MONTH OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS - SECOND DAY

“Behold the heart that has so much loved men, and has spared nothing for love of them, even to consuming itself to give them pledges of its love, but which receives from the majority of men no other recompense but ingratitude, and insults towards the Sacrament of love; and what grieves Me most is, that these hearts are consecrated to Me.”

         MONTH OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS

                            SECOND DAY  

                      THE HEART OF JESUS 

        IS THE MOST PERFECT MODEL OF LOVE

'I will give them a Heart. I will make an everlasting covenant with them, and will not cease to do them good' (Jer. 32: 40)

Jesus has given us His Heart, with the Cross, the Thorns, the Wound, and the Flames, in order that we might give Him ours, without reserve or division, and strive to love as He loves. His Divine Heart is really the most perfect model of love for us, as we shall find in the second meditation. Let us commence by a general consideration to which the pious reader will be ever ready to return, though it has been before pointed out. The heart of man is the source of all good; it is also the principle of evil, of good and evil thoughts, of virtues and vices. 'They come forth from the heart'. But the heart of a God is necessarily the most perfect of all hearts, the very temple and sanctuary of sanctity, the treasury of every virtue. The most sublime intelligences of heaven, the glorious Seraphim, the flaming Cherubim, are not able to look into the abyss of that divine ocean, nor fathom its depth, extent, or height. They contemplate it with ecstasy, and with eternal longings which never weary.

     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.