disappear into the tomb of oblivion, we, Thy adorers, will continue to acclaim Thee:
All: Hail, the Heart of Jesus our King!
The proud, the worldly, the unworthy rich, may decree that Thy moral law is for bygone ages, that Thy complete refusal to compromise kills liberty of conscience … but while they are lost in the tomb of oblivion, we, Thy children, will continue to acclaim Thee:
All: Hail, the Heart of Jesus our King!
Those athirst for honors and riches, who sell to the nations a false greatness and a misleading liberty, will fall against the rock of Calvary and of Thy Church; … and while they go down annihilated into the tomb of oblivion, we, Thy apostles, will continue to acclaim Thee:
All: Hail, the Heart of Jesus our King!
The heralds of a materialistic civilization, aloof from God and in opposition to the Gospel, will one day die, poisoned by their false doctrines … and while cursed by their own children, they sleep in the tomb of oblivion, we, Thy consolers, will continue to acclaim Thee:
All: Hail, the Heart of Jesus our King!
The Pharisees, the proud, the impure, will have grown old planning the ruin, a thousand times decreed, of Thy Church … and baffled, will lose themselves in the tomb of oblivion … But we, Thy ransomed ones, will continue to acclaim Thee:
All: Hail, the Heart of Jesus our King!
O, yes, honor to His Sacred Heart! … And while Lucifer, angel of darkness, retreating from firesides, schools, and societies, will bury himself, eternally chained, in the abyss … we, Thy friends, will continue to acclaim Thee forever and ever:
All: Hail, the Heart of Jesus our King!
Honor to Thy Sacred Heart in the triumph of Thy Eucharist and of Thy Church! … Love and glory forever to Thy Sacred Heart! …
(Pause or hymn)
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| 1) Jesus! my Lord, my God, my all! How can I love Thee as I ought? And, how revere this wondrous gift, So far surpassing hope or thought? Sweet Sacrament! we Thee adore! O, make us love Thee more and more! O, make us love Thee more and more! |
2) Had I but Mary’s sinless heart To love Thee with, my dearest King! O with what bursts of fervent praise Thy goodness, Jesus, would I sing! Sweet Sacrament! we Thee adore! O, make us love Thee more and more! O, make us love Thee more and more! |
| 3) O see! within a creature’s hand The vast Creator deigns to be, Reposing infant-like, as though On Joseph’s arm, or Mary’s knee. Sweet Sacrament! we Thee adore! O, make us love Thee more and more! O, make us love Thee more and more! |
4) Thy Body, Soul, and Godhead, all! O mystery of love divine! I cannot compass all I have, For all Thou hast and art are mine! Sweet Sacrament! we Thee adore! O, make us love Thee more and more! O, make us love Thee more and more! |
| 5) Sound, sound His praises higher still, And come, ye angels, to our aid, ‘Tis God! ‘Tis God! the very God Whose power both man and angels made! Sweet Sacrament! we Thee adore! O, make us love Thee more and more! O, make us love Thee more and more! |
6) Ring joyously, ye solemn bells! And wave, O wave, ye censers bright! ‘Tis Jesus cometh, Mary’s Son And God of God, and Light of Light! Sweet Sacrament! we Thee adore! O, make us love Thee more and more! O, make us love Thee more and more! |
| 7) O earth! grow flowers beneath His feet, And thou, O sun, shine bright this day! He comes! He comes! O Heaven on earth! Our Jesus comes upon His way! Sweet Sacrament! we Thee adore! O, make us love Thee more and more! O, make us love Thee more and more! |
8) He comes! He comes! The Lord of Hosts, Borne on His throne triumphantly! We see Thee, and we know Thee, Lord; And yearn to shed our Blood for Thee. Sweet Sacrament! we Thee adore! O, make us love Thee more and more! O, make us love Thee more and more! |
| 9) Our hearts leap up; our trembling song Grows fainter still; we can no more; Silence! and let us weep – and die Of very love, while we adore. Great Sacrament of love divine! All, all we have or are be Thine! All, all we have or are be Thine! |
Amen. |
Lord, we have to say farewell to Thee … but, in leaving Thee, we confide Thee to the Angels who will adore Thee in our place … and to Thy Immaculate Mother who will sing Thy praises in the name of her children …
We are going, Jesus, but we leave Thee our hearts plunged in the depths of Thy Sacred Side … Before parting, Lord, permit us on this evening, more beautiful than the most radiant of dawns … permit us one last prayer … Jesus our Savior … Jesus our Brother … Jesus our Friend; … remember those wretched ones who are not here, and who, sad to say, regret it not, for they live in the byways of a guilty life of sin … O God, annihilated by love … they have abandoned Thee …
(Slowly with unction)
Thou art so sweet, Eucharistic Jesus! Shine with a light triumphant over so many blind ones who wish not to see the marvels of Thy love nor to recognize that Thou art the only … the true Way … Grant this miracle of light through love for Thy Immaculate Mother and for the glory of Thy Sacred Heart! …
Thou art so tender, Eucharistic Jesus! Give to the multitude of misguided ones that peace they vainly seek in the joys of a seductive world … a world which, singing, sells them tears and death … Be their hope! … Grant this miracle of tenderness out of love for Thy Immaculate Mother and for the glory of Thy Sacred Heart! …
Thou art so compassionate, Eucharistic Jesus! Satisfy this thirst for love, for boundless love, which has caused the loss of so many prodigals … They suffer, they languish far from Thy Altar, the only source of happiness … Lead them near Thee … that they may recognize that Thou and Thou alone, O Jesus, art Peace and Love! … Grant this miracle of pity for love of Thy Immaculate Mother and the glory of Thy Sacred Heart! …
Thou art so loving, Eucharistic Jesus! Dry the tears of despair shed by those who, bearing painfully the shocking deceptions of life without the help of Thy grace, have poisoned their existence. Far from the joys of the earthly paradise, farther still from the eternal Paradise, they are plunged, these unhappy ones, into an abyss of endless suffering … Bend down even to these unfortunates, O Jesu-Hostia … Seek them, go to meet them … speak to them those loving words that thrill the earth and make torrents, infinite oceans of inexpressible jubilation break forth in the eternal domains … Grant this miracle of love for Thy Immaculate Mother, for the glory of Thy Sacred Heart!
What have I, Lord Jesus, that Thou has not given me?
What do I know, that Thou hast not taught me?
What can I do, if Thou dost not help me?
And what am I, if not united to Thee?
Pardon … O! pardon my faults that have so wounded Thee.
Thou hast created me without any merit of mine,
Thou hast redeemed me without my co-operation …
Thou hast done much in creating me,
And still more in redeeming me,
Wilt Thou be less powerful,
Or less generous in forgiving me?
For all the Blood Thou hast shed,
and the cruel death Thou hast suffered,
were not for the profit of the Angels who adore Thee,
but to my benefit and that of the sinners who implore Thee.
If I have then denied Thee, let me praise Thee.
If I have outraged Thee, let me love Thee.
If I have offended Thee, let me serve Thee.
For, to live without loving Thee,
And to love without suffering for Thee,
O Jesus , . . that would be death without Thee.
(Pause)
(Mention here those in whose conversion you are particularly interested.)
And now, Lord, keep us in the depths of Thy Sacred Heart, there where Thou hast kept the treasure of Thy Mother’s tears … and do not allow creatures to carry us away, Jesus, by forcing us from this regained Eden …
Call us to Thee, meek and patient Jesus, in our hours of dangerous hesitation between the world and Thy rights, command us to come to Thee …
And since through Thy immeasurable mercy we have received the grace of knowing more intimately the sweet charms of the Heart of Jesus our Brother, our Savior-Friend, the King of Love … of knowing Thee, the God of charity, we wish to dwell in Thy Heart for ever … Therefore, adorable Master, write without delay at this very moment while we adore Thee in this sweet Tabernacle, write our names for time and eternity in Thy Sacred Heart! …
Lord, with a sweet violence keep us, Thy children, Thy intimate friends within the heavenly prison of Thy Sacred Side. It is there we ask to live in adoration and love … It is there that we would live and die singing eternally the glory and the ineffable mercy of Thine adorable Heart! … Thy Kingdom Come! …
A Pater and an Ave for the agonizing and for sinners.
A Pater and an Ave the world-wide triumph of the Sacred Heart, especially by daily Communion, by the Holy Hour, and the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart in families.
A Pater and an Ave for the particular intentions of all present.
A Pater and an Ave for our country.
Lord Jesus, we have been able to watch one hour with Thee at Gethsemane, and we would be happy to stay chained to Thy Tabernacle forever if Thou wouldst consent … We leave Thee, taking away peace, great peace, divine consolations, and new life … but also and above all with the satisfaction of having given Thee, our Master so ardently loved, consoling proofs of faith, and of the love which makes the reparation that Thou didst ask for with tears of Thy confidante, Margaret Mary …
Harken, Lord Jesus, so kind and sweet, to our last prayer:
Triumph, agonizing Heart of Jesus … Be the perseverance in innocence and faith of children who receive Thee in Holy Communion … Be their Friend! …
Triumph, agonizing Heart of Jesus … Be the consolation of the heads of Christian homes. Be their Life! …
Triumph, agonizing Heart of Jesus … Be the love of the multitude who suffer … of the poor who toil … Be their King! …
Triumph, agonizing Heart of Jesus … Be relief and sweetness to the afflicted … to souls plunged in desolation … Be their Brother! …
Triumph, agonizing Heart of Jesus … Be the strength of tempted souls … of the feeble. Be their Victory! …
Triumph, agonizing Heart of Jesus … Be the fervor and constancy of the lukewarm … Be their Love! …
Triumph, agonizing Heart of Jesus … Be the center of the militant life of the Church …
Be its triumphant Labarum! …
Triumph, agonizing Heart of Jesus … Be the ardent and victorious zeal of Thine Apostles. Be their Master! …
Triumph, agonizing Heart of Jesus … In the Eucharist be the holiness and the anticipated Heaven of souls … Be their Paradise of love. Be their All! …
And while awaiting the eternal happy day when we will sing Thy glories, let us, sweetest Master, suffer, love, and die in the heavenly Wound of Thy Side, murmuring in that Wound of Thy loving Heart, this word of triumph: Thy Kingdom come!
Act of Consecration to
the Sacred Heart of Jesus and
the Most Pure Heart of Mary
I give and consecrate to the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ my person and my life, my actions, afflictions, and sufferings, no longer wishing to use any part of my being except to honor, love, and glorify Him. It is my irrevocable intention to be all His and to do all for His love, renouncing with all my heart anything that might displease Him.
I take Thee therefore, O Sacred Heart, for the only Object of my love, the Protector of my life, the Pledge of my salvation, the Remedy for my frailty and inconstancy, the Atonement for all the faults of my life, and my sure Refuge at the hour of death.
Be my justification, most kind Heart, with God the Father and avert from me the darts of His just wrath. O Heart of Love, I place all my trust in Thee, for I fear all from my malice and weakness but I hope all from Thy goodness! Destroy in me all that may displease or resist Thee. May Thy pure love imprint Thee so deeply in my heart that I may never be able to forget Thee or be separated from Thee. I implore Thee, by all Thy goodness, that my name may be written in Thee, O Sacred Heart, for I wish all my happiness and glory to consist in living and dying as Thy friend and Thine apostle!
And thou, O Heart of Mary, closely and inseparably united to the Heart of Jesus, my desire is to see thee occupy after Jesus, thy Son, the first place in my heart which, from now on, I give and consecrate to thee. Thou wilt always be the object of my veneration, my love, and my confidence. I will strive to conform my feelings and affections to thine, and the continual effort of my life will be to imitate thy virtues.
O blessed Mother, deign to open thy heart to me, and to receive me there in the company of thy true children and faithful servants! Obtain for me the grace I need to imitate thy admirable heart as thou, thyself, hast imitated the Heart of Jesus. Rescue me from dangers, console me in my griefs, teach me to draw profit, as I should, from the good things and the evils of this life; protect me always, especially at the hour of death.
O Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, I consecrate myself to Thy service! Grant that now and always I may be Thy faithful child! Amen.
Five times, in honor of the Five Wounds of our Savior: Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy Kingdom come!
Three times: Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
Once: 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.)