Preparing for the Sacred Heart

Greetings,

A statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
that 'blesses' us as we walk down the
Peace Chapel aisles for prayer.

Friday, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the feastday of our monastery.  We will commemorate the day with Liturgy of the Hours, Eucharist, and festive meal (I'm hoping for fresh pie).  In our Benedictine tradition, we look to Saint Gertrude the Great  who wrote of her visions and mystic experiences of the Sacred Heart during the last part of the 1200's.  Throughout all her writing, she kept returning to the theme of Jesus' love which he shares with us through the Sacred Heart.  She also penned several prayers to the Christ of the Sacred Heart.  Tomorrow and Friday, we'll share some of the many images of the Sacred Heart within the monastery.  Please pray for us as we prepare for this great Solemnity.



Saint Gertrude the Great, a late 13th century
Benedictine mystic, depicted in stained glass
mid-vision of Christ's Sacred Heart
in Bishop Martin Marty Chapel



Prayer to the Sacred Heart
Hail! O Sacred Heart of Jesus,
living and quickening source of eternal life,
infinite treasure of the Divinity,
and burning furnace of divine love.
You are my refuge and my sanctuary.
O my amiable Savior,
consume my heart with that burning fire
with which Yours is ever inflamed.
Pour down on my soul those graces
which flow from Your love,
and let my heart be so united with You,
that our wills may be one,
and mine in all things, be conformed to You.
May Your divine will be equally the standard
and rule of all my desires and of all my actions.
~ Amen

Blessigns,