May 24, 2026 | The Sacred Heart of Jesus
Jesus Christ: Yesterday, Today, and Forever ~
The Sacred Heart of Jesus (Part One of Three)
This year the United States of America marks its 250-year anniversary. Because of this and Pope Francis’ 2024 encyclical (letter) on the Sacred Heart of Jesus (found here – www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/20241024-enciclica-dilexit-nos.html) the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has been inspired to consecrate America to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This will be done on June 11, when the USCCB gathers for their bi-annual meeting. This will be livestreamed at 1pm (Pacific Time) at this website www.youtube.com/usccb. The liturgical feast day of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart is the next day, June 12, and we will honor it as we do every year at the 8:30am Mass at Holy Redeemer.
It is the hope of the bishops, and of all Catholics, that the consecration of America to the Sacred Heart of Jesus will pour out graces upon this nation. I want it to pour out graces upon you too. To that end, I offer here a novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus that I encourage you to join me praying every day from June 3-11. Then, if you can, attend Mass on Friday, June 12, on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Great graces are to be had for whatever intentions you offer up during this novena.
An Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Attributed to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (better known as Padre Pio) recited this novena every day for all those who requested his prayers. This novena can be prayed any time of year or, as did Saint Pio, perpetually throughout the year. However, it is traditionally prayed for nine days prior to the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart.
Pray all the prayers below every day from June 3-11.
Prayer One:
O my Jesus, you have said:
“Truly I say to you, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you.”
Behold I knock, I seek and ask for the grace of…
(name your request here)
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be to the Father…
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.
Amen
Prayer Two:
O my Jesus, you have said:
“Truly I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.”
Behold, in your name, I ask the Father for the grace of…
(name your request here)
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be To the Father…
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.
Amen.
Prayer Three:
O my Jesus, you have said:
“Truly I say to you, heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away.”
Encouraged by your infallible words I now ask for the grace of…
(name your request here)
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be to the Father…
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.
Amen.
Concluding Prayers
O Sacred Heart of Jesus,
for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted,
have pity on us miserable sinners
and grant us the grace which we ask of you,
through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary,
your tender Mother and ours.
The Hail Holy Queen (The Salve Regina) –
Hail, holy Queen, mother of mercy,
our life, our sweetness, and our hope.
To you we cry, poor banished children of Eve;
to you we send up our sighs,
mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn, then, most gracious advocate,
your eyes of mercy toward us;
and after this, our exile,
show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
Pray for us O most holy Mother of God,
That we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.
St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray for us.
Amen.
______________________________________________________________________________
What follows is part one of a three-part pastoral letter by our Archbishop, Paul Etienne, on the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is excellent and worthy of a focused and prayerful reading. You will gain much spiritual fruit if you do. You can find the whole document here
https://archseattle.org/sacredheart/. Enjoy.
In the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
Fr. Thomas Nathe
“Learn from Me for I Am Meek and Humble of Heart”
A Pastoral Letter on the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Archbishop Paul D. Etienne
To the Clergy, Consecrated Religious, and Lay Faithful of the Archdiocese of Seattle: Grace to you and peace in Jesus Christ our Lord.
+ May 2026
This year, we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America. To mark this occasion, the bishops of this country will consecrate the United States to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 11. This consecration offers an opportune moment to rediscover the devotion to the Sacred Heart.
This devotion has its roots in the 17th century. But devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is more timely than ever because, as Jesuit Father John Croiset has written, “properly understood it is nothing else than an exercise of love. Love is its object, love is its motive and principle, and it is love that ought to be its end.”
The Witness of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Between 1673 and 1675,
Sister Margaret Mary Alacoque, a Visitation nun in Paray-le-Monial, France, experienced three great revelations in which Jesus shared with her the mystery of his heart — and through her, with the whole world. Jesus revealed his heart, on fire with love: “Behold, this Heart which has so loved human beings that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself, in order to testify its love.”
Jesus asked Sister Margaret Mary to receive Communion on the first Friday of each month, to pray in expiation for the indifference and ingratitude of so many for whom he died and to work to establish a feast in honor of the Sacred Heart on the octave day of Corpus Christi, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.
In the revelations made to Sister Margaret Mary, we see Christ’s response to the ingratitude of the human race: the revelation of his ardent love. The core principle of this devotion is the overflowing love of God, a merciful love that overcomes sin and evil. “Unable to contain within Himself the flames of His ardent charity, and yet not able to chastise His ungrateful creatures, He resolved to vanquish them by force of tenderness.” On the cross, Christ’s pierced side is opened, and his heart longs to come forth.
Growing Up with the Sacred Heart of Jesus
From St. Margaret Mary’s quiet convent in France, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus spread rapidly across the world.
Like many of you, I grew up with this image and devotion.
I was blessed to grow up in a devout home. Our Catholic tradition holds that parents are the first teachers of their children in the ways of faith, and that was true in our family. I do not remember learning my prayers. I just grew up knowing them.
One early memory of childhood is praying together before every family meal. After the traditional grace before meals, we always prayed together the following Morning Offering, a prayer with its roots in devotion to the Sacred Heart.
O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day for the intentions of your Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world in reparation for our sins, for all our associates, and in particular for the intentions recommended this month by the Holy Father. Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us. Amen.
Perhaps more than any other aspect of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, this simple prayer has helped me learn to not only offer each day to the Lord, but also to be with the Lord in everything I do throughout the day. That is the ultimate goal of the devotion: to live in greater communion and intimacy with Jesus.
In the Church, devotions like the Sacred Heart are not just prayers to say: These devotions are meant to be lived. They are meant to draw us to greater union with Christ and, through him, to grow in the divine life of grace and holiness.
Besides the Morning Offering, another traditional practice of the devotion to the Sacred Heart is enthroning an image of the Sacred Heart in the home. On both sides of the family, my grandparents were devoted to the Sacred Heart. One set of grandparents had paintings of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary hanging in their dining room.
The other grandparents had statues of the Sacred Heart and of Our Lady of Grace on their bedroom dresser. I felt quite blessed to inherit them after my grandparents died. I still have the Sacred Heart statue on my bedroom dresser. Sadly, the statue of Our Lady did not survive the 2018 earthquake in Alaska!
These holy images are meant to be contemplated, to keep Jesus and his mother before us and to call them to mind frequently throughout the day. It is good to invoke the Lord with great confidence: Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us. As the Scriptures tell us: “Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2).
In my own journey of faith, the devotion to the Sacred Heart has helped me draw closer to Jesus, to love him with heart, soul, and strength (cf. Deuteronomy 6:4-9). That is why I am inviting all of us in this local Church to rediscover this beautiful devotion.
Most Reverend Archbishop Paul D. Etienne, D.D., S.T.L. Archbishop of Seattle
______________________________________________________________________________
Next week – Part Two of Three
