The USCCB voted to consecrate the US to the Sacred Heart. What does that entail?
Description
The U.S. bishops voted this week to consecrate the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus next year, to commemorate the country’s 250th anniversary.
Bishop Kevin Rhoades, who is leading the effort behind the consecration, told The Pillar it will be a historical occasion for the conference – and the country.
“The Sacred Heart is a symbol of Christ’s love, and with all the division, a lot of hateful rhetoric, a lot of polarization, I think we need to turn to the Lord and learn from Him,” said Rhoades, who heads the bishops’ Committee for Religious Freedom.
“His heart was meek, and he was humble of heart, and I think we need a lot more meekness and we need a lot more humility if we’re going to get along with one another,” Rhoades told The Pillar.
Specific details for the consecration have not been set, but the bishops will likely consecrate the country on the final day of their summer plenary meeting next year — June 26 — which is also the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart. Rhoades also floated the idea that the consecration might occur after evening prayer the night prior.
But what exactly does it mean to make a consecration to the Sacred Heart? What does it entail?
The Pillar takes a look.
What is the Sacred Heart of Jesus all about?
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus centers around the love, mercy and compassion that Christ has towards humanity. The devotion meditates on Christ’s unceasing love for man. The entire month of June and every first Friday of the month are dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Where did devotion to the Sacred Heart come from?
The devotion has biblical roots, with theologians pointing to John laying his head on Chirst’s chest during the Last Supper.
However, devotion to the Sacred Heart began in the late 1200s, when the mystic St. Gertrude had a vision of St. John on his feast day — December 27 — in which he invited her to lay her head near the side wound of Christ to hear his beating heart.
St. Gertrude recounted this experience in her book Herald of Divine Love: “My mission was to write of the Eternal Word but the language of the blissful pulsations of the Sacred Heart is reserved for latter times, that the time-worn world, grown cold in the love of God, may be warmed up by hearing of such mysteries.”
The devotion did not take immediately. Some 400 years after Gertrude’s vision — in 1673 — Christ appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, revealing His heart’s burning love. He asked her to spread devotion to his Sacred Heart and taught her what devotion should look like.
What does the devotion entail?
In her visions, Christ asked St. Margaret Mary Alacoque to instruct people to receive Holy Communion frequently, receive the Eucharist on the First Friday of every month, and regularly pray before the Blessed Sacrament. Other common acts of devotion include praying the Litany to the Sacred Heart and meditating on Christ’s love.
In return, Christ made 12 promises that he would fulfill in the lives of those who have a devotion to his Sacred Heart.
Those promises, as told to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, are:
(1) I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.
(2) I will establish peace in their homes.
(3) I will comfort them in all their afflictions.
(4) I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all, in death.
(5) I will bestow abundant blessings upon all their undertakings.
(6) Sinners will find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
(7) Lukewarm souls shall become fervent.
(8) Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.
(9) I will bless every place in which an image of my Heart is exposed and honored.
10) I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
(11) Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in my Heart.
(12) I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays in nine consecutive months the grace of final perseverance; they shall not die in my disgrace, nor without receiving their sacraments. My divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.”
What is a consecration?
Consecration is an act by which a person or thing is distinguished from the common use and dedicated to the service and worship of God by prayers, rites, and ceremonies. Individuals often make consecrations to Mary, to the Sacred Heart and to St. Joseph.
Pope Leo XIII published Annum Sacrum in 1899, in which he speaks of making a consecration.
Leo writes that, “by consecrating ourselves to Him we not only declare our open and free acknowledgment and acceptance of His authority over us, but we also testify that if what we offer as a gift were really our own, we would still offer it with our whole heart. We also beg of Him that He would vouchsafe to receive it from us, though clearly His own. Such is the efficacy of the act of which We speak, such is the meaning underlying Our words.”
How is an entire country consecrated?
The consecration takes the form of a votive consecration, where individuals – in this case, the bishops – will intercede on behalf of the entire country.
In Annum Sacrum, Leo XIII encouraged the consecration of individuals, families or even entire countries to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
“Such an act of consecration, since it can establish or draw tighter the bonds which naturally connect public affairs with God, gives to States a hope of better things,” Leo XIII wrote. “In these latter times especially, a policy has been followed which has resulted in a sort of wall being raised between the Church and civil society.”
How did the proposal for the consecration of the United States come about?
Last year, USCCB president Archbishop Timothy Brogolio asked the Committee for Religious Freedom to develop ideas to commemorate the country’s 250th anniversary.
“We were throwing out different ideas like doing the profiles of great American Catholics, which I was really happy about. And then someone suggested the consecration of the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus,” Rhoades told The Pillar.
“I said, ‘Wow, that’s a great idea’ and asked, ‘Has it ever been done before?’ They said, ‘No. Not by bishops in the United States.’ It’s been done in other countries, usually more Catholic countries, but immediately, the whole committee thought it was a great idea.”
So Rhoades proposed the consecration this week, during the USCCB’s annual fall plenary assembly.
The idea was overwhelmingly approved by the body of bishops, and the committee will now begin planning for the consecration. Rhoades said the conference will prepare catechetical materials in multiple languages and is hoping to work with the Office of Communications to produce a podcast and other media materials to educate the public about the Sacred Heart in the coming month
United States
