Cor Jesu, Verbo Dei substantialiter unitum
Heart of Jesus, substantially united to the Word of God, have mercy on us
From all eternity, God desired to love man divinely with a human heart, and so, “when the time had fully come” (Gal 4:4), “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14). In the breast of the Word Made Flesh there beats a human Heart that is nothing less than the Heart of God. The Divine Person of the Word expresses His filial love for the Father and His redeeming love for man through this Sacred Heart.
Behold this Heart
The Heart of the Word, formed by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin’s womb, pierced by the soldier’s lance on Calvary, touched by the Apostle Thomas after the resurrection, and concealed in the adorable mystery of the Eucharist, is the abiding symbol of the infinite love with which the Son loves the Father and loves every man. Thus did Jesus say to Saint Margaret Mary in the “Great Revelation” that occurred during the Octave of Corpus Christi in June 1675: “Behold this Heart which has so loved men.” “In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the expiation for our sins”(1 Jn 4:10).
Love, Mercy, and Meekness
To behold is to look upon, to contemplate, and to consider. The desire of Our Lord is that we should look upon His Heart, fulfilling in every generation the words of the prophet Zechariah repeated by Saint John: “They shall look on him whom they have pierced” (Jn 19:37; Zech 12:1). One who looks upon the Heart of Christ discovers the redeeming love of the Heart of God. One who contemplates the Heart of Christ is drawn into the infinite mercy of the Heart of God. One who considers the Heart of Christ learns the meekness and humility of the Heart of God.
To Know and Believe in the Love God Has For Us
The value of images of the Sacred Heart derives from this: that the pierced Heart of Jesus sets before our eyes the whole mystery of the merciful love of God, softens our resistances to that love, and invites us to grown in confident surrender to it. One understands just why Our Lord said to Saint Margaret Mary: “I will bless those places wherein the image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and venerated.”
Enthronement of the Sacred Heart
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Ap 3:20). The enthronement of an image of the Sacred Heart in one’s home is a way of opening family life to the merciful love of Christ. Those who introduce an image of the Sacred Heart into their homes express their desire to say with the Apostle John, “So do we know and believe the love God has for us” (1 Jn 4:16). God who inspires that desire will also fulfill it.
Prayer
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus,
I adore Thee beating in the breast of the Word Made Flesh.
I adore Thee, moved with Divine Compassion
at the sight of the multitude like sheep without a shepherd.
I adore Thee burning to set the world ablaze
with the fire of Thy Godhead.
I adore Thee desiring with a great desire
to feed us with Thyself.
I adore Thee broken with sorrow
and lifted to the Father in Gethsemani.
I adore Thee opened for me by the thrust of the soldier’s lance.
I adore Thee in the stillness of the tomb.
I adore Thee in the glory of Thy resurrection.
I adore Thee with the Apostle Thomas, saying,
“O Heart of my Lord and Heart of my God!”
I adore Thee in the majesty of Thy ascension.
I adore Thee present in the tabernacles of the world.
I adore Thee revealed in glory at the end of time
for the glory of Thy Father
and for the joy of all Thy Saints.
Amen.
