By Anthony Mullen
Special to The CS&T
Many Catholics are especially familar with the Sacred Heart devotion
revealed by God to St. Margaret Mary Alocoque, and with the promises
to those who practice the devotion. Overall, the Sacred Heart devotion
may be the most widely recognized private revelation in the history
of the Church (the seeds of the devotion were planted by God with St.
John the Apostle and then St. Gertrude the Great). However, very few
Catholics are familiar with the promises God made at the same time to
St. Margaret Mary to those who spread the devotion to the Christ’s
Sacred Heart.
Let us first consider why our Savior revealed this devotion. St. Margaret
Mary explained, in 1691: “Our Lord wishes through devotion to
His Divine Heart to rekindle the charity that has grown cold, and which
has almost been extinguished in the hearts of the greater part of Christians.
He wishes to give men a new means of loving God by His Sacred Heart,
as much as God desires to be loved, and of making reparation for man’s
ingratitude.”
St. Margaret Mary went on: “My Divine Master revealed to me that
it was His ardent desire to be known, loved, and honored by men, and
His eager desire to draw them back from the road to perdition, along
which Satan is driving them in countless numbers. This is what induced
Him to manifest His Heart to men with all the treasures of love, mercy,
grace, sanctification and salvation that His Heart contains. …
It is by means of His Sacred Heart that our loving Jesus wishes to save
many souls from eternal perdition.”
Jesus’ lament to St. Margaret Mary is one of the most heart-wrenching
ever known to man: “Behold this Heart which has so loved man as
to spare nothing, even exhausting and consuming Myself to death on the
cross, in order to testify to men My love. In return, I receive nothing
but ingratitude from the greater part of humanity by the contempt, irreverence,
sacrileges and coldness which they have for Me [especially] in the Sacrament
of My love.”
How can one listen to this impassioned plea by Christ and not be moved
to action? Our Lord revealed 12 promises — especially the great
promise attached to the nine First Fridays —to those who practice
the devotion, which are readily available to all Catholics to review
or learn.
At the same time, Our Lord revealed 10 promises to those who spread
that devotion to others. St. Margaret Mary calls those individuals “apostles
of the Sacred Heart.”
The following 10 promises are taken directly from the original treatise,
“Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus,” by Father John
Croiset as told to him by St. Margaret Mary. Father Croiset was her
spiritual director and, according to her, he was chosen by God to make
a book detailing the message she related to him.
• First promise
“My Divine Master showed me the names of several persons written
in letters of gold on His Sacred Heart, names which He will never allow
to be effaced. These are the names of the persons who have labored the
most to make His Sacred Heart known and loved.”
• Second promise
“The Sacred Heart of Jesus has such a great desire to be known,
loved and honored by men; He wishes so ardently to establish the empire
of His love in all hearts by destroying in them the empire of Satan,
that He promises great recompenses to all those who devote themselves
with their whole hearts to establishing the reign of His Sacred Heart
according to the lights and graces which He gives them.”
• Third promise
In addition to the friendship of the Divine Heart, the apostles of the
Devotion are assured of the protection of the Blessed Virgin and of
the saints, especially of St. Margaret Mary. She related: “Oh!
what happiness for us and for all who contribute in making the loving
Heart of Jesus known and glorified! For they will draw down upon themselves
the friendship and eternal blessings of this unique Love of our hearts.
The Blessed Virgin will be their special protectress, she will assist
them in attaining to the perfect life.”
• Fourth promise
The apostles of the Sacred Heart will make rapid progress in virtue.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus will sanctify and glorify them. St. Margaret
Mary said: “The loving Heart of Jesus has made known to me that
He will take care to sanctify and glorify us before His Heavenly Father
in the measure in which we exert ourselves to procure glory for Him
and to increase the reign of His love in the hearts of men.”
• Fifth promise
“The zeal with which you labor to make the Sacred Heart of Jesus
known and loved will gain for you in an ever increasing degree the crowning
gift of the pure love of God.”
• Sixth promise
The apostles of the Sacred Heart will draw down special blessings on
their native land and on their families: “Oh! what happiness for
those who contribute to making the adorable Heart of Jesus known, loved
and glorified! By what means they will secure a powerful Protector for
their native land.”
• Seventh promise
The works of zeal undertaken by those apostolic workers who propagate
the devotion to the Sacred Heart will result in great conversions: “My
divine Saviour assured me that those who labor for the salvation of
souls will have the art of touching the hardest hearts and will obtain
marvelous success, if they themselves are animated with a tender devotion
to His Divine Heart.
“He will penetrate the most unfeeling hearts by the words of His
preachers and faithful friends. He will so pour out the sweet unction
of His ardent charity with such strong and powerful graces on their
words that He will make them like a flaming sword, which will cause
the most frozen hearts to melt in His love. The words of these apostles
will be like a two-edged sword, which will penetrate the most hardened
hearts and make the holy fountain of penance spring up in them, purifying
and sanctifying the most obstinate sinners and rendering them susceptible
to the love of this Divine Heart. By this means the most criminal souls
will be led on to salutary penance.”
• Eighth promise
It will be given to the apostles of the Sacred Heart to understand the
inestimable value of the cross. They will obtain strength and consolation
in their difficulties: The adorable Heart of Jesus wishes to establish
the reign of His pure love in all hearts. Happy are those whom He will
employ to aid Him to establish His reign! But He did not tell me that
His friends would have nothing to suffer, for He wishes them to make
their greatest happiness consist in tasting its bitterness.”
• Ninth promise
Apostles of the Sacred Heart will obtain the grace of final perseverance
and a holy death.
• Tenth promise
The divine heart of Jesus, itself, will be the apostles’ reward:
“It seems to me that [the heart of Jesus] is like a king who thinks
only of recompensing His friends while He gains victories and triumphs
over His enemies. When [His] Heart reigns victorious on its throne,
it will be, itself, their eternal recompense.”
God gave us the image of His heart to not only show the vehemence of
His love, but also His sensitivity as a human being. He is the most
sensitive person who ever lived — therefore, how can we know what
He wants us to do and not do it?
Please save give this article to those you know will act on it. For
free booklets on the Sacred Heart devotion, write to the Children of
the Father Foundation, 222 S. Manoa Rd., Havertown Pa., 19083.
Anthony Mullen is chairman of the Children of the Father Foundation,
an apostolate that equips Catholics to share the love of God.