Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is significant for family unity. Like the other Catholic families in our area, our family believed that enthroning the image of the Sacred Heart in our home would bring unity, grace, and love to the family by encouraging them to imitate Christ. So, part of the housewarming ritual is to enthrone the Sacred Heart image. There is an interesting history behind this ritual...
The earliest known proponents of the devotion to the Sacred Heart were St. Bernard in the 11th century, and two Saints in the 12th century, St. Gertrude the Great and St. Mechtilde.
However, the devotion became popular four centuries later when St. Margaret Mary Alacoque had visions in 1673. Jesus showed her the now-famous image of the Sacred Heart and revealed to her His desire for a widespread devotion of His Sacred Heart.
St. Margaret put the image on the canvas. It portrays a wounded, bleeding heart against Jesus’ chest, shining with divine light. The heart is encircled by the crown of thorns and a cross on the top. The wounded hands of Jesus point to the heart. The Heart represents Jesus’ physical heart and His sacrificial love. The pierced bleeding heart reminds us of the piercing of Jesus’ heart on the cross. The crown of thorns symbolizes the crown placed on Jesus’ head and the humiliation and torture He endured. The cross represents the choice Jesus made to win victory over sin. The Flames symbolize Jesus’ burning love for us. And the light surrounding the heart is the divine light that dispels the darkness.
The devotion to Sacred Heart helps us become one heart and mind with Jesus, to see the world as Jesus did. We reflect Jesus in our decisions, relationships, hurts, pains, loneliness, and possessions. We represent the mind, the heart, the actions, emotions, and the words of Jesus, which means the devotion has the power to lead us to the unity, intimacy, and oneness Jesus established with His Father through contemplation and prayer. It has the caliber to help us imitate the compassionate heart of Jesus, who cured the sick, welcomed the little ones, and offered hope to the hopeless. It can give us the courage to confront injustice, make friends with enemies, share dinner with the sinful, and reach out to those on the fringes of communities.
As we celebrate this feast, let us join St. Margaret and say, “Let the most perfect union reign among us.”
