Happy Birthday, Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Cast into the furnace of love, the Heart of Jesus, all your anxieties, your trials, your fears, so that He may burn them away. Mother Clelia Merloni

Mother Clelia Merloni founded the Congregation of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Viareggio, Italy on May 30, 1894, 113 years ago today. The photo is not of Mother Clelia but of one of the first Sisters sent from Italy to America. With one little orphan in her arms and another holding her hand, she is the perfect image of the Apostle called to be a spouse of Jesus Christ and a mother to those dearest to His Sacred Heart: the little, the vulnerable, the poor.

The daughters of Mother Clelia make reparation to the Sacred Heart by means of their life of adoration and apostolic service to the Church. For every “No” to the love and mercy of the pierced Heart of Christ, the Sister Apostle offers her own unconditional “Yes.” The Generalate of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is located within the parish confines of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, a mere five minutes from the basilica.