Hi Blogger Insiders,
The Catholic Church has many venerable feasts. July 1st is normally the Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus (in the Tridentine Rite). This Feast is held tomorrow due to another Feast that happens to fall this year on July 1st., that is the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is the Heart that loves us extremely. It is said that if we knew the depth of the love that the Sacred Heart of Jesus has for us, we would die of happiness.
The Roman centurion, Longinus (the man who struck Jesus in His side with a lance), was later converted to the Catholic Faith. The lance had pierced Jesus' Heart and out came water and blood. In retrospect, this can be considered to be the beginning of the attention given to the Heart of Jesus.
A French Roman Catholic nun, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (Marguerite Marie), further brought the devotion to the attention of the Church when in the late 1600's, Jesus appeared to her in a series of visions explaining to her about His Most Sacred Heart. Jesus wanted this devotion known throughout the Church (and the world). The devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus developed over the centuries until finally Blessed Pope Pius IX made it a Feast of the Universal (Catholic) Church in 1856.
The Litany of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus was made an official litany of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1899. Today the Litany of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus remains as one of the sweetest and most beloved litanies in the Holy Catholic Church.
God Bless you,
In Christ the King,
Michael the Lionheart
Happy Canada Day!
