Marvelous Heart
June 30, 2024
“AT THE period of Jesus’ coming upon this earth, man had forgotten how to love, for he had forgotten what true beauty was. His heart of flesh seemed to him as a sort of excuse for his false love of false goods: his heart was but an outlet, whereby his soul could stray from heavenly things to the husks of earth, there to waste his power and his substance. To this material world, which the soul of man was intended to make subserve its Maker’s glory,— to this world, which, by a sad perversion, kept man’s soul a slave to his senses and passions, —the Holy Ghost sent a marvelous power, which, like a resistless lever, would replace the world in its right position:—it was the sacred Heart of Jesus; a Heart of flesh, like that of other human beings, from whose created throbbings there would ascend to the eternal Father an expression of love, which would be an homage infinitely pleasing to the infinite Majesty, because there was in that love of that human Heart the dignity of its union with the Word. It is a harp of sweetest melody, that is ever vibrating under the touch of the Spirit of Love; it gathers up into its own music the music of all creation, whose imperfections it corrects, and supplies its deficiencies, and tunes all discordant voices into unity, and so offers to the glorious Trinity a hymn of perfect praise. The Trinity finds its delight in this Heart. It is the one only organum, as St. Gertrude calls it (Legatus divinæ pietatis; lib. ii. c. 23; lib. iii. c. 25.), the one only instrument which finds acceptance with the Most High. Through it must pass all the inflamed praises of the burning Seraphim, just as must do the humble homage paid to its God by inanimate creation. By it alone are to come upon this world the favors of heaven. It is the mystic ladder between man and God, the channel of all graces, the way whereby man ascends to God and God descends to man.”
— Dom Prosper Guéranger, “The Feast of the Sacred Heart,” The Liturgical Year
Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of heaven,
Have mercy on us*
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world,*
God, the Holy Ghost,*
Holy Trinity, one God,*
Heart of Jesus, Son of the Eternal Father,*
Heart of Jesus, formed by the Holy Ghost in the Virgin Mother’s womb,*
Heart of Jesus, substantially united to the Word of God,*
Heart of Jesus, of infinite majesty,*
Heart of Jesus, holy temple of God,*
Heart of Jesus, tabernacle of the Most High,*
Heart of Jesus, house of God and gate of heaven,*
Heart of Jesus, glowing furnace of charity,*
Heart of Jesus, vessel of justice and love,*
Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love,*
Heart of Jesus, abyss of all virtues,*
Heart of Jesus, most worthy of all praise,*
Heart of Jesus, king and center of all hearts,*
Heart of Jesus, wherein are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,*
Heart of Jesus, wherein dwelleth all the fulness of Godhead*
Heart of Jesus, in Whom the Father is well pleased,*
Heart of Jesus, of Whose fulness we have all received,*
Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills,*
Heart of Jesus, patient and rich in mercy,*
Heart of Jesus, rich unto all who call upon Thee,*
Heart of Jesus, fount of life and holiness,*
Heart of Jesus, propitiation for our offenses,*
Heart of Jesus, overwhelmed with reproaches,*
Heart of Jesus, bruised for our iniquities,*
Heart of Jesus, obedient even unto death,*
Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance,*
Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation,*
Heart of Jesus, our life and resurrection,*
Heart of Jesus, our peace and reconciliation,*
Heart of Jesus, victim for our sins,*
Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who hope in Thee,*
Heart of Jesus, hope of those who die in Thee,*
Heart of Jesus, delight of all saints,*
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world.
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.
V. Jesus, meek and humble of heart,
R. Make our hearts like unto Thine.
Let us pray
Almighty and everlasting God, look upon the Heart of Thy well-beloved Son and upon the praise and satisfaction which He offers unto Thee in the name of sinners; and do Thou of Thy great goodness grant them pardon when they seek Thy mercy, in the name of the same Thy Son, Jesus Christ, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee for ever and ever. Amen.
Indulgence of seven years, each time.–Leo XIII, April 2, 1899; S. P. Ap., March 10, 1933.
