holiest works for sanctification of the soul
Thoughts & Prayers for Meditation to Inspire Devotion to the Sacred Heart
'I have chosen, and have sanctified this place, that my name may be there forever, and my eye and my heart may remain there perpetually.'
II. Par. 7:16'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength.'
'I will give them a Heart to know Me, and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, because they shall return to Me with their whole heart.'
Jeremiah 24:7'Set your hearts on all the words which I testify to you this day.'
Deut. 32:46'O Jesus, my sweet hope, may the divine Heart, already torn by love for me and open to all sinners, be the safe asylum of my soul.'
O Mary! we offer thee the Sacred heart of Jesus! Receive it, o tender mother! with those of all thy children, whose motto will be: All for the Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary!
'My Lord, I desire nothing but Thee, and never shall I find rest until I succeed in concealing myself entirely in Thy Divine Heart.'
St. Catherine of Genoa
Invocation, 'Heart of Jesus'
Ven. Frances of Seraphs
Heart of Jesus, fountain of love, source of graces, ocean of goodness, permit me to enter into thy wound to receive the forgiveness which Thou hast merited for me on the Cross.
O Mary, place us near thee in the Sacred Heart of Jesus!
After she met with a suitor, Christ appeared to the young St. Lutgard and revealed His Heart to her, saying: "Look, this is what thou oughtest to love. Forsake the attractions of human love, and thou shalt find in my Heart ineffable delights."
Invocation'The other day contemplating in my prayer the open side of Our Lord, and gazing upon His Heart, it appeared to me that our hearts were surrounding His, He being the King of the hearts.'
St. Francis of Borgia
O precious wound of the side of Jesus, source of our happiness; attracted by thy sweetness, I establish my dwelling in thee, and I desposit in thee all I possess and all I hope for.
St. Francis de Sales'In every danger, as the dove when frightened flies for refuge to the hollows of the rock, so will the Christian soul seek protection in the cleft of the mystical rock, the Wounded Side of the Redeemer.'
St. Bernard'The Evangelist fittingly states that the soldier opened His Side, in order that in It, so to speak, may be opened the gate of life, through which issued the Sacraments of the Church, without which no one can enter the path leading to eternal life. Thus, the second Adam with a bent head (John 19:30) slept on the cross that a Spouse may be created for Him issuing form His Side. What is there purer than this blood? What more healing than this wound?'
St. Augustine'Never be tired of recommending devotion to the Sacred Heart; it is through It that God wills to save many souls from everlasting death. This Divine Heart is an assured refuge against God's just wrath towards sinners.'
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
An Offering of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary
by St. John Eudes
O Jesus, only Son of God, only Son of Mary,
I offer Thee the most loving Heart of Thy divine Mother
which is more precious and pleasing to Thee than all hearts.
O Mary, Mother of Jesus,
I offer Thee the most adorable Heart of Thy well-beloved Son,
who is the life and love and joy of Thy Heart.
Blessed be the Most Loving Heart
and Sweet Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ
and the most glorious
Virgin Mary, His Mother,
in eternity and forever.
'Thy Heart has been wounded, that the visible wound may reveal to us the invisible one of love. For who would allow his heart to be wounded if love had not already attracted it? But also who would not seek, who would not love, a heart thus wounded?'
'O Jesus! draw me into Thy Sacred Heart; and that I may dwell there, wash me from my iniquities, purify me from every stain. O most beautiful of the children of men, Thy Sacred Heart has been opened only that we may be able to dwell in it in safety and in peace.'
Take from Me My Heart of Stone
Aufer A Me Cor Lapideum
by Baldwin, Bishop of Canterbury (12th century)
O LORD, take away my heart of stone, my hardened heart, my uncircumcised heart and grant to me a new heart, a heart of flesh, a clean heart! O Thou who purifieth the heart and loveth the clean heart, possess my heart and dwell in it, containing it and filling it, higher than my highest and more intimate than my most intimate thoughts. Thou who art the image of all beauty and the seal of all holiness, seal my heart in Thine image and seal my heart in Thy mercy, O God of my heart and the God of my portion in eternity.
Aufer a me, Domine, cor lapideum, aufer cor coagulatum, da mihi cor novum, cor carneum, cor mundum! Tu cordis mundator et mundi cordis amator, posside cor meum et inhabita, continens et implens, superior summo meo et interior intimo meo! Tu forma pulchritudinis et signaculum sanctitatis, signa cor meum in imagine tua: signa cor meum sub misericordia tua, Deus cordis mei, et pars mea Deus in aternum.
'Blessed Elzear, Comte d'Arian, in Provence, having been long absent from his devout and chaste Delphina, she sent a messenger to him to inquire expressly for his health. Behold the reply she received: "I am very well, my dear wife; but if you wish to see me, seek me in the wound of the side of our sweet Jesus: for it is there that I dwell, and there you will find me. Elsewhere you will seek me in vain." This was a Christian chevalier indeed.'
St. Francis de Sales'During our sojourn in this world, we should learn from the saints now in heaven, how to love God. The pure and perfect love of God they enjoy there, consists in uniting themselves perfectly to his will. It would be the greatest delight of the seraphs to pile up sand on the seashore or to pull weeds in a garden for all eternity, if they found out such was God's will. Our Lord himself teaches us to ask to do the will of God on earth as the saints do it in heaven: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
Because David fulfilled all his wishes, God called him a man after his own heart: "I have found David. . . a man according to my own heart, who shall do all my wills."'
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori'Behold this Heart which has loved men so much, and yet men do not want to love Me in return. Through you My divine Heart wishes to spread its love everywhere on earth.'
Jesus to St. Margaret Mary in a vision'How sweet a thing it is, to die, after having had a true devotion to the Heart of Him Who is to be our Judge!'
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque'My son, give Me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep My ways.'