to all the faithful as a devotion the most solid, and the best calculated for obtaining a victory over their strongest passions, for establishing peace and concord in the most divided families, for destroying the most inveterate imperfections, for acquiring a most pure and ardent love, and for obtaining, in a short time, the most sublime perfection.”
Eternal thanks to Jesus Christ, the Wisdom of the Father, for instructing us out of the abundance of His adorable Heart, in a devotion so easy, so fruitful, so dear and pleasing to God !
Relying on the magnificent promises of Jesus Christ — the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, the Eternal Wisdom who knows what is good for us, and loved us even unto the death of his most bitter cross — let us embrace with ardour this devotion of his own choosing. If we wish to become his familiar friends, to whom he will confide the secrets of his love — if we wish to rise out of deep and inveterate habits of sin; if we wish to be changed into newness of life; if we wish to have influence for good with our neighbour — let us address ourselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus by acts of adoration, of reparation for the griefs that wounded his Heart, of love, and of petition for the graces we need. “Grant me, O Jesus,” said St. Ignatius, “ your grace and love, and I shall be rich enough.”
The Heart of Jesus, inflamed with love for us, is therefore the object of this devotion; the reparation of the insults offered to it, the end; and a most ardent love of our Lord, and innumerable graces, the fruit. What more could be said to one who would but weigh the import of these few words. St. Mechtilde says: “The Son of God appeared to me one day, holding in his hands his own Heart, more
