"An important secret, for aiding you to carry out the good resolutions you have formed during this month, is to learn to enter into the Heart of Jesus, to quit the Heart of Jesus, and to re-enter the Heart of Jesus.
"1. Enter into the Heart of Jesus, by recollection and prayer; make great account of prayer, all your life; and, in it, never lose sight of Jesus. Remember how strongly Saint Theresa recommends prayer; enter into it, like her, through Jesus Christ.
"2. Quit the Heart of Jesus, in order to go and labour for Jesus; quit it, as the Seraphim quit Paradise, without being absent from it; preserve, at least, the desire of entering into it again, as speedily as possible. Live always in His presence. Carry Jesus with you, in order to communicate Him to the hearts of those with whom you Converse. Quit Jesus, as the ray issues from the sun, without being detach- ed from it; and as Jesus quitted the bosom of His Father, without ceasing to be united to Him.
"3. Re-enter the Heart of Jesus, as soon as possible. This you may do, in two ways; the first is, by frequently lifting up your mind and heart to Him. Whilst occupied in your employments, raise your heart, every hour or oftener, to Jesus, saying, for example; 'O Heart of Jesus! Thou art my strength, my joy, my happiness!' The second manner of re-entering the Heart of Jesus is by examination and penance. Call back your heart from its wanderings; and let it suffer some punishment for them. Lay your head at the foot of the Crucifix; and, if you have sinned by pride, say to Him; 'Trample this proud head, O Lord, beneath Thy feet!' If by impatience; 'Alas! would that I had the lance which pierced Thy Sacred Heart, that I might pierce my own with it, and let forth all its bitterness!' In every fault, that you may have committed, whatever it be, have recourse to our Lord, and say to Him; 'I know well, my Saviour! that Thou art also my Judge; and therefore it is, that I would gain Thee, before Thou judgest me; happy shall I be, if I do penance before Thou punishest me; for I know well that Thou wilt not have the courage to punish me twice.' Enter, then, quit, and re-enter, in this manner, the Heart of Jesus; it is a means of remaining united to Him, all your life."
Nor have you any reason to doubt that you will be always well received, under whatever circumstances you have recourse to Him; and though you may have been guilty of some negligence, in recalling Him to mind. One Friday, Saint Gertrude, turning towards her Crucifix, said with Compunction; "Alas! my sweetest Lord, what sufferings didst Thou endure for my salvation on this day! and I, ungrateful wretch that I am, engrossed by other cares, have allowed this day to pass, without calling to mind all that you deigned to suffer, each single hour, Thou who art the life of my life, who for love of my love didst condescend to die!" Upon which, our Lord replied to her; "I have supplied for all thy negligence; for, at each instant, I have formed in my Heart all those sentiments, which should have passed through thine; and my divine Heart waited with impatience for this return of thine towards me, in order to offer to God, my Father, all the merits that I accumulated, and which could not be applied to thy soul without this intention on thy part." "In this," adds the Saint, "is manifested the most faithful love of our God, who supplies, in so admirable a manner, for our forgetfulness; and who appeases His Father, by offering Him the regret which the soul conceives for her negligences."
Practice - We cannot better close the different practices, suggested during this month, than by one, which our Lord Himself proposed to the Venerable Mary Margaret: "One Friday, during the Holy Mass, I felt a strong desire to honour the sufferings of my crucified Spouse. Upon this He told me, that He desired that I should present myself, every Friday, a certain number of times, day and night, to adore Him upon the Cross, the throne of His mercy, and prostrate myself humbly at His feet, in the same dispositions in which the Blessed Virgin stood by the Cross during His Passion, and offer to Him those holy dispositions." Our Lord said also to Saint Mary Magdalen of Pazzi; "If you will honour with particular devotion, every Friday, the hour at which I expired on the Cross, you shall receive in return the choicest graces from my soul, which I gave up at that moment to my Eternal Father; and though you may not always feel sensibly the effects of this grace, it shall remain constantly present within you."
Prayer - May I live; no not I, but may the Heart of Jesus live in me!
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