How we should go to the Sacred
Heart
Approach, first, in a spirit of
penance, to the sacred heart of Jesus, bewailing your sins, adoring it with
profound respect; say to it, with St Thomas, “My Lord, and my God!" my
only help, suffer me to seek the remedy of all my wounds in the wound of your
heart. 0 heart, wounded with love and sorrow, who hast conceived so much regret
for all the sins of the world, is it not just that I should he wail mine, and
testify to you my grief for having caused you so much sadness ? 0 heart,
infinitely holy, and sovereignly amorous of purity, imprint in my heart a fear
and horror of the least sin. 0 penitent heart, who has paid the ransom of all
captives, grant that I may break my chains, combat my views, mortify my senses,
and repair, by penance, the glory of which I have robbed you.
Second—Go to the heart of
Jesus as to your asylum, in a spirit of confidence, to drown all your sadness,
your disgusts, your chagrins, your pains, in this abyss of sweetness. The more
sinful you are, the greater should be your confidence in the sacred heart, Jesus
is never tired of pardoning. He did not come for the just, or, at least, not
for those who believe themselves just, but for sinners. It is among them he is
to .be found; he allows himself to be called their “friend;" he runs to
meet the prodigal, and bathes him with his tears; he makes more rejoicing at
the conversion of one sinner, than at the perseverance of ninety nine just. Oh!
how agreeable to him is your confidence, after your fall, as he once said to St
Gertrude, it deliciously wounds his heart. A great servant of God, whose
characteristic was confidence, and abandonment to Providence, being enlightened
more on the greatness of God's mercies, when lying at the point of death,
exclaimed, “Why cannot I be restored to health, to live no longer but on
confidence?" Third—Approach to the sacred heart in a spirit of recollection
and prayer, to withdraw yourself from the embarrassments of baseness. It is he
himself who invites you, as he did his apostles, when he said, “Come aside into
the desert, and rest awhile."Yes; retire into the sacred heart of Jesus,
and there you will learn important truths, and have your strength renewed.
Say thrice: Sacred Heart of
Jesus, have mercy on us. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
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