(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)
Several Web sites can help us gain a basic and even more profound understanding of this devotion. The most natural place to start is sacredheartdevotion.com. This devotion in its current form is based on the revelations of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. The Web site has some of the basic citations and the twelve promises made to those who practice this devotion. In addition, there is a large selection of prayers to the Sacred Heart along with some beautiful poems.
A related site is found at www.sacredheartprayers.com. This Web site is filled with devotional insights. These pages seem to be the work of principally one man, one who has spent much time in private prayer and devotion. In his approach he relates the human heart to the loving heart of Jesus. The major themes are the struggling heart, the heart of a child, the passion, gifts of the heart along with a prayer of consecration to the Heart of Christ. There are even devotions so that one can conduct a private retreat in honor of the Sacred Heart.
“The Sacred Heart Program” is a time-honored radio feature. Their Web site, www.sacredheartprogram.org, is filled with priceless information about this devotion. In addition, there is a selection of interesting articles dealing with various forms of spirituality. One brief article correctly points out that devotion to the Sacred Heart has origins long before the revelations of St. Margaret Mary.
Those wishing a more detailed explanation of this devotion should visit http://reaps.sacredheart.edu, the work of the Religious Education and Pastoral Studies program of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Ct.
Sacred Heart devotion focuses primarily on Christ’s love and our response to that love. Its roots are found in John 19:34 which speaks about blood and water flowing from the side of Christ, symbols of Christ’s love given to humanity out of love.
Another devotion popular in today’s Church is that of Divine Mercy which centers on Christ’s love and mercy. The second Sunday of Easter is celebrated as Divine Mercy Sunday in the Church. This devotion, similar in many ways to Sacred Heart devotion, was made popular through the revelations of St. Faustina.
DivineMercySunday.com, as its name implies, is a great resource for this annual celebration and for anyone who would like a succinct introduction to the devotion. The image of Divine Mercy really tells the whole story of the devotion. The rays of mercy come from the heart of Christ and spread over all humanity. Christ awaits our response.
This Web site, developed by the Apostles of Divine Mercy, contains homilies, novena prayers, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and the scriptural roots of the devotion along with its historical development.
Having come to the end of the Easter season and listened carefully to the Risen Christ, we can experience the clarity of His message: come to me, be part of my life, stay with me. Devotions to the Sacred Heart and to Divine Mercy are two ways of doing that throughout the year. These Web sites and their related links are beacons showing us the road.
