Acts of Devotion to the Sacred Heart

Acts of Devotion to the Sacred Heart

I. The Word was made Flesh, and dwelt amongst us.

ETERNAL Word, made Man for love of us, humbly kneeling at thy feet we adore Thee with the deepest veneration of our souls; and in order that we may repair our ingratitude for this great benefit of thy Incarnation, we unite ourselves to the hearts of all those who love Thee, and together with them we offer Thee our humble loving thanksgiving-. Pierced by the excess of humility, goodness, and sweetness which we behold in thy Divine Heart, we beseech Thee to give us thy grace, that in our lives we too may imitate these virtues so dear to Thee. PATER, Ave, and Gloria.

II. He was crucified also for us; suffered under Pontius Pilate, and was buried.

JESUS our loving SAVIOUR, humbly kneeling at thy feet we adore Thee with the deepest veneration of our souls; and, in order that we may give Thee proof of the sorrow w r e feel at our insensibility to the outrages and sufferings which thy loving Heart made Thee undergo for our salvation in thy painful Passion and Death, we here unite ourselves with the hearts of all those who love Thee, and together with them we give thanks unto Thee with our whole soul. We wonder at the boundless patience and generosity of thy divine Heart; and we entreat Thee to fill our hearts with such a spirit of Christian penance as may enable us courageously to embrace suffering, and to make thy Cross our great comfort and all our glory. PATER, Ave, Gloria.

III. Thou didst give them bread from heaven to eat, containing in itself all sweetness.

JESUS, who dost burn with love for us, humbly kneeling at thy feet we adore Thee with the deepest veneration of our souls; and, in order to make Thee reparation for the outrages which thy divine Heart daily receives in the most holy Sacrament of the Altar, we unite ourselves with the hearts of all those who love Thee, and give Thee tenderest thanks. We love in thy divine Heart this thy incomprehensible fire of love towards thy Eternal FATHER, and we entreat Thee to inflame our hearts with ardent charity towards Thee and towards our neighbour. PATER, Ave, and Gloria.

LASTLY, O most loving JESUS, we pray Thee, by the sweetness of thy Divine Heart, convert the sinner, console the afflicted, help the dying, lighten the pains of the souls in purgatory. Make all our hearts one in the bonds of true peace and charity, deliver us from sudden and unforeseen death, and grant us a death holy and peaceful. Amen.

V/.. Heart of JESUS, burning- with love of us,

R/. Inflame our hearts with love of Thee.

Let us pray

GRANT, we beseech Thee, Almighty GOD, that we who glory in the most Sacred Heart of thy well beloved SON, and call to mind the chief benefits of his heavenly charity towards us, may be gladdened by the operation and the fruit of those graces in our souls. Through the same CHRIST, Our Lord.  Amen

O Divine Heart of my JESUS! I adore Thee with all the powers of my soul; I consecrate them to Thee for ever, together with all my thoughts, my words, my works, and my whole self. I purpose to offer to Thee, as far as I am able, acts of adoration, love, and glory, like unto those which Thou dost offer to thine.

Eternal FATHER. I beseech Thee, be Thou the reparation for my transgressions, the protector of my life, my refuge and asylum in the hour of my death. By thy sighs, and by that sea of bitterness in which Thou wast immersed for me throughout the whole course of thy mortal life, grant me true contrition for my sins, contempt of earthly things, an ardent longing for the glory of heaven, trust in thy infinite merits, and final perseverance in thy grace.

Heart of JESUS, all love! I offer Thee these humble prayers for myself, and for all who unite with me in spirit to adore Thee; vouchsafe, of thy infinite goodness, to receive and to answer them, and especially for that one of us who shall first end this mortal life. Sweet Heart of my SAVIOUR, pour down upon him, in the agony of death, thine inward consolations; place him in thy sacred wounds; cleanse him from every stain in that furnace of love, that so Thou mayest open to him speedily the entrance into thy glory, there to intercede with Thee for all those who yet tarry in their land of exile.

Most Holy Heart of my most loving JESUS, I purpose to renew these acts of adoration and these prayers for myself, miserable sinner that I am, as well as for all who are associated with me to adore Thee, every moment while I live, down to the last instant of my life. I recommend to Thee, my JESUS, the Holy Church, thy well-beloved Spouse, our own true Mother, the souls that undergo thy justice, all poor sinners, those who are in affliction, the dying, and all mankind let not thy Blood be shed in vain for them; and, last of all, vouchsafe to receive my poor prayers for the relief of the souls in purgatory, and, above all, for those who in the course of their life were wont devoutly to adore Thee.

Most loving heart of Mary, which, amongst the hearts of all creatures of GOD, art at once the most pure, most inflamed with love for Jesus, and most compassionate towards us poor sinners, gain for us from the Heart of JESUS our REDEEMER all the graces which we ask of thee. Mother of mercies, one single throb, one beat of thy heart, all on fire with love towards the Heart of JESUS, has power to console us to the full.

Only grant us this favour and the Heart of JESUS, out of that filial love It had and will ever have for thee, will not fail to hear and answer us. Amen.

From the Raccolta
Image Credit Waiting for the Word