Heart of Jesus, tabernacle of the Most High.
Heart of Jesus, house of God and gate of heaven.
Heart of Jesus, glowing furnace of charity, have mercy on us!
from Haurietis Aquas (On Devotion To The Sacred Heart) ~ Pope Pius XII
122. It is
likewise Our most fervent desire that all who profess themselves Christians and
are seriously engaged in the effort to establish the kingdom of Christ on earth
will consider the practice of devotion to the Heart of Jesus as the source and
symbol of unity, salvation and peace. Let no one think, however, that by such a
practice anything is taken from the other forms of piety with which Christian
people, under the guidance of the Church, have honored the divine Redeemer.
Quite the opposite. Fervent devotional practice towards the Heart of Jesus will
beyond all doubt foster and advance devotion to the Holy Cross in particular,
and love for the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. We can even assert -- as the
revelations made by Jesus Christ to St. Gertrude and to St. Margaret Mary
clearly show -- that no one really ever has a proper understanding of Christ
crucified to whom the inner mysteries of His Heart have not been made known.
Nor will it be easy to understand the strength of the love which moved Christ
to give Himself to us as our spiritual food save by fostering in a special way
the devotion to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, the purpose of which is -- to
use the words of Our predecessor of happy memory, Leo XIII -- "to call to
mind the act of supreme love whereby our Redeemer, pouring forth all the
treasures of His Heart in order to remain with us till the end of time,
instituted the adorable Sacrament of the Eucharist."[122] For "not
the least part of the revelation of that Heart is the Eucharist, which He gave
to us out of the great charity of His own Heart."[123]
123.
Finally, moved by an earnest desire to set strong bulwarks against the wicked
designs of those who hate God and the Church and, at the same time, to lead men
back again, in their private and public life, to a love of God and their
neighbor, We do not hesitate to declare that devotion to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus is the most effective school of the love of God; the love of God, We say,
which must be the foundation on which to build the kingdom of God in the hearts
of individuals, families, and nations, as that same predecessor of pious memory
wisely reminds us: "The reign of Jesus Christ takes its strength and form
from divine love: to love with holiness and order is its foundation and its
perfection. From it these must flow: to perform duties without blame; to take
away nothing of another's right; to guide the lower human affairs by heavenly
principles; to give the love of God precedence over all other
creatures."[124]
124. In
order that favors in greater abundance may flow on all Christians, nay, on the
whole human race, from the devotion to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, let the
faithful see to it that to this devotion the Immaculate Heart of the Mother of
God is closely joined. For, by God's Will, in carrying out the work of human
Redemption the Blessed Virgin Mary was inseparably linked with Christ in such a
manner that our salvation sprang from the love and the sufferings of Jesus
Christ to which the love and sorrows of His Mother were intimately united. It
is, then, entirely fitting that the Christian people -- who received the divine
life from Christ through Mary -- after they have paid their debt of honor to
the Sacred Heart of Jesus should also offer to the most loving Heart of their
heavenly Mother the corresponding acts of piety affection, gratitude and
expiation. Entirely in keeping with this most sweet and wise disposition of
divine Providence is the memorable act of consecration by which We Ourselves
solemnly dedicated Holy Church and the whole world to the spotless Heart of the
Blessed Virgin Mary.[125]
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