Wednesday 10 June 2020

Step into my heart, leave your cares behind.



Of all the Catholic posts I’ve posted, this is surely the most Catholic.

I am writing this late and fairly quickly again, so I hope I am succinct and clear.

I’m touching on some important aspects of my spiritual life which I could go on about so… I am mortifying my desire to go on too much to share some things which give a lot of value to my life of faith.

(Catholic virtue level one attained through mortification)

Today many start a Novena prayer to the Sacred heart of Jesus, I will be starting mine tomorrow.

A Novena is a prayer or set of prayers, traditionally prayed over nine days though length of time can vary; prayers used for Novenas can be said any time, once, or every day, I do several perpetual Novenas.

Often Novenas are prayed to Saints in preparation for their feast day. At the moment, for example, I am praying an extra Novena prayer each evening to St. Anthony of Padua in preparation for his feast this Saturday.

Read about my lovely friend and constant companion, St. Anthony here-

https://www.stanthony.org/who-st-anthony/

People who pray Novenas usually begin nine days before the feast and end on the vigil (night before) the feast, but I did not know that when I started praying them so I time mine to end on the feast day itself rather than the vigil.

(Catholic virtue level two attained through recitation of Novena prayers)

The most common “Sacred Heart Novena” prayer which was famously prayed by St. Padre Pio and many will have started today I pray each morning.

We are praying a Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ in preparation for the feast of the Sacred heart of Jesus which this year will be on Friday 19th June.

The words are available via this link-

https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/novena-prayer-to-the-sacred-heart-311

As I already pray this prayer for the same intention each morning, I will be using a different prayer for the next nine days because I want to specially honour the heart of Jesus and be mindful of the approaching feast.

Before I pray Padre Pio’s perpetual Novena to the Sacred heart in my morning prayer routine, I consecrate myself to the hearts of Jesus and Mary every morning. This consecration is my first mindful renewal of my vocation as a follower of Jesus Christ and a reminder of who I rely on for faithfulness to that calling.

(Catholic virtue level three attained through consecration to the hearts of Jesus and Mary)

It’s all weird Catholic stuff if you don’t do it, even if you’re a Christian. Even if you’re a Catholic.

Yet this is a meaningful part of my faith, because my experience has shown these practices and devotion has real power to change a person’s spiritual life and relationship with God.

My devotion to the Sacred heart was something which God started certainly when I visited St. Mary MacKillop in North Sydney in 2017.

The only Australian Saint, and she is another good friend of mine. The first Saint I deliberately went on pilgrimage to see… on the metro, between sushi and coffee. But a pilgrimage, nonetheless.

Gift commission done with Fiona Galt for Sisters of Mary, Morning Star.


In a booklet I bought in the gift shop I read these words:

“Jesus love makes suffering sweet;

Jesus love makes the world a desert.

When storms rage,

When persecutions or dangers threaten,

I quietly creep into the deep abyss of the Sacred Heart and, securely sheltered there, my soul is in peace, though my body is tossed upon the stormy waves of a cold and selfish world.”

 

I was shocked to hear that the Saint crept into the heart of Jesus, as though it is an actual place.

This ignited a desire in me to understand something I had no experience of. Her words had the ring of truth, even though I couldn’t quite grasp them.

Soon after I started praying a Sacred heart consecration prayer each morning which was printed on a bookmark I bought from the St. Mary MacKillop gift shop.

I didn’t deliberately choose this consecration and hadn’t thought about what the word consecration meant, or the implication. I just liked the prayer, picture and quote on the bookmark and was captivated by the idea that the heart of Jesus is a haven.

By September 2017 I decided I wanted to consecrate myself to the Immaculate heart of Mary, whose feast falls the day after the Sacred Heart.

A friend gave me St. Louis De Montfort’s “True Devotion to Mary” and told me about what the consecration is. I was also reading about Fatima because it was the year of the Centenary so did the “first five Saturdays” in preparation, finishing with particular prayers and completing the consecration to Mary in May 2018.

The book info-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/True-Devotion-Mary-Preparation-Consecration/dp/1783790040/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&qid=1591821351&refinements=p_27%3ALouis+de+Montfort&s=books&sr=1-2

The “first five Saturdays” info-

http://www.themostholyrosary.com/appendix2.htm

So, I fell into my consecration to the Sacred Heart and then probably over-prepared for my consecration to the Immaculate heart of Mary.

These consecrations are linked and are in a sense the same intention of my heart, to give myself completely to God and live in His divine will. I have come to know and love what these devotions mean in a deeper way through prayer, contemplation and art.

The art of the Sacred heart of Jesus can look quite sentimental and dated but it stirs something in me now which I find irresistible. I am drawn to the pictures and statues of the heart of Jesus and feel connected to God through these works of art.

I am looking forward to the double feast and I am happy to celebrate the fact that Jesus has let me into his heart as I try in my small way to honour our loving God.

Sacred heart statue at St. Joseph's Church, Weymouth, where I worshipped 2018-2019.


It is a mysterious thing but I feel that the heart of Jesus is my home.

In the world I am still a bit of a restless, lost person but it doesn’t matter and it won’t ever matter if that never changes. There is a peace I have and a sense of belonging I experience just by looking at Jesus and his exposed, bleeding, burning heart.

I like the description of Purgatory, where people are purified in preparation for Heaven after death, as immortal souls being burned up in the heart of Jesus. His heart is on fire; burning away all the evil, so that in the embers the glowing, glorified body and soul of the believer is ready to shake off the dirt of the world and enter the divine life for good.

This journey into the divine can start to happen now. If we seek to make the heart of Jesus our haven, or safe place, then we are already having the dross of sin purified from our souls in preparation for Heaven.

(Catholic virtue level *incalculable* attained through daily consecration to the hearts of Jesus and Mary)

Here is some more information about devotion to the heart of Jesus, followed by yet another Catholic prayer treasure, the Litany to the Sacred heart.

https://www.ourcatholicprayers.com/litany-of-the-sacred-heart.html

Hoping you find your true home in Heaven through the pierced heart of Our Blessed Lord.


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