Thursday, July 3, 2025

SUFFERINGS OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS




“Behold this Heart, that has loved men so much and is loved so little in return” (Our Lord to St. Margaret Mary).

First Prelude: Behold our Divine Saviour showing His Heart to St. Margaret Mary, and complaining of the ingratitude of men.

Second Prelude: Grant me the grace, O Lord, to share the sorrows of Thy most Sacred Heart, by my tender compassion, and to console Thee by my spirit of loving immolation.

First Point

THE SUFFERINGS OF THE HEART OF JESUS ARE IMMEASURABLE

From the moment of the Incarnation, until His last breath on the Cross, the Heart of Jesus endured inexpressible sufferings. Whatever may be designated as misery and hardship and sufferings, our Divine Saviour took upon Himself with our sins, and in His Sacred Heart, at once the seat of love and of sorrow, all pains and sorrows converged. To comprehend the martyrdom of His Divine Heart, we should have to be in a position to gauge His infinite horror of sin and know the incalculable number of the sins of mankind, which rested on His shoulders; for “our miseries the Lord has placed upon Him.” We should have to comprehend His infinite love of the heavenly Father, making the sorrow and grief over sin so great as only the Heart of a God-Man could bear. Oh, who can comprehend what the Saviour suffered not only during the hours when He was in the hands of the cruel executioners, but for the term of His whole life!

A circumstance that aggravated His interior sufferings, was the foreknowledge that so many would rebel against His loving designs and, despite the Blood of redemption shed for them, would effect their own ruin. Furthermore, the ingratitude of those whom He had overwhelmed with favors and benefits grieved and pained Him deeply, as He complained to St. Margaret Mary, in the touching words: “What grieves Me most is the fact that even souls consecrated to Me insult Me and requite My love with ingratitude.” Consider here, my soul, whether these complaints do not apply to you, whether your conduct has not contributed to the sufferings of the loving Heart of Jesus. Do not hesitate to comfort It by great fidelity, to alleviate Its pain by affectionate sympathy, as it behooves a true friend. O my Saviour, would that Thy spouses, at least, afforded Thee this comfort, which Thou dost seek in vain with so many others!

Do I frequently ponder the sufferings of the Sacred Heart to move my heart to compunction for my sins and to sympathy with this loving Heart?

Second Point

THE SORROWS OF THE HEART OF JESUS ARE A SOURCE OF CONSOLATION FOR US

The Sacred Heart of Jesus willed to endure all anxiety and bitterness, every sorrow and the privation of all consolation in order to become for us a never-ending source of spiritual comfort. The sins of men deprived God of the honor due Him: Jesus offered Himself an all-surpassing satisfaction. Through the bitterness and desolation of His Sacred Heart, He effected for His chosen ones, the grace of a profound contrition and pardon for their sins. “Through His wounds,” says the prophet, “we are healed” (Ps. 53, 5). They are the sources of merits for the sufferings of the just. Souls visited by pain and trials, who in accordance with His example, drink the chalice of sufferings, have drawn their strength and consolation from the sufferings and the agonies of the Sacred Heart. No sorrow can come to us that has not first touched His Sacred Heart. From the Heart of Jesus the martyrs imbibed their heroism, the confessors and virgins their magnanimity and spirit of immolation. All strength, all love and patience reached them through the channel of this Divine Heart. By His sufferings, Jesus not only renders ours meritorious, but He sweetens and ameliorates them.

Jesus teaches us the necessity of the cross by His example and through His grace He strengthens our weakness and removes everything oppressive. He ennobles, yes, as it were, divinizes our sorrows, by uniting them with His and applying to them the merits of His own. What confidence dare we not have when sickness or infirmity weighs upon us, when cares and temptations oppress us, for Christ Himself will help us carry our cross. Let us look at His Heart, broken with grief, suffering for us, and let us suffer cheerfully for love of Him. Love for the Divine Heart will make us strong, so that we can say with St. Paul: “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Should it not be a source of joy to the Heart of Jesus to find such sentiments in our hearts!

Affections: O Heart of my Saviour, pierced with grief, Thou hast voluntarily for love of me plunged Thyself into an abyss of sorrow. With my whole heart I accept the penance deserved by my sins. O Divine Heart, that I would draw from Thy sacred wound the love of the cross, whereby I can requite Thy love and glorify Thee. Since Thou hast purchased me at the price of such enormous sacrifices, grant that I may consecrate myself, body and soul, to Thy holy service. Holy Virgin, who didst stand beneath the cross and didst immolate thy Son in union with His own perfect immolation, pray for me, that I may, henceforth, love naught but the cross, and by flying from sin, afford some consolation to the wounded Heart of my dear Saviour, thy Son and the Bridegroom of my soul.

Resolution: In all painful and trying circumstances, I will unite my sufferings with the sufferings of the Divine Heart.

Spiritual Bouquet: “Heart of Jesus, saturated with opprobrium, and wounded for love of us, have mercy on us.”

Prayer: Take, O Lord . . .

Take, O Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my whole will. Thou hast given me all that I am and all that I possess; I surrender it all to Thee that Thou mayest dispose of it according to Thy Will. Give me only Thy love and Thy grace: with these I will be rich enough, and will have no more to desire.

(Indulgence of 300 days; once a day.—Pope Leo XIII, May 26, 1883.)

No comments:

Post a Comment