Sacred Heart of Jesus

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like yours.

From the end of 1673, in a small convent at Paray-le-Monial in France, Sister Margaret Mary Alacoque reported that Jesus showed her his Heart: burning, ringed with thorns, set on a cross. He did not ask her for anything great, only to be loved in return. This page gathers those things: what the Lord asked, the twelve promises, how to practise the devotion, and prayers.

Consecrate yourself to the Sacred HeartSee the apparitions
Image of the Sacred Heart: a burning Heart, crown of thorns, the lance wound, inscribed in French “Behold this Heart which has so loved men”
Promise of the day

The Lord pours abundant blessings on all they undertake.

The twelve promises · 5/12

What does the Lord ask?

Through the saint, Jesus asks for nothing grand. He asks for love returned in concrete, steady ways.

  1. Communion of reparation

    Holy Communion on the first Friday

    The Lord asks to be received in Communion in reparation for the indifference, blasphemy and coldness he meets in the Eucharist. From this grew the Nine First Fridays: nine consecutive months, one Communion each month on the first Friday, in a spirit of reparation.

    This will make up for all that you lack.

    Autobiography, 1674, words about First Friday Communion (summary)
  2. Holy Hour

    One hour awake with the Lord on Thursday night

    The Lord invites the saint to share his sorrow in the Garden of Olives: each night from Thursday to Friday, to rise between eleven and midnight to pray, prostrate, and keep him company. Today the lay faithful simply understand it as one hour of Eucharistic adoration or quiet prayer, at whatever time suits on Thursday.

    You will rise between eleven o'clock and midnight, to prostrate with me for an hour.

    Autobiography, 1674
  3. A feast day

    The feast of the Sacred Heart

    In the great apparition of 1675 the Lord asked that the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi be set apart to honour his Heart and make reparation. The Church received the request: the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart is now kept on the Friday after the Second Sunday after Pentecost, 19 days after Pentecost.

    Ask for it: the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi to be set apart for a special feast honouring my Heart.

    Autobiography, the great apparition (16 June 1675), summary

The night at Paray-le-Monial

In the octave of Corpus Christi in 1675, praying before the Blessed Sacrament, the saint reports that Jesus showed her his Heart. These are the words she recorded in her Autobiography and later letters.

  • This Heart does not demand feats; it asks for love in return.
  • What hurts the Lord most is not the sin of strangers but the coldness of those he loves in a special way.
  • The image from the apparition has become familiar: a burning Heart, a crown of thorns, the wound in the side, a cross above.

Behold this Heart, which has loved people so much that it spared nothing, even to being worn out and consumed to show its love. And in return, most only repay me with ingratitude.

Autobiography, the great apparition (16 June 1675)

The twelve promises

This familiar list was assembled by later writers from the saint's letters and Autobiography; it is not a single text written by her. Read it as an invitation: the Lord promises grace, and we answer with faith and a lived life.

  1. The Lord gives them every grace needed in their state of life.
  2. The Lord brings peace to their families.
  3. The Lord comforts them in all their troubles.
  4. The Lord is their secure refuge in life, and above all in death.
  5. The Lord pours abundant blessings on all they undertake.
  6. Sinners will find in his Heart a source and an ocean of mercy.
  7. Lukewarm souls will become fervent.
  8. Fervent souls will quickly rise to great perfection.
  9. The Lord blesses the homes where an image of the Sacred Heart is displayed and honoured.
  10. The Lord gives priests the grace to soften the hardest hearts.
  11. The names of those who spread this devotion will be written in his Heart and never blotted out.
  12. The grace of final repentance for those who receive Communion on nine first Fridays in a row (the special promise, see the saint's words below).

I promise you, in the excess of the mercy of my Heart, that its all-powerful love will grant to all who receive Communion on nine first Fridays in a row the grace of final repentance: they will not die in my disfavour, nor without receiving their sacraments, and my Heart will be their sure refuge in that last hour.

Letter to Mother de Saumaise, 1689

The Church reminds us that salvation is not the result of a formula; devotion to the Sacred Heart leads to love of the Lord and a renewed life, it does not replace them.

First Friday

The Nine First Fridays

A small commitment that asks for perseverance: nine months in a row, no month skipped.

  1. Pick the first Friday of the month; plan ahead so it is not forgotten.
  2. Go to Confession around that time if you are in grave sin (Confession need not be on the Friday itself).
  3. Attend Mass and receive Communion in a spirit of reparation, offering the Lord your own indifference and the world's.
  4. Spend a few minutes after Mass speaking privately with him; you may pray the act of consecration below.
  5. If a month is missed, by common tradition you begin again. Don't be discouraged: beginning again is itself an act of love.
Holy Hour

The Thursday Holy Hour

It need not be at midnight. Most of the faithful give one hour on Thursday evening, in church if there is adoration, or at home.

  1. First fifteen minutes: stillness, looking at the Lord suffering in the Garden of Olives (Mt 26:36-46).
  2. Thirty minutes: slowly read a passage of the Passion, or pray the Sorrowful Mysteries.
  3. Last fifteen minutes: consecrate yourself to the Sacred Heart, praying for those who no longer pray.

June, the month of the Sacred Heart

The Church dedicates June to honouring the Sacred Heart. A simple habit: each day of the month pray the Litany or a short prayer, and place an image of the Sacred Heart in your home where everyone sees it daily.

Prayers

The act of consecration the saint herself wrote, and a few short prayers to repeat through the day.

A prayer of Saint Margaret Mary

Act of consecration to the Sacred Heart

I, (name), give myself to the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I consecrate to him my person and my life, my actions, trials and sufferings.

I do not wish to use any part of my being except to honour, love and glorify the Sacred Heart.

This is my irrevocable will: to be wholly his, and to do everything for love of him, renouncing with all my heart whatever is displeasing to him.

To repeat through the day

Short prayers

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like yours.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in your love.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, thy Kingdom come.

Litany of the Sacred Heart of JesusA litany approved by the Church in 1899

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.

(After each invocation below, respond: Have mercy on us.)

Heart of Jesus, Son of the eternal Father,
Heart of Jesus, formed by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mother,
Heart of Jesus, substantially united to the Word of God,
Heart of Jesus, of infinite majesty,
Heart of Jesus, holy temple of God,
Heart of Jesus, tabernacle of the Most High,
Heart of Jesus, house of God and gate of heaven,
Heart of Jesus, burning furnace of charity,
Heart of Jesus, vessel of justice and love,
Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love,
Heart of Jesus, abyss of all virtues,
Heart of Jesus, most worthy of all praise,
Heart of Jesus, king and centre of all hearts,
Heart of Jesus, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,
Heart of Jesus, in whom dwells all the fullness of divinity,
Heart of Jesus, in whom the Father was well pleased,
Heart of Jesus, of whose fullness we have all received,
Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills,
Heart of Jesus, patient and rich in mercy,
Heart of Jesus, rich to all who invoke you,
Heart of Jesus, fountain of life and holiness,
Heart of Jesus, propitiation for our sins,
Heart of Jesus, saturated with revilings,
Heart of Jesus, bruised for our offences,
Heart of Jesus, obedient unto death,
Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance,
Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation,
Heart of Jesus, our life and resurrection,
Heart of Jesus, our peace and reconciliation,
Heart of Jesus, victim for sinners,
Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who trust in you,
Heart of Jesus, hope of those who die in you,
Heart of Jesus, delight of all the saints,

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

Jesus, meek and humble of heart,
Make our hearts like yours.

Let us pray: Almighty and eternal God, look upon the Heart of your dearly beloved Son and upon the praise and satisfaction he offers you on behalf of sinners; and grant pardon to those who seek your mercy, in the name of your Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Rooted in the Word of God

Devotion to the Sacred Heart adds nothing new to the Gospel; it looks at the very heart the Gospel speaks of. The lines below only summarise, so open Scripture to read them in full.

  • Mt 11:28-30The Lord invites all who are weary to come to him, and presents himself as meek and humble of heart.
  • Jn 19:31-37A lance pierces his side and blood and water flow out: a sign of a heart opened for humanity.
  • Ez 36:26A promise: God will take away the heart of stone and give a new heart of flesh.
  • 1 Jn 4:10-16Love is not that we loved God, but that he first loved us and sent his Son.
  • Eph 3:17-19A prayer to grasp the breadth, length, height and depth of Christ's love, which surpasses knowledge.

The quiet nun of Burgundy

Margaret Mary was not a theologian or a founder. She was a Visitation nun, misunderstood and doubted, and helped by a Jesuit priest to believe that what she saw deserved to be heard.

Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque holding an image of the Sacred Heart

  1. Born at Lauthecourt in Burgundy, France. Fatherless young; years of serious illness, then healed, which she took as a favour from Our Lady.

  2. Enters the Visitation convent at Paray-le-Monial. Professed on 6 Nov 1672.

  3. First apparition, on the feast of Saint John: the Lord lets her rest her head on his breast.

  4. The Lord asks for the Thursday-night Holy Hour and for reparation Communion on first Fridays.

  5. Fr Claude La Colombière, a Jesuit, arrives as superior at Paray; the first to believe her and help her discern.

  6. The great apparition in the octave of Corpus Christi: the request for a feast of the Sacred Heart.

  7. She dies at 43. The Church keeps her memorial on 16 October.

  8. Pope Pius IX extends the feast of the Sacred Heart to the whole Church.

  9. Beatified (Pius IX, 1864) and canonized (Benedict XV, 13 May 1920).

  10. Pope Francis's encyclical Dilexit nos (He loved us) on the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus.

Sources and notes. Autobiography and letters of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647–1690). Anawim's own English rendering of the French originals. The sayings of the saint on this page are Anawim's own renderings of the seventeenth-century French originals (public domain), kept short and credited to where they come from. The explanations, summaries and prayers are written or adapted for shared prayer and do not replace the Church's official texts. Anawim encourages reading the saint's full Autobiography, and asking your confessor or parish priest about the practice of the Nine First Fridays. Want to pray aloud with voice help? Use the Anawim app. Open in the Anawim app