Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament

In the Catholic tradition, June is the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, with the Feast of the Sacred Heart celebrated on June 16. 

On this day in 1675, the Lord Jesus appeared to Sister Margaret Mary Alacoque (a French Visitation nun and a mystic canonized in 1920) with a mission to spread the devotion to his Sacred Heart through, among others, pious observance of First Fridays for nine consecutive months in reparation for human ingratitude for his great love.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is alive in the Eucharist because his body is contained there. Therefore, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Solemnity of Corpus Christi are inseparable. This has been substantiated by many saints in the history of the Church who left a rich legacy explaining the great mystery of the Sacred Heart of Jesus hidden with all his love for mankind in the Eucharistic Host. 

Saint Peter Julian Eymard (1811-1868), the founder of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, used to preach, “Do not picture the Heart of Jesus as just an emblem or a statue but see It in the Tabernacle; it is the Heart of the Eucharistic Jesus that belongs to you, that nourishes you, that consoles you, that loves you.”

Saint Margaret Mary documented her encounters with Jesus in this way, “Once when the Blessed Sacrament was exposed, my soul being absorbed in extraordinary recollection, Jesus Christ, my sweet master, presented himself to me. He was brilliant with glory; His five wounds shone like five suns. Flames darted forth from all parts of his Sacred humanity but especially from his adorable breast, which resembled a furnace, and which, opening, displayed to me his loving and amiable Heart, the living source of these flames.”

Similarly, Venerable Mother Mechtilda (1614-1698), the foundress of the Benedictines of Perpetual Adoration, received a command from Jesus to love ardently and honor his Sacred Heart in the Blessed Sacrament as much as she could. 

Christ’s desire for the Feast of Corpus Christi was revealed also through his private revelation to Saint Juliana of Liège (1192-1258), a mystic, with a message to honor his real presence in the Most Blessed Sacrament. The Lord made known to the saint that faith in his real presence will diminish in the course of time to the point that a feast day will be necessary to remind people that the Eucharist is his body, blood, soul and divinity.

The message about the Sacred Heart of Jesus hidden in the Eucharist was emphasized by the Lord himself as he spoke to Saint Margaret Mary, “Please look at this heart which has loved mankind so much, consumed itself for love of man, and yet is so little loved in return. I thirst with such a terrible thirst to be loved in this Most Blessed Sacrament.” Jesus asked to be adored in the Blessed Sacrament the same way as he asked the disciples in the garden of Gethsemane, “Could you not watch one hour with me?” (Matt. 26:40) 

Saint Peter Julian Eymard stressed that the Eucharistic adoration of Jesus’ Sacred Heart is the end of all devotions, “Find the Sacred Heart where it is, living, all-good and all-merciful, in the Eucharist. Unfortunately, that divine and loving heart is not known and loved, even by many devout people, who play at any number of little devotions, good in themselves, but neglect the one devotion which ought to be the life and the end of all the others: the heart of Jesus that gave us Calvary and the Eucharist.” 

The saint recognized that the well-being of societies depends on the adoration of Jesus in the Eucharist. He used to highlight the importance of the Eucharist for all nations around the world, as he stated, “The spread of the Eucharistic Christ is necessary for the salvation of society. The Eucharist is the life not only of the individual Christian, but of nations as well. We know well that an age flourishes or degenerates in accordance with its worship of the divine Eucharist. It is the life and measure of its faith, charity and virtue. The Eucharist is not only for personal piety; It is essential to social life, for It is the very life of the world.”

Jad Ziolkowska is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.
Photo  Jad Ziolkowska/Sooner Catholic.


Promises of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque for people who practice devotion to his Sacred Heart:
I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
I will give peace in their families.
I will console them in all their troubles.
I will be their refuge in life and especially in death.
I will abundantly bless all their undertakings.
Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
Tepid souls shall become fervent.
Fervent souls shall rise speedily to great perfection.
I will bless those places wherein the image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and venerated.
I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.
Persons who propagate this devotion shall have their names eternally written in my Heart.
In the excess of the mercy of my heart, I promise you that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and my heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour.