From Fr. Mark-Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
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THE U.S. CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS (USCCB) approved the consecration of the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 2026 to accompany the country’s 250th anniversary.
At the USCCB Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore, bishops voted “to entrust our nation to the love and care of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.” Devoting the nation is an opportunity “to remind everyone of our task to serve our nation by perfecting the temporal order with the spirit of the Gospel as taught by the Second Vatican Council,” Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, said.
“One hundred years ago, in 1925, in his encyclical instituting the feast of Christ the King, Pope Pius XI, drawing on the teaching of Pope Leo XIII, referred to the pious custom of consecrating oneself, families, and even nations to the Sacred Heart of Jesus as a way to recognize the kinship of Christ,” said Bishop Rhoades
“In his fourth and last encyclical, Dilexit Nos, Pope Francis brought devotion to the Sacred Heart to the forefront of Catholic life as the ultimate symbol of both human and divine love, calling it a wellspring of peace and unity,” said Bishop Rhoades, who has served as chair of the USCCB Committee on Religious Liberty.
Francis “wrote of how the Sacred Heart teaches us to build up in this world God’s kingdom of love and justice. Then in his first apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te, Pope Leo XIV, following upon Pope Francis’ teaching, invites us to contemplate Christ’s love, the love that moves us to mission in our suffering world today,” Bishop Rhoades said.
Before bishops voted to consecrate the U.S. to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Archbishop Paul Etienne of Seattle asked if the bishops will include catechetical materials to guide Catholics, as the devotion “is ultimately inviting people into a deeper relationship with the very person of Jesus himself.”
Archbishop Etienne said the “devotion to the Sacred Heart is such a rich devotion and almost complex.”
Bishop Rhoades responded that they “do intend to have catechetical materials” because “there is such an abundance of beautiful teaching.”
At the request of Bishop Arturo Cepeda of San Antonio, Bishop Rhoades said the bishops can provide the materials in various languages “to have as many of our people involved as possible.” He said the resources will also allow individuals and families to make their own consecration, as the consecration simultaneously happens across the nation.
The story behind the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus dates back to 1673. At a monastery belonging to the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary in eastern France, Sister Margaret Mary Alacoque began experiencing visions of the Sacred Heart that continued for 18 months.
Sister Margaret Mary learned ways to venerate the Sacred Heart of Christ during her visions. These devotions included a Holy Hour on Thursdays, the creation of the feast of the Sacred Heart after Corpus Christi, and the reception of the Eucharist on the first Friday of every month.
On June 16, 1675, Jesus told Sister Margaret Mary to promote a feast that honored his Sacred Heart. He also gave Sister Margaret Mary 12 promises to all who venerated and promoted the devotion of the Sacred Heart.
The Vatican was first hesitant to declare a feast of the Sacred Heart. But as the devotion spread throughout France, the Vatican granted the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to France in 1765. In 1856, Blessed Pius IX designated the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi as the feast of the Sacred Heart for the universal Church.
Consecration and Prayer Resources
• Livestream of the June 11th Consecration to the Sacred Heart
• Reflection on the Consecration to the Sacred Heart, by Archbishop Alexander Sample
• Consecration Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
• Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
• Knights of Columbus home enthronement materials
FOR THOSE RECEIVING OUR FLOCKNOTES, YOU WILL BE RECEIVING A DAILY NOVENIA PRAYER JUNE 3 THROUGH JUNE 12. IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE 8;00AM MASS AT HOLY CHILDHOOD (the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart) WE WILL PRAYER THE CONSECRATION PRAYER TOGETHER.
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