Sacred Heart

The Sacred Heart is a devotional name used by some Roman Catholics to refer to the physical Heart of Jesus as a symbol of Divine Love. Devotion to the Sacred Heart in focusing on Christ's heart metaphorically focuses on the emotional and moral life of Jesus and especially his love for humanity. It also stresses the central Catholic concept of loving Jesus. In the image, Christ's heart is shown containing wounds to which Jesus is pointing, including a crown of thorns. This "wounded heart" is meant to symbolize Christ's hurt at the rejection of his message by humanity. In including the "crown of thorns", it alludes to the manner of his death, which is further highlighted by the inclusion of crucifixion wounds on Christ's hands. Thus the Christ of the image is of a post-resurrection Jesus speaking to humanity, not the pre-crucifixion Jesus of the Gospels.

Related Topics:
Devotion - Roman Catholic - Jesus - Love - Crown of thorns - Crucifixion - Resurrection - Gospel

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The most significant source for the devotion to the Sacred Heart was Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (July 22 1647 - October 17 1690), of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, who claimed to have received visions of Jesus Christ. In these visions she was told that those who prayerfully looked to the Sacred Heart would be given specific graces. In his Papal Bull Auctorem Fidei Pope Pius VI praised devotion to the Sacred Heart, which had its own critics within Roman Catholicism. However, devotion to the Sacred Heart has been traced back as early as Saint Mechtilde (d. 1298) and Saint Gertrude (d. 1301).

Related Topics:
Saint - Margaret Mary Alacoque - July 22 - 1647 - October 17 - 1690 - Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary - Visions - Prayerfully - Graces - Papal Bull - Pope - Pius VI - Saint Mechtilde - Saint Gertrude

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The Spanish Carlist troops of the 19th and 20th centuries made detentes, amulets with an image of the Sacred Heart that would protect them against enemy bullets.

Related Topics:
Carlist - Detentes

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Following a theological review, in his encyclical Annum Sacrum (May 25, 1899) Pope Leo XIII decreed that the consecration of the entire human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus should take place. It took place on June 11, 1899. In the mid-20th century, the revered Italian cleric Padre Pio promoted and revived the concept of prayer directly to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Related Topics:
Encyclical - May 25 - 1899 - Pope Leo XIII - June 11 - 20th century - Padre Pio

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Religious imagery of the Sacred Heart regularly featured in Catholic homes. Sometimes that image contained beneath it a list of family members, meaning that the entire family were devotees of the Sacred Heart, from whom blessings on the home and the family members were sought, often through the prayer "O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in Thee". One particular image was used as part of a set, along with an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In that image, Mary too was shown pointing to her Immaculate Heart, expressing her maternal love for the human race and for her son, Jesus Christ. The mirror images reflect an eternal binding of the two hearts. This set of images is shown here.

Related Topics:
Blessed Virgin Mary - Immaculate

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Many non-Catholics, particularly fundamentalist Protestants, have criticized devotion to the Sacred Heart as idolatry. Although some Catholics have been critical of the "overly sentimental" nature of such imagery and devotion, these critics also recognize that the images essentially reflect the core Christian tenet of "love". Marian imagery underwent a degree of a revival under the papacy of Pope John Paul II, who was a devotee of the Blessed Virgin.

Related Topics:
Fundamentalist - Protestant - Idolatry - Pope John Paul II

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There is folklore regarding the Sacred Heart as an actual physical object, kept in vessel or crypt, by the Catholic Church, or as an essence that is passed down through lineage of holy descent. Interestingly, not in all folklore is this essence or vessel kept by the Catholic Church, and not all the caretakers were termed saints by traditional Christian faiths. One upshot of this legend is that any who keep the Sacred Heart possesses perfect knowledge of all spiritual issues and is infallible. Less palettable to mainstream Christian faith are the versions of these legends that claim the Sacred Heart is precisely and utterly the soul of the Christian savior to be protected until his Father establishes the Kingdom of Heaven.

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The Sacred Heart is still a widely used name for many Catholic institutions, including universities in Connecticut, USA, Tokyo and Luxembourg, and many Catholic parishes, hospitals, schools and religious orders. It also gives its name to a holy day in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar, the Feast of the Sacred Heart.

Related Topics:
Connecticut, USA - Tokyo - Luxembourg - Religious orders - Roman Catholic - Liturgical calendar - Feast of the Sacred Heart

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