The saints in heaven ta he a pleasure in obtaining for those, who honour them, the virtue in which they themselves excelled, and the means of salvation which most powerfully aided them in attaining perfection. We have before remarked, what an ardent devotion the greatest saints have, at all times, manifested towards the Heart of Jesus; but we will point out three, in particular, to whom you can have recourse, in a more special manner, in order to obtain this devotion.
The first is Saint Joseph. Can we doubt, when we call to mind the privilege, which this glorious saint enjoyed, of carrying the Infant Jesus so often in his arms, and of living with Him familiarly during thirty years; can we doubt, I say, that in the silence of the life of continual prayer, which Saint Joseph led at Nazareth, our Divine Saviour discovered to him, as the first and most highly favoured of all His saints, after His Divine Mother, all the treasures of His Sacred Heart? If, then, you would know and love the Heart of Jesus, go to Joseph; Jesus has placed in his hands all the treasures of His Heart, in order that he might have the power of enriching his faithful clients.
After Joseph, go to the disciple whom Jesus loved, Saint John the Evangelist. To whom can you better address yourself, if you would be inflamed with a tender devotion to the Heart of Jesus, than to the beloved disciple, who reclined, during the last supper, upon that Divine Heart, and was the first to penetrate its secrets; who alone received the last sighs of that Sacred Heart upon the cross; who alone shared the sorrows of Mary, as she beheld that Sacred Heart pierced by the soldier's lance; who alone saw the blood and water flow from thence, as he bears testimony himself; and who was the first to enter into that wound of love, and there to take up his abode?
As for Saint Aloysius, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in the exercise of an interior life and continual union with God, formed his distinctive characteristic. "Oh! how Aloysius loved upon earth!" exclaims Saint Mary Magdalen of Pazzi, to whom it was given to behold the glory, which this saint enjoyed in heaven. "Oh! how Aloysius loved! whilst he was in this mortal life, he was ever winging shafts of heavenly love towards the Heart of the Word Incarnate; now that he is in heaven, those shafts return into his own heart, and are fixed there for ever; for the acts of divine charity, which he then made, fill him now with ineffable joy.
"Oh I how great is the glory of Aloysius, son of Ignatius! Never could I have believed it, had not my Jesus allowed me to see it I Would that I might traverse the whole universe, and proclaim that Aloysius is a great saint; would that I might make his glory known to the' whole world, that God might be glorified in him. He is raised so high in heaven, only because he led an interior fife on earth. Who can ever appreciate the merits and virtue of the interior life? No; there can be no comparison between the acts of an interior and exterior life."
This amiable saint is your model, interior souls; Christian youth, he is your special patron. You cannot doubt that he interests himself specially in your welfare; and he has given such proofs of his desire to see the devotion to the Heart of Jesus extended, that you are sure of doing what is agreeable to him, in addressing yourselves to him to obtain the promotion of this object. The following incident will serve to increase your confidence.
In the year 1765, a novice of the Society of Jesus, Nicholas Aloysius Celestini, whilst labouring under a serious illness, and almost on the point of death, saw the angelical Aloysius approach his bed. The Saint addressed him in the most consoling words, and exhorted him to love the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and to propagate the devotion, as a thing most pleasing to Heaven. Nicholas promised to do so, and received, as a recompense, not only the cure of his malady, but freedom also from any troublesome effects of it; so that, though hardly able, the evening before, to turn in his bed, he was well enough, the following day, to walk several miles in very cold weather, and to observe the rule, like any other novice. This miraculous cure contributed powerfully to extend the devotion to the Sacred Heart.
Practice - Acquire the habit of making, from time to time, ejaculatory prayers, after the example of Saint Aloysius; there is not a more powerful means for advancing rapidly in a short time in the love of Jesus. Those short prayers are like inflamed darts, which go straight to His Heart, and meet with less hindrance from the distractions and languor, which so often interfere with our other exercises of piety.
Prayer - Who will give Thee to me, that I may find Thee alone, O Heart of my Jesus! (Canticles 8:1)
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
O Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
- text taken from Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, by Father George Tickell