Did you know that June is the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus?
Traditionally, the month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart as the feast day falls within the month.
The history of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus began ages before St. Margaret Mary Alacoque brought it to our attention in more modern times when Jesus revealed the desires of His Heart to her.
In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word “leb,” meaning heart, is the most frequently used word, paying tribute to how God speaks to our hearts from His heart.
There are also many mentions of the Heart of Jesus in the New Testament, where the immortal God took on a human body with a human heart. The symbols associated with the Sacred Heart are images of His sacrificial love; thorns, the wound, the cross, and purifying fire. St. John the Evangelist and St. Paul each had a special devotion to the love of God for the world and the love of Jesus for man. The Heart of Jesus is the most fitting image of Gods love for mankind.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Our family adopted this special devotion in a particular way…How?
Well, it begins with a story of a family. Have you ever read the REAL story of the von Trapp family, of the Sound of Music fame?
It is very different from the movie, even though I still love the movie too!
But the REAL story is so full of Catholic living!
In fact one of the traditions they took to America when they moved from Austria was to name their home. They called their home in Vermont “Cor Unum,” latin for “One Heart.”
Starting a New Tradition
They dedicated their home to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and in so doing, called their family to be of one heart for our Lord.
Theirs was a touching and beautiful gesture that we repeated when we purchased our building to run our family business Emmanuel Books way back in 2001. We dedicated the building and had it blessed by our parish priest on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. All our staff attended as we prayed the litany to the Sacred Heart and offered prayers of love and thanksgiving!
We even made a heart shaped cake to celebrate.
This one you see below is a cake we made one year that celebrated the two hearts, Jesus and Mary! It always seems my family, The Ciskaniks, always add food to every feast day celebration! Yum!
We continue to consecrate our works to the Sacred Heart.
Our heart longs for the Lord, and as such that love inspires us to pass on devotion to the Sacred Heart to our children in real and meaningful ways!
What are some ways we can do that?
Over the years I had a hard time pulling things from the internet. Firstly, I did not have the time, and all too often I wound up on random rabbit trails, spending WAAAAYYYYY too much time lost in cyberspace.
I wanted easy, YET FAITHFUL.
So we put our family to work, and began a practice to “Reclaim the Saints.” Thus an entire series for Living the Liturgical Year was born including one for Sacred Heart of Jesus!
With our easy to make plans your family can make their very own Sacred Heart Shrines, a 10-page Prayer book, print up beautiful Holy Cards to share with friends and family, learn the history of this devotion, and so much more!
It is fitting to do these activities spread out through the month of June but you can choose any time of year to begin or continue a love of our Lord through the devotions and prayers to His Most Sacred Heart. Not only does the dear Lord deserve our adoration and attention but more importantly our love!
Join us for the month of June and the devotion to the Sacred Heart!
Share in the comments your favorite Sacred Heart Traditions!
I read the book, Around the World with the Von Trapp Family when I was a protestant college student attending a Bible college. It was a small crack opening the door of what a rich liturgy can do for family living and contributed to my conversion to the Catholic faith a few years later.
Now, as you did, my husband and I named our business– a Catholic Retreat Center after the Sacred Heart–Heart Ridge.