Efficatious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus starts on 10th of June - click to read the prayer

"We can contemplate and honour the Heart of the divine Redeemer as a symbolic image of His love and a witness of our redemption and, at the same time, as a sort of mystical ladder by which we mount to the embrace of God our Saviour" - Pope Pius XII Text and photo credit to Fr Lawrence, OP The LifeSiteNews reports attempts to make amendments to the Euthanasia Bill in the UK Parliament:... "Lord Falconer of Thoroton has tabled an amendment to the Coroners and Justice Bill that would make it legal to assist a person to leave the country to commit suicide. Presently, it is illegal for someone to assist another to commit suicide, even if done out of the country. The law, however, is generally not enforced because it “is not in the public interest,” according to Sir Ken Macdonald, former Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Numerous U.K. residents have in recent years travelled to Switzerland, where assisted suicide is legal, to commit suicide with the help of the suicide group Dignitas. While a number of investigations have been initiated against relatives who have travelled with the person who was committing suicide, none have resulted in charges being laid. Lord Alton of Liverpool, however, said that the bill “marks the beginning of the creation of a death cult. It is not the terminally-ill but the perfectly healthy we are talking about,” referencing the fact that Dignitas is willing to assist the suicide even of those who are merely depressed and not suffering any physical illness. Falconer, on the other hand, argued that some people, fearing the unenforced law, leave the country to commit suicide “alone.” “They go early. And they die in the hands of strangers.” He claimed that the current law “only works because of the good sense of the DPP [not to prosecute offenders].” “The amendment I am tabling to the Coroners and Justice Bill does not make it an easier for people to go to Switzerland to die in a Dignitas clinic,” he said, “they can already do this. Rather, it is making sure that the law reflects the sensible position adopted to date by the courts and the DPP, while protecting people from abuse.”.... Please offer your Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in reparation for the sin of promoting horrific culture of death.

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A man can give his whole heart habitually to God, that is he will never think or desire anything contrary to the love of God.

The friendship with God will increase in the only way in which it is possible for the love of friendship to increase. A man grows in the love of friendship when his love for his friend grows stronger and leads him to do things more frequently for his friend. Consider the growth of friendship between a man and the woman he marries. At the beginnings of their courtship he is willing to spend some of his time and money on her. As his love grows he spends more time and more money on her. As it grows still further he begins to admit her to the private world of his thoughts and ambitions, his hopes and disappointments. Then he begins to think of her troubles and sorrows, her triumphs and joys. Later he marries her and shares his life with her and shares his life with her. Ultimately he is ready even to give his life for her. In a similar way man can grow in the friendship of God. As his love of God grows he is willing to give more of himself for and to God. He begins to think more of God than of himself. He is more likely to do things for God than for himself. The intensity of his love for God grows within him until he is ready to give even his life for God. We might state it simply by saying that the intensity of his love for God grows stronger and stronger and becomes more and more likely to burst forth into acts of love of God.
Every new act of love of God will at least dispose a man to an increase in his love for God. Love actually increases only when it becomes more fervent. A man may be friendly with a woman top the extent of taking her out to dinner and a dance. And the more often he does so, the more likely he is to come to love her more ardently. But his love of her does not actually increase until he loves her enough to introduce her to his family, or to ask her to marry him, or to marry her and share his whole life with her. Si it is with man's love for God. Every act of love will dispose man to love God more. But only a more fervent act of love of God will actually increase his love of God.
In this life the love of man for God is always capable of growth. Charity is a share of God's own love, which is infinite. it is therefore always capable of further growth. Its growth depends on the goodness and power of God which are infinite. And as charity grows in a man through the divine power, so does man's ability to receive a further increase in his love of God.
Since God is infinitely lovable in Himself, no man can ever love God as much as God ought to be loved. God alone can love Himself infinitely. But man's love for God can be perfect when man loves God as much as he can. This can happens in three ways. A man may love God with the entire devotion of his heart or will. He thinks always of God. He is always actually loving God. This is the perfection of love for God which is found in the Saints in Heaven. In this present life man cannot love God with such an entire devotion. The need for working or eating or sleeping and so on prevent a man from giving his whole attention to God. But even in this present life a man can try to give to God all the love and attention that are not needed for for the necessities of daily living. This perfection of love is possible for man but not common among men. Lastly a man can give his whole heart habitually to God, that is he will never think or desire anything contrary to the love of God. He may not be thinking of God as much as he could, but he never does anything that would destroy his love for God.

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Our Lord revealed to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque His wish for her to order a picture of the image of His Sacred Heart for people specifically to venerate and have in their homes and also small pictures to carry with them. St. Margaret Mary always kept a Sacred Heart badge with her and inspired her novices to do the same. She made many badges and often said this practice was very pleasing to the Sacred Heart.

The popularity of the Badge increased suddenly due to a very dramatic event in the city of Marseilles in France. In the year 1720, about thirty years after the death of St. Margaret Mary, Marseilles was ravaged by the plague. About one thousand persons died each day from the disease. Fear had reached near panic proportions. The Bishop of Marseilles asked the nuns of the city to make thousands of Sacred Heart Badges similar to the kind used by St. Margaret Mary and her friends. When the Badges were ready, the Bishop led a procession to the center of the city. There he consecrated Marseilles to the Sacred Heart, and everybody present put on a Sacred Heart Badge. From that moment not one new case of the plague was reported.

In 1870 a Roman lady, wishing to know the opinion of the Holy Father Pius IX about the Badge of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, presented him with one. Touched by the sight of this "emblem of salvation", the Pope approved the devotion forever and said: "This, Madam, this is an inspiration from Heaven. Yes, from Heaven." Blessed Pope Pius IX granted in 1872 an indulgence of 500 days once a day to all the faithful who wear around their neck this pious emblem and recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be to the Father. The Badge is a reminder of reparation by which we accept with love and faith our share in the sufferings of Christ. Thus we cooperate more closely with Christ in the vital work of the redemption of mankind by accepting the obligations of God's commandments, by our fidelity to the daily tasks of our state in life, by the patient acceptance of the trials, disappointments, and crosses thrust upon us each day. Our Lord revealed to St. Margaret Mary: "Those who propagate devotion to His Sacred Heart shall have their names written in My Heart never to be blotted out." Our Dear Savior also revealed to Mother Rafols, who belonged to the mother house of the Sacred Heart in Saragoza, Spain (19th century): "To those who devoutly wear the image of His Sacred Heart, He promised great graces and special protection at the hour of their death." He said in time to come, many souls would propagate the Devotion to His Sacred Heart.

A beautiful prayer composed by Blessed Pope Pius IX:

"Open Thy Sacred Heart O Jesus! Show me its beauty and unite me with It forever. May the throbbing in all the movement of my heart, even during sleep, be a testimony of my love and tell Thee unceasingly: Yes Lord!I adore Thee ... accept my poor little actions ... grant me the grace of repairing evil done ... so that I may praise Thee in time and bless Thee for all eternity."

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Devotion to the Sacred Heart was revealed by Our Lord to St Magdalen Mary Alacoque back in 16th century. The Order of Jesuits and in particular Bl Claude de Colombiere SJ, confessor and spiritual director of St Magdalen, helped to propagate the devotion. It became soon widely spread among Catholics. The great popularity of this devotion may be attributed to its fruits, for it helps to love Jesus more and to understand His love for us that prompted Him to become man, to suffer and die for us and through the power of His Resurrection to overcome sin, death and the devil for our salvation.

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