By tradition, the Catholic Church dedicates each month of the year to a certain devotion. In June, it is the Sacred Heart of Jesus (the Feast of the Sacred Heart normally falls in this month). The Sacred Heart represents Christ's love for all mankind, and our devotion to it is an expression of our faith in His mercy.
On June 1, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI urged Catholics everywhere to renew their devotion to the Sacred Heart during the month of June. Some or all of the following prayers to the Sacred Heart can be incorporated into our daily prayers during this month.
This prayer is often said on or around the Feast of the Sacred Heart. In it, we unite ourselves fully to the Heart of Christ, asking Him to purify our wills so that everything we do may be in line with His Will—and, if we fall, that His Love and Mercy may shield us from the righteous judgment of God the Father.
The Benedictine nun and mystic St. Gertrude the Great (1256-1302) was one of the first proponents of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This prayer is a model for all of our prayer to the Sacred Heart, as we ask Jesus to conform our hearts to His and our will to His will.
This short prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is meant to be recited several times each day. It was written by Saint Margaret Mary Alocoque, whose visions of Jesus Christ in the late 17th century are the source of the Feast of the Sacred Heart.
A “Memorare” is a particular type of prayer that, in Latin, always begins with the word Memorare (“Call to mind” or “Remember”). In this Memorare to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we ask Christ to look not at our sins but to hear our request for a special favor.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a way to express our gratitude for His mercy and love. In this, prayer, we ask Jesus, present in the
Eucharist, to purify our hearts and to make them like His own.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is really devotion to His Mercy and His Love. In this prayer for the help of the Sacred Heart, we ask Christ to take away all those human failings that keep us from living full lives as Christians.
In this prayer, written by Merry Cardinal Del Val, secretary of state under Pope Saint Pius X, we ask Christ to unite our heart to His, so that we may live our lives as He wishes us to and never forget the sacrifice that He made in dying for us.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus represents Christ’s love for us, and, in this prayer, we put our trust in that love while expressing our own love for Him.
This prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is offered for the sake of the Church, that Christ may guide and guard it and that we may all remain united to the Church. It is also prayed for the sake of the souls in
purgatory, that they may enter more quickly into the fullness of Heaven.
In this
novena, or nine-day prayer, to the Sacred Heart, we ask Christ to present our request to His Father as His own. While it is especially appropriate to pray this novena around the Feast of the Sacred Heart or during the month of June, it can be prayed at any time of the year.
