Haurietis Aquas : on devotion to the sacred heart / encyclical letter of His Holiness Pope Pius XII,


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HAURIETIS AQUAS

ON DEVOTION TO
THE SACRED HEART

Encyclical Letter of

His Holiness Pope Pius XII

May 15, 1956

NATIONAL CATHOLIC WELFARE CONFERENCE
1312 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. • Washington 5, D.C-



Translation Provided by the

N.C.W.C. News Service



ENCYCLICAL LETTER
OF HIS HOLINESS

PIUS XII,

BY DIVINE PROVIDENCE

POPE,

ON DEVOTION TO THE SACRED HEART

To Our Venerable Brethren, the Patriarchs, Primates, Arch-
bishops, Bishops and other Local Ordinaries in peace and
communion with the Apostolic See

:

Health and Apostolic Benediction.

1. “You shall draw waters with joy out of the Saviour’s
fountains”1 . These words, in which the Prophet Isaias
symobolically foretold the manifold and rich gifts of God
that Christianity was to reap, spontaneously come to
Our mind as We recall the centenary of the proclamation in
which Our predecessor of immortal memory, Pius IX, gladly
granting the petition of the Catholic world, ordered the
celebration of the feast of the Sacred Heart throughout the
whole Church.

2. Those heavenly blessings which devotion to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus pours into the souls of the faithful, puri-
fying them, refreshing them with heavenly consolation and
urging them to acquire all virtues, cannot be counted. Mind-
ful, therefore, of the wise words of the Apostle St. James

—

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, com-
ing down from the Father of Lights” 2—We rightly
see in this devotion, which everywhere grows more fer-
vent, the inestimable gift which the Incarnate Word, our
Divine Saviour, as the sole Mediator of grace and truth be-
tween the Heavenly Father and the human race, gave to the
Church, His mystical bride, in recent times so that she could
endure great trials and surmount difficulties. In virtue of
this inestimable gift the Church is able to manifest her ar-
dent love for her Divine Founder and in a fuller measure
carry out the injunction given by Jesus Christ Himself,
which St. John the Evangelist records: “Now on the last,
the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying,
‘If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who

1



believes in me, as the Scripture says, “From within him
there shall flow rivers of living water.” ’ He said this, how-
ever, of the Spirit whom they who believed in him were to
receive.” 3

3. It was certainly not hard for those who heard Jesus
speak these words, in which He promised that a fountain of
“living water” would flow from within Him, to recall the
words of the holy prophets Isaias, Ezechiel and Zachary
foretelling the messianic kingdom, and that rock from which
water miraculously gushed forth when Moses struck it.4

4. Divine love has its origin in the Holy Ghost, who is the
Personified Love both of the Father and the Son in the
bosom of the August Trinity. Most aptly, then, does the
Apostle of the Gentiles, echoing the words of Jesus Christ,
attribute the infusion of charity in the souls of the faithful
to this Spirit of Love. “The charity of God is poured forth
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” 5

5. This intimate bond which, according to Sacred Scripture,
exists between the divine charity that must burn in the souls
of the faithful and the Holy Ghost, clearly shows to all,
venerable brothers, the real nature of devotion to the Sa-
cred Heart of Jesus Christ. For it is perfectly clear that
this devotion, if we examine its proper nature, is a most
excellent act of religion.

6. It demands the full and absolute determination of sur-
rendering and consecrating oneself to the love of the Divine
Redeemer. The wounded heart of the Saviour is the living
sign and symbol of that love. It is likewise clear, even to a
greater degree, that this devotion especially declares that
we must repay divine love with our own love.

7. Indeed it flows from the very essence of love that the
souls of men fully and completely submit to the rule of the
Supreme Being, because the act of our love so depends upon
the divine will that it forms, as it were, a certain oneness
according to the words of Scripture, “He who cleaves to the
Lord is one in spirit with Him.” 6

1

8. The Church has always held devotion to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus in such high regard and continues to esteem

2



it so greatly that she strives to have this devotion flourish
throughout the world and to promote it in every way. At
the same time she is vigilant to safeguard it with all her
strength against the charges of naturalism and so-called
sentimentalism. In spite of this vigilance, it is nevertheless
a deplorable fact that in the past and in our own time this
most noble devotion has not even been held in the honor it
deserves by some Christians, and at times even by those
who claim to be animated by zeal for the Catholic religion
and the acquiring of sanctity.

9. “If thou didst know the gift of God,” 7 venerable
brothers, We, who by the hidden designs of God have been
chosen as guardian and dispenser of that sacred treasure of
faith and piety which the Divine Redeemer entrusted to
His Church, make these words Our own. Through them, in
keeping with the duty of Our office, We admonish all those
of Our sons who are still led by preconceived opinions, and
go so far at times as to consider devotion to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus (which triumphing, as it were, over the
errors and neglect of men has spread over His whole Mysti-
cal Body) as less suited—not to say detrimental—to the
more pressing spiritual needs of the Church and the human
race in our times.

10. There are some who join the very essence of this devo-
tion with other forms of piety which the Church approves
and encourages but does not command. They put it on an
equal footing with those other forms of piety. They look
upon this devotion as some kind of additive which each one
is free to use according to his own good pleasure.

11. There are others, again, who assert that this devotion is
burdensome and of little or no use, particularly to those who
are fighting in the kingdom of God motivated by the idea of
defending, teaching, and spreading Catholic truth to the
utmost of their strength, resources, and time and of incul-
cating Christian social teaching and who strive to promote
those acts of religion and undertakings which they consider
much more necessary today. Then, too, there are those who,
far from considering this devotion a powerful help for cor-
rectly forming and restoring Christian morals both in the
private life of individuals and in the family circle, consider
it rather as a form of piety springing from emotions and
not from reasoned convictions and more suited, therefore,

3



for women, because they see in it something unbecoming
educated men.

12. Others again, when they pause to think that this devo-
tion especially demands penance, expiation and the rest of
the virtues which they call passive and which have no ex-
ternal influence, do not consider it apt for arousing the
spiritual fervor of our times. Fervor today must aim rather
at visible strenuous action, the triumph of the Catholic faith
and a vigorous defense of Christian moral standards.

13. As everyone knows these norms are flippantly attacked
by the captious objections of those who are indifferent to all
religion, who tear down the distinction of true and false in
thought and action and who are pitifully contaminated by
the principles of atheistic materialism and laicism.

14. Venerable brothers, who does not see that such opinions
are completely contrary to the teachings which Our prede-
cessors publicly proclaimed from this chair of truth when
they approved the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus?
Who would dare call useless and less suitable to our time
that piety which Our predecessor of immortal memory, Leo
XIII, declared a “most excellent form of religion’’ and in
which he had no doubt there was to be found a powerful
remedy to cure those very same evils which today, too,

—

beyond doubt in an even greater and more violent manner

—

afflict and vex individuals and society? “This devotion,” he
said, “which We recommend to all, will be profitable for all.”
15. He added these admonitions and exhortations which
also apply to devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus : “Hence
this force of evils, which so long weighs us down seriously,
demands that the help of One be sought by whose power it
can be driven off. Who is He, but the only begotten Son of
God! For there is no other name under heaven given to
men by which we must be saved. We must then flee to Him,
who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.” 8

16. Neither did Our immediate predecessor of happy mem-
ory, Pius XI. declare this devotion less approved and suited
to foster Christian piety. In an encyclical letter he wrote:
“Is not the epitome of religion, and consequently the norm
of the more perfect life, contained in that form of piety
which more readily leads souls to acknowledge Christ the
Lord and which more effectively inclines hearts to love Him
more ardently and imitate Him more closely?” 9

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17. This truth is as evident and clear to Us as it was to Our
predecessors. When We became Pope and saw with pleasure
that devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus had providential-
ly increased among Christian peoples and was marching in
triumph, so to speak, We were filled with joy at the graces
which flowed to the Church from this devotion. We were
pleased to note this in Our very first encyclical. 10

18. Through the years of Our pontificate, filled not only
with cares and anxieties but also with ineffable consola-
tions, these blessings have not been diminished either in
number, power or splendor, but have rather been multiplied.
Various movements have providentially started which are
conducive to the adding of new fervor to this devotion and
most aptly suited to the needs of our times. We mean or-
ganizations to promote religion and charity, published arti-
cles which explain the historical, the ascetical or the mys-
tical aspects which have bearing on this topic and pious
works of expiation.

19. We mention especially the proofs of deepest piety given
by the Apostleship of Prayer, under whose auspices and
care homes, colleges, institutions and at times whole nations
were consecrated to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Not
infrequently by letter, public addresses, and even by radio
We have extended Our paternal congratulations to these
undertakings.11

20. Consequently, as We behold the rich abundance of salu-
tary waters, that is, of heavenly gifts of divine love, flowing
from the Sacred Heart of Our Redeemer and permeating
countless children of the Catholic Church (under the inspi-
ration and operation of the Holy Ghost), We cannot re-
frain, venerable brothers, from exhorting you paternally to
join Us in giving glory and thanks to God, the Giver of all
good gifts. We join Our sentiments with those of the
Apostle of the Gentiles: “Now, to him who is able to ac-
complish all things in a measure far beyond what we ask or
conceive, in keeping with the power that is at work in us

—

to him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus down
through all the ages of time without end. Amen.” 12

21. But after We have duly thanked the Eternal God, We
wish through this encyclical to urge you, and all Our dearly
beloved children of the Church, to study diligently the teach-
ings of Scripture, the Fathers and theologians—the solid

5



foundations on which devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
rests.

22. For we are firmly convinced that only when we have
thoroughly investigated the basic and profound nature of
this devotion in the light of divinely revealed truth, only
then, do We say, can we rightly and fully appreciate its
incomparable excellence and its inexhaustible store of
heavenly gifts. Only after piously meditating on the count-
less blessings flowing from this devotion can we worthily
celebrate the first centenary of the feast of the most Sacred
Heart of Jesus.

23. To give to the minds of the faithful a salutary teaching
by virtue of which they can more easily and fully under-
stand the true nature of this devotion and reap its abundant
fruits, We shall explain those passages of the Old and New
Testaments in which God’s infinite love for mankind is re-
vealed and set before us. We can, of course, never really
study that love sufficiently. We shall then touch upon the
chief points of the teaching of the Fathers and Doctors of
the Church.

24. Finally We shall show in its true light the close connec-
tion that exists between the kind of devotion to be shown to
the heart of the Divine Redeemer and the veneration due to
His love and the love of the August Trinity for all men. For
We think that if the principal reasons for this noblest form
of piety and the foundations on which it rests are set forth
in the light of Scripture and the teaching handed down in
the Church, the faithful can more easily “draw waters with
joy out of the Saviour’s fountains.” 13

25. To draw this water means to consider more fully the
special importance which devotion to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus has in the liturgy of the Church and in her internal
and external life and activity, and to have the power to
gather those spiritual fruits through which individuals can
renew their spiritual life, as the shepherds of the flock of
Christ desire. That everyone may be able to understand
more fully the doctrine which the passages to be cited from
the Old and New Testament proclaim in regard to this de-
votion, they must above all clearly understand the reason
why the Church adores the heart of the Divine Redeemer.

26. Now it is perfectly clear to you, venerable brothers,
that there is a twofold reason. The first reason, which also

6



applies to the rest of the most holy members of the body of
Jesus Christ, rests on the teaching- by which we know that
His Heart, as the noblest part of human nature, is hypostat-
ically united to the person of the Divine Word and must
therefore be adored in the same way in which the Church
adores the Person of the Incarnate Son of God. We deal
here with an article of Catholic faith since this point was
already solemnly defined in the general Council of Ephesus
and the second Council of Constantinople.

14

27. The second reason, which refers specifically to the
Heart of the Divine Redeemer and in a special manner de-
mands adoration, stems from the fact that His Heart, more
than all the rest of the members of His body, is the natural
sign and symbol of His boundless love for the human race.
Our predecessor of immortal memory, Leo XIII, remarked

:

“In the Sacred Heart there is the symbol and the express
image of the infinite love of Jesus Christ which moves us to
love in return.”15

28. There is no doubt that Scripture never makes express
mention of special veneration paid to the physical heart of
the Incarnate Word as the symbol of His most ardent love.
If we must openly admit this, it cannot surprise Us nor in
any way lead Us to doubt the divine love for us which is the
principal reason for this devotion. This love is proclaimed
and inculcated both in the Old and New Testaments in such
vivid images as to greatly stir our souls. At times these
images were presented in the Scripture which announced
the coming of the Son of God made man. They can there-
fore be considered as the beginning of the sign and symbol
of that divine love, that is of the most Sacred and Adorable
Heart of the Divine Redeemer.

29. For our present purpose we do not consider it necessary
to cite many passages from the Old Testament, which con-
tains truths revealed by God long ago. We deem it sufficient
to recall the covenant made between God and the Jewish
people which was ratified with peace offerings.

80. Moses wrote the laws of the covenant on two tables of
stone and the prophets expounded them.16 The covenant was
sealed not only by the bonds of God’s supreme dominion and
the obedience which men owe Him, but was also strength-
ened and sustained by higher considerations of love.

7



31. For to the people of Israel the weightiest reason for
obeying God was not the fear of divine vengence, which the
thunder and lightning flashing from the peak of Mt. Sinai
struck into their souls, but rather love for God. “Hear,
0 Israel ! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone ! Therefore,
you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and
with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to
heart these words which I enjoin on you today.” 17

32. We are not surprised then if Moses and the prophets,
whom the Angelic Doctor rightly calls the elders of the
chosen people 18

,
because they knew that the foundation of

the entire law was placed on this precept of love, described
the dealings between God and his people in terms of the
mutual love of a father and his children or of a husband
and his wife, rather than in stern terms of God’s supreme
dominion or of our own subjection in fear.

33. Therefore, to cite a few examples, Moses himself, when
he sang his famous canticle because of the liberation of his
people from the bondage of Egypt and wanted to declare
that it had been accomplished by the power of God, used
these touching expressions and comparisons : “As an eagle
incites its nestlings forth by hovering over its brood, so he
(God) spread his wings to receive them and bore them up
on his pinions.” 19

34. Of the prophets perhaps none more than Osee expresses
and explains so clearly and forcefully the love which God
always showed His people. In the writings of this prophet,
who is outstanding among the rest of the minor prophets
for the austere grandeur of his diction, God manifests a
holy and solicitous love for His chosen people, a love like
that of a loving and merciful father or that of a husband
whose honor is offended.

35. It is a question here of a love that is so far from dimin-
ishing or ceasing on account of the perfidy of traitors or
enormous crimes, that it will rather justly punish offenses,
not indeed to repudiate and dismiss the estranged and faith-
less wife and ungrateful children, but to make amends and
purify and reunite them in renewed and strengthened bonds
of love. “Because Israel was a child and I loved him

;
and I

called my son out of Egypt . . . And I was like a foster fa-
ther to Ephraim, I carried them in my arms

;
and they knew

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not that I healed them. I will draw them with the cords
of Adam, with the bands of love ... I will heal their
breaches, 1 will love them freely, for my wrath is turned
away from them. I will be as the dew, Israel shall spring
as the lily, and his root shall shoot forth as that of
Libanus.” 20

36. The prophet Isaias expresses similar sentiments when
he represents God Himself and His chosen people express-
ing, as it were, opposite views in a conversation: “And
Sion said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath
forgotten me. Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to
have pity on the son of her womb? And if she should for-
get, yet will not I forget thee.” 21

37. No less touching are the words which the author of the
Canticle of Canticles uses when he graphically describes the
bonds of mutual love which join God and His chosen people
in terms of conjugal love. “As a lily among thorns, so is my
beloved among women . . . My lover belongs to me and I to
him; he browses among the lilies . . . Set me as a seal on
your heart, as a seal on your arm

;
for stern as death is love,

relentless as the nether world is devotion; its flames are a
blazing fire.” 22

38. Yet this most tender, indulgent and patient love of God,
which indeed disclaimed the Jewish people as it added crime
upon crime, yet never completely repudiated it, and which
seems ardent indeed and sublime, was but a harbinger of
the most ardent love which the promised Redeemer was to
unfold for all from His Most Loving Heart. This love, was
to be the exemplar of our love, the foundation of the new
covenant. However, only He who is the only Begotten of the
Father and the Word-made-Flesh “full of grace and of
truth” 23 when He came among men weighed down with
countless sins and miseries could in His human nature,
hyostatically united with the Divine Person, open for man-
kind “a fountain of living water” to irrigate the parched
earth and transform it into a blooming fruitful garden.

39. It seems that the prophet Jeremias in a way foretold
this marvelous transformation to be accomplished through
God’s most merciful and eternal love in these words: “I
have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore have I
drawn thee, taking pity on thee . . . Behold the days shall
come, saith the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with

9



the house of Israel, and with the house of Juda . . . This
shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel, after those days, saith the Lord : I will give my law
in their bowels, and I will write it in their heart, and I will
be their God, and they shall be my people . . . for I will for-
give their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no
more.” 24

II

40. However, only from the Gospels do we get clear and full
knowledge of the new covenant between God and man. The
covenant which Moses made between the people of Israel
and God was merely the symbol and token which the proph-
et Jeremias foretold. The real new covenant, We say, is
that which was established and accomplished by the Incar-
nate Word and divine grace reconciling us with God. This
covenant must therefore be considered incomparably nobler
and more lasting because it was ratified, not by the blood of
goats and heifers, as was the first, but by His Most Holy
Blood, which the peace offerings—irrational animals—fore-
shadowed as “the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of
the world.” 25

41. The Christian covenant, much more than the old cove-
nant, clearly shows that it was not based on submission and
fear, but ratified in terms of that friendship that must
exist between a father and his sons and is sustained and
strengthened by a more lavish participation in divine grace
and truth, according to the words of St. John the Evange-
list: “And of his fullness we have all received, grace for
grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and
truth came through Jesus Christ.” 26

42. Since we are led then to the very mystery of the in-
finite love of the Incarnate Word by the statement of that
disciple “whom Jesus loved, the one who, at the supper, had
leaned back upon his breast” 27 it seems meet and just,
right and availing unto salvation, venerable brothers, to
linger awhile in the sweetest contemplation of that mystery.

43. We pause in this consideration so that, enlightened by
that light which shines from the Gospel and sheds light on
this mystery, We too may conceive and express the desire
recorded by the Apostle of the Gentiles: “To have Christ
dwelling through faith in your hearts : so that, being rooted

10



and grounded in love, you may be able to comprehend with
all the saints what is its breadth and length and height and
depth, and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowl-
edge, in order that you may be filled unto all the fullness of
God.” 28

44. The mystery of the divine Redemption is first and fore-
most a mystery of love, that is, of the true love of Christ for
His Heavenly Father, to whom the sacrifice offered on the
Cross in loving obedience renders most abundant and in-
finite satisfactions for the sins of mankind. “By suffering
out of love and obedience, Christ gave more to God than was
required to compensate for the offense of the whole human
race.” 29 It is, moreover, a mystery of the merciful love
of the August Trinity and the Divine Redeemer for all man-
kind. Since men could in no way expiate their sins,30
Christ through the incalculable riches of His merits which
He acquired for us by shedding His precious Blood, was able
to restore and perfect the bond of friendship between God
and men which had been severed first in paradise by the
pitiful fall of Adam, and later by the countless sins of the
chosen people.

45. Therefore the Divine Redeemer, as our duly constituted
and perfect Mediator, because He made perfect satisfaction
to divine justice for all the debts and obligations of the hu-
man race out of His most ardent love for us, effected the
marvelous reconciliation between divine justice and divine
mercy which constitutes the impenetrable mystery of our
salvation.

46. Concerning this mystery, the Angelic Doctor wisely
says: “That man should be delivered by Christ’s Passion
was in keeping with both His mercy and His justice. With
His justice, because by His passion Christ made satisfaction
for the sin of the human race

;
and so man was set free by

Christ’s justice: and with His mercy, for since man of him-
self could not satisfy for the sin of all human nature God
gave him His Son to satisfy for him.

47. “And this came of a more copious mercy than if He had
forgiven sins without satisfaction. Hence St. Paul says:
‘God, Who is rich in mercy, by reason of His very great love
wherewith He has loved us even when we were dead by rea-
son of our sins, brought us to life together with Christ.’ ” 31

11



48. However, that we may be able so far as it is possible for
mortal man “to comprehend with all the saints what is the
breadth and length and height and depth” 32 of the fathom-
less love of the Incarnate Word for His Heavenly Father
and for men defiled by sin, we must understand that
His love was spiritual, as becomes God, because “God is
Spirit.” 33 But it was not only spiritual. To be sure, the
love with which God loved our first parents and the
Hebrew people was of a spiritual nature. The expressions
of love, so human, intimate and paternal which we read in
the Psalms, in the writings of the prophets and in the Can-
ticle of Canticles, are indications and manifestations of the
truest but entirely spiritual love with which God loved the
human race. On the contrary, the love spoken of in the
Gospel, the letters of the apostles and the pages of the
Apocalypse—all of which describe the love of the heart of
Jesus Christ—express not only divine love but also human
sentiments of love.

49. This point is quite clear to all who are Catholics. For
the Word of God assumed not a fictitious and empty body,
as some heretics already maintained in the first century of
the Christian era and who were condemned by St. John the
Apostle in most severe terms: “For many deceivers have
gone forth into the world, who do not confess Jesus as the
Christ coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the
Antichrist.” 34 But the Word actually united to His divine
person an individual, integral and perfect human nature
which was conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in
the most pure womb of the Virgin Mary. 35 Nothing, there-
fore, was lacking in the human nature which the Word of
God joined to Himself. Indeed He assumed a human nature
in no way diminished or changed in its spiritual and bodily
capacities, that is, a nature endowed with intelligence and
free will and the rest of the internal and external faculties
of perception, sense appetites and all natural impulses.

50. The Catholic Church teaches all these doctrines as
solemnly proclaimed and confirmed by the Roman Pontiffs
and general councils. “Whole and entire in what is His own,
whole and entire in what is ours,” 36 “Perfect in his God-
head and likewise perfect in His humanity,” 37 “Complete
God is man, complete man is God.” 38

51. Therefore, there can be no doubt that Jesus Christ took

12



a human body having all the affections which are proper to
it, among which love holds the first place. There can like-
wise be no doubt that He had a physical heart like ours,
since without this most excellent organ human life, even as
regards affections, is impossible. Wherefore, the heart of
Jesus Christ, hypostatically united to the Divine Person of
the Word, beyond doubt throbbed with love and the rest of
the impulses of the affections which, however, were in such
perfect accord and harmony with His human will filled with
divine love and with the infinite love itself which the Son
shares with the Father and the Holy Ghost so that there
never was anything contrary or conflicting in these three
kinds of love.39

52. Nevertheless, We say that the Word of God took upon
Himself a “real” and perfect human nature and formed and
fashioned for Himself a heart of flesh, which like ours could
suffer and be pierced. We repeat that unless this teaching
be considered not only in the light which is shed by the
hypostatic and substantial union, but also in that of the
redemption of mankind—its complement, as it were—this
doctrine can be a stumbling block and foolishness to some,
as Christ nailed to the Cross actually was to the Jews and
Gentiles.40

53. The authoritative teaching of the Catholic faith, since
it is in complete agreement with Scripture, assures us that
the only begotten Son of God assumed a human nature ca-
pable of suffering and dying precisely because He wished, by
offering the bloody sacrifice on the Cross, to accomplish the
task of man’s redemption.

54. For the rest, the Apostle of the Gentiles teaches this
doctrine in these words: “For both he who sanctifies and
they who are sanctified are all from one. For which cause
he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, T will de-
clare thy name to my brethren’. . . . And again, ‘Behold I
and my children, whom God has given me.’ Therefore, be-
cause children have blood and flesh in common, so he in like
manner has shared in these. . . .Wherefore it was right that
he should in all things be made like unto his brethren, that
he might become a merciful and faithful high priest before
God to expiate the sins of the people. For in that he himself
has suffered and has been tempted, he is able to help those
who are tempted.” 41

13



55. The Fathers of the Church, truthful witnesses of divine-
ly revealed doctrine, understood most definitely what the
Apostle Paul had quite clearly stated : that the mysteries of
the Incarnation and Redemption were the beginning and
culmination of divine love. Frequently, and in clear words,
we read in their writings that Jesus Christ assumed perfect
human nature, and our mortal and perishable body, to pro-
vide for our eternal salvation and to show us His infinite,
even sensible, love.

56. Echoing the words of the Apostle of the Gentiles, St
Justin writes : “We adore and love the Word born of the un-
begotten and ineffable God since He became Man for our
sake, so that having become partaker of our sufferings He
might provide a remedy for them.” 42 St. Basil, the greatest
of the three Cappadocian Fathers, teaches that the affec-
tions of the senses in Christ were at one and the same time
real and holy. “It is clear that the Lord indeed did assume
natural affections as a proof of His real and not imaginary
Incarnation and that He rejected as unworthy of the God-
head corrupt affections which defile the purity of our life.” 43

In like manner the light of the church of Antioch, St. John
Chrysostom, states that the affections of the senses to which
the Divine Redeemer was susceptible prove beyond doubt
that He assumed a complete human nature. “For if He had
not shared our nature He would not have repeatedly been
seized with grief.” 44

57. Of the Latin Fathers We select for mention those whom
the Church today honors as the greatest. St. Ambrose testi-
fies that the movements of the senses and the affections,
from which the Incarnate Word was not free, are rooted in
the hypostatic union as in a natural principle : “And there-
fore he assumed a soul and the passions of the soul

;
for God

precisely because He is God could not have been disturbed
nor could He have died.” 45

58. From these affections St. Jerome draws his chief proof
that Christ assumed human nature: “To prove that He
really assumed human nature, he really became sorrow-
ful.” 46 St. Augustine in a special manner calls attention to
the relations between the affections of the Incarnate Word
and the purpose of the redemption of the human race.
“These affections of human infirmity, just as the human
body itself and death, the Lord Jesus assumed not out of
necessity but freely out of compassion so that He might

14



transform in Himself His body, which is the Church of
which He deigned to be the Head, that is, His members who
are among the faithful and the saints so that if any of them
in trials of this life should be saddened and afflicted, they
should not therefore think that they are deprived of His
grace; nor should they consider this sorrow a sin, but a
sign of human weakness; like a choir singing in harmony
with the note that has been sounded, so should his body
learn from its Head.” 47

59. In less ornate but nevertheless forceful words, the fol-
lowing passages from St. John Damascene set forth the
clear teaching of the Church: “Complete God assumed com-
plete man, and complete man is united to complete God so
that He might bring salvation to complete man. For what
was not assumed could not be healed.” 48 “He therefore as-
sumed all that He might sanctify all.” 49

60. We must, however, bear in mind that these quotations
from scripture and the Fathers and not a few similar ones
which We did not cite, although they clearly attest that
there were in Jesus Christ movements of the senses and af-
fections and that he assumed human nature to accomplish
our eternal salvation, they never refer to His physical heart
in such a manner as to clearly indicate it as the symbol of
his infinite love.

61. “But if the evangelists and the rest of the sacred writers
do not clearly describe the heart of our Redeemer as re-
sponding to feelings and emotions no less than ours and as
throbbing and palpitating on account of the various move-
ments and affections of his soul and of the most ardent love
of His human and divine wills, they do frequently, however,
clearly record His divine love and those movements of the
emotions connected with them, namely, desire, joy, sadness,
fear and anger as they are reflected in His countenance,
words and manner of acting.

62. The countenance of our adorable Saviour was an indica-
tion and perfect mirror of those affections which, in various
ways, moved His soul, and of the reactions which reached
and touched His Most Sacred Heart. The observation based
on common experience which the Angelic Doctor made con-
cerning human psychology and what follows from it is per-
tinent to this matter : “The disturbance of anger reaches to
the outward members and chiefly to those members which

15



reflect more distinctly the emotions of the heart, such as the
eyes, face and tongue.” 50

63. Wherefore the heart of the Incarnate Word is rightly
considered the chief index and symbol of the threefold love
with which the Divine Redeemer continuously loves the
Eternal Father and the Whole human race. It is the symbol
of that divine love which He shares with the Father and the
Holy Ghost, but which in Him alone, in the Word namely
that was made Flesh, is it manifested to us through His
mortal human body, since “in Him dwells the fullness of the
Godhead bodily.” 51

64. It is moreover the symbol of that most ardent love
which, infused into His soul, sanctifies the human will of
Christ and whose action is enlightened and directed by a
twofold most perfect knowledge, namely the beatific and in-
fused.52

65. Finally, in a more direct and natural manner, it is a
symbol also of sensible love, since the body of Jesus Christ,
formed through the operation of the Holy Ghost in the
womb of the Virgin Mary, has a most perfect capacity for
feeling and perception, much more than the bodies of all
other men.53

66. Since Scripture and the teachings of the Catholic Faith
affirm that there is the highest possible harmony and agree-
ment in the Most Holy Soul of Jesus Christ, and that He
clearly directed His threefold love to accomplish our re-
demption, it is therefore obvious that we can most correctly
consider and venerate the heart of the Divine Redeemer as
signifying the image of His love, the proof of our redemp-
tion and the mystical ladder by which we climb to the em-
brace of “God our Saviour.” 54

67. Wherefore His words, actions, teachings, miracles, and
in particular those deeds which more clearly testify this love
for us—the institution of the Holy Eucharist, His most bit-
ter passion and death, His Most Holy Mother whom He
lovingly gave to us, the founding of the Church and the
sending of the Holy Ghost upon the apostles and upon us

—

all these we must regard as proofs of His threefold love.

68. In like manner we must lovingly meditate on the pulsa-
tions of His most Sacred Heart by which, so to say, He
Himself kept on measuring the time of His sojourn on earth

16



up to the last moment when, as the evangelists testify “cry-
ing out in a loud voice ‘It is consummated/ and, bowing his
head, gave up his spirit.” 55

69. Then the beating of His heart stopped, and His sensible
love was interrupted until He arose from the tomb in tri-
umph over death.

70. But after His glorified body was again united to the soul
of the Divine Redeemer, the Conqueror of death, His Most
Sacred Heart never ceased, and never will cease, to beat
with imperturbable and calm pulsation. It will likewise
never cease to signify His threefold love by which the Son
of God is bound to His heavenly Father and the whole hu-
man race, of which He is by perfect right the mystical head.

Ill

71. But now, venerable brethren, in order that we may
gather rich and salutary fruits from these considerations,
let us briefly meditate on and contemplate the manifold af-
fections, human and divine, of Our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
These indeed His Heart manifested through the course of
His mortal life.

72. These affections He now manifests and will continue to
do so forever. Especially from the pages of the Gospel does
light shine forth to us. Illumined and strengthened by this
light, we can enter into the tabernacle of His Divine Heart.
Together with the Apostle of the Gentiles we can wonder at
“the riches of grace in kindness towards us in Christ
Jesus.” 56

73. The adorable Heart of Jesus Christ beats with human
and divine love since the Virgin Mary pronounced that
great-souled “Fiat” and the Word of God, as the Apostle
observes, “coming into the world, he says, “Sacrifice and
oblation thou wouldst not, but a body thou hast fitted to me

:

in holocausts and sin-offerings thou hast had no pleasure.
Then said I, “Behold, I come” ! ... It is in this ‘will’ that we
have been sanctified through the offering of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all.” 57

74. In the same way was He moved by love in perfect ac-
cord with the affections of His human will and divine love
when in the home at Nazareth He engaged in heavenly dis-
course with His most sweet Mother and with His foster-

17



father, Joseph. He was obedient to him and He toiled with
him in the carpenter’s trade and, with the triple love of
which We have spoken, He was driven on during the lengthy
apostolic journeys which He undertook, in the innumerable
miracles which He wrought and by which He recalled the
dead from the tomb or bestowed health on those ill with
every sort of disease. He was moved by this triple love dur-
ing the labors He endured, in the sweat, hunger and thirst
He suffered and in the nocturnal vigils in which He most
lovingly prayed to His Heavenly Father.

75. And finally He was moved by this triple love in the dis-
courses He held and in the parables which He spoke and ex-
plained. This is especially true of the parables which treat
of His mercy, such as those which tell of the lost drachma,
the lost sheep, the prodigal son. In these parables, both by
their subject matter and by words, the very Heart of God is
expressly laid bare to us, as Gregory the Great observed:
“Learn of the Heart of God in the words of God, so that
you may more ardently long for eternal things.” 58

76. But the Heart of Christ was moved by an even greater
charity when words full of love fell from His lips. Let Us
cite some examples. When He saw the crowds tired and
hungry, He exclaimed, “I have compassion on the crowd.” 59
And when He gazed upon Jerusalem, his most beloved City,
blinded by her sins and therefore destined for complete
destruction, He said: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Thou who
killest the prophets, and stonest those who are sent to thee

!

How often would I have gathered thy children together, as
a hen gathers her young under her wings, but Thou wouldst
not!” 60

77. But, because of love for His Father and holy indigna-
tion, His Heart beat violently when He beheld the sacri-
legious buying and selling in the temple, and He rebuked
the profaners of the temple with these words : “It is written,
‘My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you have
made it a den of thieves.’ ” 61

78. But His Heart was moved by a special love and fear
when He saw that the hour of His most cruel sufferings was
now at hand. He felt a natural repugnance for death and
those sorrows which were rushing upon Him and cried out

:

“Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me.” 62

But with love unconquered by the greatest grief when He

18



received a kiss from the traitor, He addressed him with
these words, which seem to be the last invitation of His
Most Merciful Heart to a friend who was about to betray
Him to His executioners with an impious, faithless and
most hardened heart: “Friend, for what purpose hast thou
come? Dost thou betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” 03

79. In truth, He spoke with exceedingly great love and pity
when He said to the pious women weeping for Him as He
was about to suffer the underserved death of the Cross:
“Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for
yourselves and for your children . . . for if in the case of
green wood they do these things, what is to happen in the
case of the dry?” 64

80. And finally, our Divine Redeemer, hanging on the Cross
felt His Heart on fire with varied and vehement affections,
affections of the most ardent love, of dismay, of mercy,
of a most intense longing, of serene calm, which affections
are indeed most strikingly expressed by the following
words : “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what
they are doing.” 65 “My God, my God, why hast Thou for-
saken Me?” 66 “Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be
with Me in Paradise.” 67 “I thirst.” 68 “Father, into Thy
hands I commend My spirit.” 69

81. Who in truth could describe in a worthy manner those
beatings of the Divine Heart, the indications of His infinite
love, when He bestowed His greatest gifts on man, that is,
Himself in the sacrament of the Eucharist, His Most Holy
Mother and the priestly office communicated to us?

82. Even before He ate the Last Supper with His disciples,
when He knew that He was going to institute the sacrament
of His Body and Blood by the shedding of which the new
covenant was to be consecrated, He felt His Heart stirred
by strong emotions, which He made known to the Apostles
in these words: “I have greatly desired to eat this passover
with you before I suffer.” 70 These same emotions were
even stronger, without doubt, when “having taken bread,
He gave thanks and broke it and gave it to them saying:
‘This is My Body which is being given for you; do this in
remembrance of me.’ In like manner, he took also the cup
after the supper, saying : ‘This cup is the new covenant in
my blood, which shall be shed for you.’ 71

19



83. Rightly, therefore, one may affirm that the Divine Eu-
charist, both as a sacrament and as a sacrifice—the one He
bestowed on men, the other He Himself continually offers
“from the rising of the sun even to the going down” 72—and
the priesthood are all really the gifts of the Most Sacred
Heart of Jesus.

84. Indeed another most precious gift of His Most Sacred
Heart is, as We have said, Mary, the sweet Mother of God
and the most loving Mother of us all. For she was the
Mother of Our Redeemer according to the flesh and His as-
sociate in recalling the children of Eve to the life of divine
grace. And so she is rightly hailed as the spiritual Mother
of Mankind. Wherefore St. Augustine, in writing of her
says:

85. “Indeed she is the Mother of the members of the Sav-
iour, which we are because she cooperated by love so that
the faithful who are the members of that head might be
born in the Church.” 73

86. And to the unbloody gift of Himself, under the appear-
ance of bread and wine, Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, wished,
as a special proof of His intimate and infinite love to add
the bloody sacrifice of the Cross. Indeed, in His way of act-
ing, He gave an example of that sublime charity which He
set before His disciples as the highest measure of love:
“Greater love than this no one has, that one lay down his
life for his friends.” 74

87. Wherefore, the love of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, by
the Sacrifice of Golgotha, clearly and richly proves the love
of God himself: “In this we have come to know His love
that He laid down his life for us

;
and we likewise ought to

lay down our life for the brethren.” 75

88. And in fact Our Divine Redeemer was nailed to the
Cross more by His love than by the force of the execution-
ers. His voluntary holocaust is the supreme gift which He
bestowed on each man according to the concise words of the
Apostle : “Who loved me, and gave Himself up for me.” 76

89. Therefore, there can be no doubt that the Most Sacred
Heart of Jesus, since it is most intimately the sharer of the
life of the Incarnate Word, and since it was assumed as an
instrument of the Divinity, no less than the other members
of His human nature in accomplishing the works of divine

20



grace and omnipotence,77 is the true symbol of the boundless
love by which Our Saviour, through the shedding of His
blood, contracted a mystical marriage with the Church.
“Through charity He suffered for the Church who was to be
united to Him as His spouse.” 78
90.

Therefore, from the wounded heart of Our Redeemer,
the Church, the dispenser of the blood of the Redeemer, was
born. From this wounded Heart the grace of the sacra-
ments, from which the children of the Church draw super-
natural life, flowed most profusely, as we read in the sacred
liturgy: “From the pierced Heart, the Church, joined to
Christ, is born . . . Who pourest forth grace from Thy
Heart.” 79 By reason of this symbol, which was not, indeed,
unknown even to the ancient Fathers of the Church and
ecclesiastical writers, the Common Doctor, as if reechoing
these same sentiments writes: “Water flowed from Christ’s
side to wash us; blood to redeem us. Wherefore blood be-
longs to the sacrament of the Eucharist, while water be-
longs to the sacrament of Baptism. Yet this latter sacra-
ment derives its cleansing virtue from the power of Christ’s
blood.” 80

91. What is written here concerning the side of Christ,
wounded and opened by a soldier, must likewise be said of
His Heart, which the lance actually touched with its stroke,
inasmuch as the soldier pierced it so that he might be clearly
certain of the death of Jesus Christ fixed to the Cross.

92. Wherefore the wound of the Most Sacred Heart of
Jesus, which had now completed the course of this mortal
life, is down through the ages the living image of that love
freely bestowed by which God gave His only begotten Son
for the redemption of man, and with which Christ loved us
all so intensely that He offered Himself for us as a bloody
victim on Calvary: “Christ also loved us and delivered
Himself up for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God to
ascend in fragrant odor.” 81

93. After Our Saviour ascended into Heaven, with His body
adorned with the splendor of eternal glory, and sat at the
right hand of the Father, His Heart beat with the most
ardent love and He did not cease to manifest His love for
His spouse, the Church. Indeed in His hands and feet and
side He bears in majesty the glowing marks of the wounds

21



which represent the triple victory gained by Him over the
devil, sin and death.

94. He likewise has in His Heart, placed, as it were, in a
most precious shrine, that treasure of merit, the fruit of His
triple triumph. These He bestows generously on redeemed
mankind. This is a truth full of consolation, which the
Apostle of the Gentiles stated in these words: “Ascending
on high, He led away captives; he gave gifts to men. He
who descended, He it is who ascended also above all the
heavens, that He might fill all things.” 82

95. The gift of the Holy Spirit to His disciples is the first
clear sign of His munificent charity after His triumphal
ascent to the right hand of the Father. Indeed after ten
days the Spirit, the Paraclete, given by the Heavenly Father,
descended upon them gathered in the Cenacle, as He had
promised them at the Last Supper : “I will ask the Father
and He will give you another Advocate to dwell with you
forever.” 83

96. This Spirit, the Paraclete, since He is the personified
mutual love of the Father for the Son and of the Son for the
Father, is sent indeed by both. Assuming the appearance of
tongues of fire, He poured the abundance of divine love and
other heavely gifts into their souls. The infusion of this
divine love also sprang from the Heart of our Saviour “in
whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and know-
ledge.” 84

97. Indeed, this love is the gift of the Heart of Jesus and
His Spirit, who is indeed the Spirit of the Father and the
Son and from whom both the rise of the Church and its
remarkable spread is unfolded for all the pagan nations
which the worship of idols, hatred of brothers, and corrup-
tion of morals as well as violence had befouled.

98. This divine love is the most precious gift of the Heart of
Christ and of His Spirit. This love gave the apostles and
martyrs that fortitude with which they were strengthened
to fight even to the point of death, which they met with
heroic spirit, to preach the truth of the gospel and to testify
to it with their blood. This love gave to the Doctors of the
Church a most ardent desire to teach and defend the Catho-
lic Faith.

99. It was this love which nourished the virtues of the con-

22



fessors and urged them to accomplish eminently useful and
marvelous deeds, profitable for their own eternal and tem-
poral welfare and that of others. This was the love which
persuaded virgins to abstain, willingly and joyfully, from
sensual pleasures, and to consecrate themselves entirely to
the love of their heavenly Spouse. This love, pouring forth
from the Heart of the Incarnate Word, is infused by the
Holy Spirit into the souls of all the faithful.

100. It brought forth that hymn of victory for the Apostle
of the Gentiles, who proclaimed the triumph of the mem-
bers of the Mystical Body and of Jesus Christ, its Head, and
the restoration of the divine kingdom of love among men, no
matter how they might try to prevent it : “Who shall sepa-
rate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or dis-
tress, or persecution, or hunger, or nakedness, or danger, or
the sword? But in all these things we overcome because of
him who has loved us. For I am sure that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor
any other creature will be able to separate us from the love
of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 85

101. There is nothing, then, which forbids us to adore the
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, since it participates in and is
the natural and most expressive symbol of that inexhausti-
ble love with which Our Divine Redeemer still loves man-
kind. That Heart indeed, even if it is no longer liable to the
disturbances of this mortal life, still lives and beats. It is
now inseparably joined with the Person of the Divine Word,
and in it and through it with His divine will.

102. Wherefore, since the Heart of Christ overflows with
divine and human love, and since it is abundantly rich with
treasures of all graces which Our Redeemer acquired by His
life and His sufferings, it is truly the unfailing fountain of
that love which His Spirit pours forth into all the members
of His Mystical Body.

103. Therefore the Heart of Our Saviour to some degree ex-
presses the image of the Divine Person of the Word and His
two-fold nature, human and divine. In it we can contem-
plate not only the symbol, but also, as it were, the sum of
the whole mystery of our redemption.

104. When we adore the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ,
we adore in it and through it both the uncreated love of the

23



Divine Word and His human love and all His other affec-
tions and virtues. This is so because both loves moved Our
Redeemer to sacrifice Himself for us and for the whole
Church, His Spouse. As the Apostle says: “Christ also
loved the Church and delivered Himself up for her, that He
might sanctify her, cleansing in the bath of water by means
of the Word, in order that he might present to Himself the
Church in all her glory, not having spot or wrinkle or any
such thing, but that she might be holy and without blem-
ish.”86

105. As Christ loved the Church with that triple love of
which We have spoken, He still loves her most deeply. This
love moves Him as Our Advocate 87 to gain grace and mercy
for us from the Father, “since he lives always to make in-
tercession for them.” 88 The prayers which come forth
from His inexhaustible love and which are directed to the
Father are never interrupted. As “in the days of His earth-
ly life” 89 so now triumphant in heaven He beseeches the
Father with no less efficacy.

106. He shows His living Heart to Him who “so loved the
world that he gave His only-begotten Son, that those who
believe in Him may not perish, but may have life everlast-
ing.” 90 His Heart is, as it were, wounded and burning with
even greater love than when it was pierced at death by the
lance of a Roman soldier. “Wherefore (Thy Heart) was
wounded so that through the visible wound we might see the
invisible wound of love.” 91

107. It is then absolutely certain that the Heavenly Father
“who has not spared even his own Son, but has delivered
him for us all” 92 when He has been asked by so powerful
an Advocate and with such ardent love, will never at any
time, diminish the rich flow of divine graces to all men.

IV

108. It has been Our wish, venerable brothers, to explain to
you and to the faithful the real nature of devotion to the
most Sacred Heart of Jesus in the light of divine revelation,
its chief source, and the graces which flow from it.

109. We think that Our statements, confirmed by the teach-
ing of the Gospel, have made it clear that essentially this
devotion is nothing else than devotion to the human and

24



divine love of the Incarnate Word and to the love which the
Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost have for sinful men.

110. For, as the Angelic Doctor teaches, the first cause of
man’s redemption is the love of the August Trinity. This
love pouring forth abundantly into the human will of Jesus
Christ and His Adorable Heart, moved Him to shed His
blood to redeem us from the cantivity of sin.93 “I have a
baptism to be baptized with ; and how distressed I am until
it is accomplished

!” 94

111. We know, therefore, that the devotion whereby we pay
homage to Jesus Christ’s love for men through the august
sign of the Wounded Heart of the Redeemer nailed to the
Cross has never been entirely unknown to Christian piety.
In more recent times, however, this devotion has become
better known and wondrously spread throughout the
Church, particularly after the Lord Himself privately re-
vealed this divine mystery to some of His children, richly
endowed with an abundance of heavenly graces, and chose
them as the messengers and heralds of this devotion.

112. Indeed, there always have been souls especially dedi-
cated to God, who imitating the example of the holy Mother
of God, the Apostles and the illustrious Fathers of the
Church, have adored, thanked and loved Christ’s most
sacred human nature, especially the wounds inflicted on His
body during His salutary Passion.

113. Furthermore, do not these very words, “My Lord and
my God,” 95 spoken by the Apostle Thomas signifying a per-
son changed from an unbeliever into a faithful follower,
contain a clear profession of faith, adoration and love rising
from the wounded humanity of the Lord to the majesty of
the Divine Person?

114. But if men were always strongly moved by the wound-
ed heart of the Redeemer to venerate the infinite love with
which He loves the human race, since the words of the
Prophet Zacharias applied by St. John the Evangelist to
Christ on the Cross, “They shall look upon him whom they
have pierced,” 96 were addressed to the faithful of all ages,
we must nevertheless admit that only gradually and by
degrees was the homage of special devotion paid to His
Heart as the image of the human and divine love in the
Incarnate Word.

25



115. If we wish to sketch the significant stages in the prog-
ress of this devotion through the years, there immediately
comes to mind the names of some who have gained special
renown in this respect and who are to be considered the
standard-bearers of this devotion which gradually gained
momentum privately in religious communities.

116. We mention, by way of example, the names of those
who achieved special distinction in establishing and pro-
moting devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus: St.
Bonaventure, St. Albert the Great, St. Gertrude, St. Cather-
ine of Siena, Blessed Henry Suso, St. Peter Canisius, St.
Francis de Sales and St. John Eudes, author of the first
liturgical office to be celebrated in honor of the Most Sacred
Heart of Jesus.

117. With the approval of many bishops of France, this
solemn feast was celebrated for the first time on October
20, 1672.

118. Among those who have promoted this most excellent
devotion, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque occupies the chief
place of honor. Inflamed with great zeal and with the aid
of her spiritual director, Blessed Claude de la Colombiere,
she succeeded in her efforts, not without the great admira-
tion of the faithful, to have this devotion rich in spiritual
blessings established and clearly distinguished from other
forms of Christian piety by the special nature of its acts of
love and reparation.97

119. A review of the history of the period in which this de-
votion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus began is enough
to increase our clear understanding that its marvelous prog-
ress is due to the fact that this devotion is in perfect accord
with the nature of the Christian religion, which is indeed a
religion of love.

120. Therefore, we must not say that this devotion began
because it was privately revealed by God or that it suddenly
came into existence in the Church, but rather that it is the
spontaneous flowering of a living and fervent faith by which
men filled with supernatural grace were led to adore the
Redeemer and His glorious wounds as symbols of His bound-
less love which stirred their souls to the very depths.

121. Consequently, as is obvious, the revelations made to
St. Margaret Mary added nothing new to Catholic doctrine.

26



The significance of these revelations lies in this, that Christ
the Lord—showing His Most Sacred Heart—willed in an
extraordinary and special way to call the minds of men to
the contemplation and veneration of the mystery of God’s
most merciful love for the human race.

122. And so in this special manifestation, in repeated and
clear words, Christ pointed to His Heart as the symbol by
which men are drawn to recognize and acknowledge His
love, and at the same time constituted it as the sign and
pledge of His mercy and His grace for the needs of the
Church in our time.

123. Moreover, the fact that this devotion stems from the
principles of Christian doctrine is clearly demonstrated by
the fact that the Apostolic See approved the liturgical feast
before it approved the writings of St. Margaret Mary. For,
paying no specific attention to any private divine revelation,
but graciously granting the petitions of the faithful, the
Sacred Congregation of Rites in a decree of January 25,
1765, approved by Our predecessor, Clement XIII, on Feb-
ruary 6 of the same year, granted the celebration of a li-
turgical feast to the Bishops of Poland and to the Roman
Archconfraternity of the Sacred Heart.

124. The Apostotolic See granted this petition to extend an
already existing and flourishing devotion whose purpose was
“symbolically to renew the memory of that divine love,” 98
by which our Redeemer was impelled to offer Himself as a
propitiatory victim for the sins of men.

125. This first approbation was granted in the form of a
privilege and was restricted to definite regions. After al-
most a century, another approbation followed of far greater
importance, and phrased in more solemn words. We are
referring, as We previously mentioned, to the decree of the
Sacred Congregation of Rites issued August 23, 1856. By
it Our predecessor of immortal memory Pius IX, acceding
to the petitions of the Bishops of France and of almost the
whole Catholic world ordered the feast of the Most Sacred
Heart of Jesus to be extended to the entire Church and to
be duly celebrated.99 The faithful should always remember
this decree, for, as we read in the liturgy of this feast,
“Since that time devotion to the Most Sacred Heart, gush-

27



ing forth like a mighty stream, has spread throughout the
world, washing away every obstruction in its course.”

126. From the explanations which We have given, venerable
brothers, it is perfectly clear that the faithful must trace
devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus back to Sacred
Scripture, tradition and the liturgy, if they wish to under-
stand its real meaning and through pious meditation, re-
ceive food to nourish and increase their religious fervor.

127. If this devotion is constantly practiced with this knowl-
edge and understanding, the souls of the faithful cannot
but attain to the sweet knowledge of the love of Christ
which is the acme of Christian life as the Apostle, who knew
this from personal experience, teaches : “For this reason I
bend my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ . . .
that he may grant you from His glorious riches to be
strengthened with power through his Spirit unto the prog-
ress of the inner man

;
and to have Christ dwelling through

faith in your hearts : so that, being rooted and grounded in
love . . . you know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge,
in order that you may be filled unto all the fullness of
God.” 100

128. The heart of Christ is the clearest image of this full-
ness of God embracing all things. By this We mean the full-
ness of mercy, which is the special characteristic of the
New Testament in which “the goodness and kindness of God
our Saviour appeared.” 101 “For God did not send his Son
into the world in order to judge the world, but that the
world might be saved through him.” 102

129. From the very day on which she issued the first decree
concerning devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, the
Church, the teacher of mankind, has always been certain
that the essential characteristic of this devotion—that is
acts of love and reparation by which God’s infinite love for
mankind is venerated—is in no way infected with the poison
of materialism or superstition.

130. On the contrary, this devotion is a form of piety by
which the soul clearly discharges religious obligations and a
perfectly true worship which the Saviour Himself foretold
in His conversation with the Samaritan woman : “But the
hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers
will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the

28



Father also seeks such to worship him. God is spirit, and
they who worship him must worship in spirit and in
truth.” 103

131. It is therefore wrong to say that contemplation of the
physical heart of Jesus is a hindrance to attaining intimate
love of God, and that it impedes the soul in its progress to
the highest virtues.

132. The Church completely condemns this false mysticism,
just as she did when she spoke through Our predecesssor of
happy memory, Innocent XI, who condemned the errors of
those who idly maintained: “Nor must they (souls of the
interior way) elicit acts of love for the Blessed Virgin, or
the saints or the humanity of Christ for, since these are
sensible objects love for them is of the same nature. No
creature, neither the Blessed Virgin nor the saints, must
have a place in our heart ; because God wishes to occupy and
possess it.” 104

133. It is evident that those who hold such opinions think
that the image of the Heart of Christ represents nothing
nobler than His sensible love and that this image is not of
such a nature as to be a new basis for adoration, which is
given only to that which is by its nature divine.

134. There is no one who does not see that this interpreta-
tion of sacred images is entirely false. It confines their
meaning, which is much broader, within too narrow limits.
Catholic theologians, among them St. Thomas, write : “The
worship of religion is paid to images not as considered in
themselves, nor as things, but as images leading us to God
Incarnate. Now, movement to an image as image does not
stop at the image, but goes on to the thing it represents.
Hence, neither latria nor the virtue of religion is differenti-
ated by the fact that religious worship is paid to the images
of Christ.” 105

135. The veneration paid to images, whose excellence must
be determined by what is venerated, or to relics of the bitter
sufferings which Our Saviour endured for us or to the pic-
ture of the pierced heart of Christ hanging on the Cross,
which surpasses everything in force and meaning, is paid to
the very person of the Incarnate Word as its final object.

136. Therefore, from the physical thing which the heart of
Christ is, and from its natural signification, we can and

29



must, supported by Christian faith, rise not only to contem-
plate His love, which is perceived through the senses, but
even to meditate on and adore the most sublime infused love
and finally the divine love of the Incarnate Word.

137. By faith, through which we believe that the human and
the divine nature were united in the Person of Christ, we
can see the closest bonds between the sensible love of the
physical heart of Jesus and the two-fold spiritual love
namely, human and divine.

138. We must not only say that these two loves were simul-
taneously present in the adorable Person of the Divine Re-
deemer, but also that they were joined by a natural bond so
that the human and sensible loves are subject to the divine
and bear its analogical resemblance. We do not, however,
maintain that the Heart of Jesus is to be understood in such
a way that in it we have and adore a formal image, as they
say, or a perfect and absolute sign of His divine love, since
the essence of this love can in no way be adequately ex-
pressed by any created image whatsoever.

139. But the Christian, in honoring the Heart of Jesus to-
gether with the Church, adores the sign and manifestation
of divine love which went so far as to love through the
heart of the Incarnate Word the human race defiled with
countless sins.

140. It is therefore necessary, at this central point of a
teaching which is so important and profound, that everyone
bear in mind that the truth of the natural symbol by which
the physical heart of Jesus is referred to the Person of the
Word, rests completely on the fundamental doctrine of the
hypostatic union.

141. Whoever denies that this doctrine is true would renew
false teachings, repeatedly condemned by the Church, which
deny that there is one Person in Christ with two distinct
and complete natures.

142. With this fundamental truth firmly established, we
understand that the heart of Jesus is the heart of a Divine
Person, that is of the Incarnate Word, and that by it all the
love with which He loved, and even now continues to love us
is represented and, so to speak, placed before our very eyes.

143. Therefore, devotion to the Most Sacred Heart is so im-

30



portant that it may be considered, so far as practice is con-
cerned, the perfect profession of the Christian religion.

144. For this is the religion of Jesus which rests entirely on
a Mediator who is man and God, so that no one can come to
the heart of God except through the heart of Christ, as He
Himself says: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father but through me.” 108

145. Since this is true, we readily understand that devotion
to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is essentially devotion to
the love with which God loved us through Jesus and is at
the same time an enlivening of our love for God and man.
Or, to put it in other words, this devotion is directed to
God’s love for us in order to adore Him, to thank Him and
to spend our lives imitating Him.

146. It seeks to lead us, in attaining this goal, to a strength-
ening of the bonds of love, with which we are bound to God
and our fellow men, by daily observing more eagerly the
new commandment which the Divine Master gave to His
disciples as a sacred inheritance when He said: “A new
commandment I give you, that you love one another: as I
have loved you . . . This is my commandment, that you
love one another as I have loved you.” 107

147. This commandment is indeed new and Christ’s very
own. As St. Thomas says, “The difference between the Old
and New Testament is told in a few words, for as Jeremias
says, T will make a new covenant with the house of
Israel’ 108 However, because the commandment was in the
Old Testament through fear and holy love, it related to the
New Testament: hence this commandment was in the old
law not as something that belonged to it but as a prepara-
tion for the new law.” 109

V
148. We have presented for your consideration the real na-
ture and excellence of this devotion—beautiful teachings
filled with consolation. But before We close this letter,
mindful of Our apostolic office, which was first entrusted to
St. Peter after his three-fold protestation of love for Christ
the Lord, We deem it fitting to exhort you again, venerable
brothers, and through you all of Our dearly beloved children
in Christ, to strive ever more earnestly to promote this most
gratifying devotion.

31



149. We are confident that in Our day, as in others, a great
many blessings will flow from it.

150. Indeed, if the evidence on which devotion to the
Wounded Heart of Jesus rests is rightly weighed, it is clear
to all that we are dealing here, not with an ordinary form
of piety which anyone may at his discretion slight in favor
of other devotions, or esteem lightly, but with a duty of re-
ligion most conducive to Christian perfection.

151. For if devotion, according to the common theological
definition which the Angelic Doctor gives, “is apparently
nothing else but the will to give oneself readily to things
concerning the service of God,” 110 can there be a service to
God more required and necessary—and at the same time
nobler and more pleasant—than that which pays homage to
His love?

152. What is more pleasing and acceptable to God than that
service which submits to divine love and is rendered for the
sake of love?

153. For every service freely rendered is in a sense a gift,
and love “has the nature of a first gift in strength whereof
all free gifts are given.” 111

154. That form of religion must be held in highest honor by
which man honors and loves God more and more easily, and
by which he more readily consecrates himself to divine love,
which Our Redeemer Himself deigned to propose and recom-
mend to Christianity and which the Sovereign Pontiffs have
defended in their writings and extolled with highest praise.

155. Therefore, whoever considers of little value this out-
standing gift of Jesus Christ to His Church, does a rash
and harmful thing and offends God Himself.

156. There is, then, no doubt that the faithful, in honoring
the Most Sacred Heart of the Redeemer, fulfill a most seri-
ous obligation by which they are bound to serve God and
dedicate themselves and all they have, including their most
secret thoughts and actions, to their Creator and Redeemer,
and in this way obey the divine commandment: “Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and
with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with
thy whole strength.” 112

32



157. The faithful know with certainty that they are pri-
marily led to worship God not for their own spiritual or
physical, temporal or eternal advantage, but on account of
the goodness of God, whom they seek to serve by loving
Him in return, by adoring Him and thanking Him.

158. If this were not true, devotion to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus would not be in accord with the true nature of the
Christian religion, since by such devotion divine love is not
primarily venerated. And, so, those who incorrectly under-
stand the nature of this devotion and practice it in the
wrong way, are not unjustly, as sometimes happens, ac-
cused of excessive love and concern for themselves.

159. Let all therefore be firmly convinced that in showing
devotion to the Most August Heart of Jesus, external acts
of Piety do not play the first and foremost role.

160. The reason for this devotion is not primarily to be
sought in the blessings which Christ the Lord promised in
private revelations. Rather it is that men should fulfill
more fervently the principal duties of the Catholic faith,
namely the obligations of love and expiation, and so also
contribute greatly to their own spiritual advancement.

161. We therefore urge all Our sons in Christ eagerly to
cherish this devotion, both those who already are accus-
tomed to draw salutary waters from the Heart of the Re-
deemer, and especially those who, in the idle manner of
spectators, look on from a distance with misgivings.

162. Let them seriously consider that We speak of a devo-
tion, as We have already said, which has long been in the
Church and is firmly based on the Gospel and which tradi-
tion and the sacred liturgy openly encourage.

163. The Roman pontiffs themselves praised it most highly
on numerous occasions, and were not content merely to
institute a feast in honor of the Sacred Heart and extend
it to the universal Church, but also solemnly consecrated
and dedicated the whole human race to the Most Sacred
Heart.113

164. Finally, We add the rich and most pleasing fruits of
this devotion for the Church : the return of countless souls
to the religion of Christ, the reanimated faith of many
people and the closer union of the faithful with our most

33



loving Redeemer, all of which, especially in these past few
decades, have happened before Our eyes in ever increasing
and richer profusion.

165. As we look upon this marvelous spectacle of devotion
to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus so widely spread and so
ardent among all classes of the faithful, We are filled with
joyous sentiments of gratitude.

166. After rendering fitting thanks to Our Redeemer, who
is the infinite treasure of goodness, We cannot refrain from
extending Our paternal congratulations to all, both of the
clergy and of the laity, who have actively contributed to
the spreading of this devotion.

167. Although devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
has everywhere produced the salutary fruits of Christian
living, everyone knows, venerable brothers, that the Church
Militant here on earth, and especially civil society, have not
yet achieved that full and complete measure of perfection
which corresponds to the wishes and desires of Jesus Christ,
the Mystical Spouse of the Church and the Redeemer of
the human race.

168. Not a few of the Church’s children mar the beauty of
their mother’s countenance, which they reflect in themselves
with too many blemishes and wrinkles. Not all the faithful
are resplendent with that sanctity of life to which they
have been called by God.

169. All sinners have not returned to the Father’ house,
which they left through sin, there to put on once more the
“best robe” 114

,
and to receive for their finger a ring, the

sign of fidelity to the Spouse of their soul.

170. Not all of the pagans, not even a goodly number, have
yet been joined to the Mystical Body of Christ. For if the
languishing faith of the good, in whose souls, led astray by
the deceptive desire for wordly possession, the fervor of
charity grows cold and is gradually extinguished, causes
Us bitter grief, the machinations of the wicked wrack Us
with even greater pain.

171. As if goaded on by the infernal enemy, these men,
especially now, are on fire with an implacable and open
hatred for God, the Church and especially for him who
takes the place of the Divine Redeemer on earth and repre-

34



sents His love for men according to the memorable words
of St. Ambrose: “For (Peter) is questioned in a matter
about which he feels uncertain ; but the Lord who put the
question has no doubt. He asked not to find out, but to
appoint before His ascension Him whom He left us as the
Vicar of His love.” 115

172. Indeed hatred of God and those who lawfully take His
place is so great a sin that man, created in the image and
likeness of God and destined to enjoy His friendship which
is to last forever in heaven, can commit none greater.

173. By hatred of God, man is separated completely from
the highest good and driven to cast from himself and his
fellow men whatever comes from God, whatever joins us
to God and whatever leads us to enjoy God, that is to re-
ject truth, virtue, peace and justice.116

174. Unfortunately, since it is possible to see increasing
everywhere the number of those who glory in being enemies
of God, the false tenets of materialism being propagated
in practice and theory, unbridled freedom of lust every-
where extolled, what wonder if charity—the supreme law
of the Christian religion, the surest foundation of true and
perfect justice, the chief source of peace and chaste pleas-
ure—grow cold in the souls of many? For, as Our Saviour
warned, “because iniquity will abound, the charity of the
many who will grow cold.” 117

175. Faced with so many evils which today more than ever
deeply disturb individuals, homes, nations and the whole
world, where, venerable brothers, is a remedy to be found?

176. Is there a devotion more excellent than that to the
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, one which is more in accord
with the real nature of the Catholic faith or which better
meets the needs of the Church and the human race today?
What act of religion is nobler, more suitable, sweeter and
more conducive to salvation, since this devotion is wholly
directed to the love of God Himself? 118

177. Finally, what is more powerful than the love of Christ,
which devotion to the Most Sacred Heart daily increases
and fosters?

178. This love can truly bring the faithful to live the law
of the Gospel.

35



179. If this law is rejected, is it possible to have genuine
peace among men? For as the words of the Holy Ghost
clearly teach, “The work of justice shall be peace.” 119

180. Therefore, following the example of Our immediate
predecessor, We choose to address again all Our beloved
sons in Christ in the words of admonition which Leo XIII
of immortal memory spoke to all the faithful at the end of
the last century.

181. We likewise address these words to all who have a
genuine concern for their own salvation and that of civil
society. “Behold another most auspicious and divine stand-
ard presented to our view today: the Most Sacred Heart
of Jesus gleaming with dazzling light surrounded by flames.
In it all hopes must be placed, in it man’s salvation must
be sought and looked for.” 120

182. It is also Our most ardent desire that all who glory
in the name of Christian and who zealously strive to estab-
lish the Kingdom of Christ on earth, consider devotion to
the Heart of Jesus as the standard and the source of unity,
salvation and peace.

183. Nevertheless, let no one think that this devotion de-
tracts anything from other devotions with which Christian
people, under the leadership of the Church, honor the Di-
vine Redeemer.

184. On the contrary, ardent devotion to the Heart of Jesus
will without doubt encourage and promote devotion to the
Most Holy Cross and love for the Most August Sacrament
of the Altar. For We can definitely state a fact which the
revelations made by Jesus Christ to St. Gertrude and St.
Margaret marvelously confirm: that no one ever fittingly
loves Christ hanging on the Cross but he to whom the mys-
tical secrets of His Sacred Heart have been unfolded.

185. Nor will it be easy to grasp the force of that love by
which Christ was impelled to give us himself as our spirit-
ual food except by fostering a special devotion to the
Eucharistic Heart of Jesus.

186. The purpose of this devotion, to use the words of Our
predecessor of happy memory, Leo XIII, is to recall to our
minds “that supreme act of love by which Our Redeemer,
pouring forth all the riches of His Heart, instituted the

36



adorable sacrament of the Eucharist to remain in our midst
to the end of time.”121

187. For “the Eucharist is not the smallest portion of His
Heart which He gave us from the overflowing love of His
heart.” 122

188. Finally, greatly impelled by the desire to set up a firm
defence against the wicked machinations of the enemies of
God and His Church, and at the same time to lead back
domestic and civil society to the love of God and neighbor,
We do not hesitate to state emphatically that devotion to
the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the most effective school of
divine charity, on which the Kingdom of God to be estab-
lished in the souls of individuals, in families and in nations
must rest.

189. As Our same predecessor of blessed memory most
wisely teaches: “The kingdom of Jesus Christ draws its
power and distinctive characteristic from divine love; its
foundation and chief doctrine is to love holily and in proper
order. From this it necessarily follows that we must fulfill
obligations faithfully, not infringe on the rights of others,
consider human matters inferior to divine and place love
of God above everything else.” 123

190. That graces for the Christian family and for the whole
human race may flow more abundantly from devotion to the
Sacred Heart, let the faithful strive to join it closely with
devotion to the Immaculate Heart of the Mother of God.

191. By the will of God, the Most Blessed Virgin Mary was
inseparably joined with Christ in accomplishing the work
of man’s redemption, so that our salvation flows from the
love of Jesus Christ and His sufferings, intimately united
with the love and sorrows of His mother.

192. It is, then, highly fitting that after due homage has
been paid to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Christian
people who have obtained divine life from Christ through
Mary, manifest similar piety and the love of their grateful
souls for the most loving heart of our heavenly Mother.

193. The memorable act of consecration by which We Our-
selves, in the wise and loving dispositions of Divine Provi-
dence, solemnly dedicated the Church and the whole world
to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is in
perfect accord with devotion to the Sacred Heart.124

37



194. Since in the course of the present year, as previously
mentioned, We are joyfully completing the first century
since Our predecessor of happy memory, Pius IX, ordered
the celebration of the feast of the Most Sacred Heart of
Jesus throughout the entire Church, it is Our fervent de-
sire, venerable brothers, that this centenary be solemnly
celebrated by the faithful everywhere with public acts of
adoration, thanksgiving and reparation to the Divine Heart
of Jesus.

195. With all the faithful united in bonds of love and com-
mon prayer, these festivals of Christian joy and piety will
be celebrated with special religious fervor in that country
where by God’s special providence St. Margaret Mary, the
promoter and indefatigable herald of this devotion, was
born.

196. In the meantime, strengthened with new hope and in
spirit already gathering the spiritual fruits which We are
certain will grow abundantly in the Church from devotion
to the Sacred Heart, if correctly understood according to
Our explanation and zealously practiced, We humbly pray
God lovingly to grant His grace for the fulfillment of Our
most ardent desire.

197. With God’s help may this year’s celebration increase
from day to day the love of the faithful for the Most Sacred
Heart of Jesus. And may His kingdom, “a kingdom of
truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom
of justice, love and peace,” 125 be extended further to all in
the whole world.

198. As a pledge of these heavenly graces, We most lov-
ingly impart to each of you, venerable brothers, to the
clergy and people entrusted to your care, and in particular
to those who zealously encourage and promote devotion to
the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Our apostolic benediction.

199. Given at Rome from St. Peter’s, May 15, 1956, in the
eighteenth year of Our pontificate.

38



FOOTNOTES

1. Is., 12, 3.

2. Jas. 1, 17.

3. Jn. 7, 37-39.

4. Cf. Is. 12, 3; Ez. 47, 1-12;
Za. 13, 1; 17, 1-7; Nm.
20, 7-13; I Cor. 10, 4; Ap.
7, 17; 22, 1.

5. Rom. 5, 5.
6. /. Cor. 6, 17.
7. Jn. 4, 10.
8. Enc. Annum Sacrum, May

25, 1899: A. L., Vol. 19,
1900, pp. 71, 77-78.

9. Enc. Miserentissimus Re-
demptor, May 8, 1928: A.
A. S., 20, 1928, p. 167.

10. Cfr. Enc. Sumrni Pontifi-
catus, October 20, 1939:
A. A. S. 31, 1939, p. 415.

11. Cfr. A. A. S., 32, 1940, p.
276: 35, 1943, p. 470; 37,
1945, pp. 263-264; 40,
1948, p. 501; 41, 1949, p.
331.

12. Eph. 3, 20-21.

13. Is. 12, 3.

14. Council of Ephesus, Can.
8; cfr. Mansi, Sacrorum
Conciliorum Ampliss. Col-
lectio, 4, 1083 C; Second
Council of Constantinople,
Can. 9 cfr. Ibid. 9, 382 E.

15. Cfr. Enel. Annum Sac-
rum: A. L., vol. 19, 1900,
p. 76.

16. Cfr. Ex. 34, 27-28.
17. Dt. 6, 4-6.

18. Sum. Theol., II-II, q. 2,
a. 7 : ed. Leon, tom. 8,
1895, p. 34.

19. Dt. 32, 11.

20. Os. 11, 1, 3-4; 14, 5-6.

21. Is. 49, 14-15.

22. Ct. 2, 2; 6, 3; 8, 6.

23. Jn. I, 14.

24. Jer. 31, 3; 31, 33-34.

25. Cf. Jn. 1, 29; Hebr. 9,
18-28; 10, 1-17.

26. Jn. 1, 16-17.

27. Jn. 21, 20.

28. Eph. 3, 17-19.

29. Summn Tlicologica 3, q.
48, a.2; ed. Leon. tom. 11,
1903, i>. 464.

30. Cfr. Enc. Miserentissimus
Redemptor; A. A . S. 20,
1928, p. 170.

31. Eph. 2, 4; Sum. Theol. 3,
q. 46, a. 1 ad 3; Ad Leon,
tom. 11, 1903, p. 436.

32. Eph. 3, 18.
33. Jn. 4-24.
34. 2 Jn. 7.
35. Cfr. Lk., 1, 35.
36. St. Leo the Great, Epist.

Dogm. uLectis dilectionis
tuae” ad Flavianum Const.
Patr. 13 June, a. 449; cfr.
P. L. 54, 763.

37. Council of Chalcedon, a.
451; cfr. Mansi. Op. cit.
7, 115 B.

38. Pope St. Gelasius, Tract
3:

“Necessarium” Of the
Two Natures in Christ,
cfr. A. Thiel, Letters of
the Roman Pontiffs from
St. Hilary to Pelagius II,
p. 532.

39. Cfr. St. Thomas Sum.
Theol. 3, q. 15, a4; q. 18,
a.6; ed. Leon. tom. 11,
1903, p. 189 and 237.

40. Cfr. I Cor. 1, 23.
41. Heb. 2, 11-14; 17-18.
42. Apol. 2, 13; P. G. 6, 465.
43. Epist. 261, 3 : P. G. 32,

972.

44. In Joann. Homil. 63, 2

;

P. G. 50, 350.

45. De fide ad Gratianum, 2,
7, 56; P. L. 16, 594.

46. Super Matth. 26, 37 ; P. L.
26, 205.

47. Enarr. in Ps. 87, 3 ; P. L.
37, 1111.

48. De Fide Orth. 3, 6: P. G.
94, 1006.

49. Ibid. 3, 20: P. G. 94, 1801.

50. Sum. Theol. 1-2, q. 48, a.
4; Leon, tom 6, 1891, p.
306.

51. Col. 2. 9.

39



52. Cfr. Suma. Theol., 3, q. 9,
a. 1-3: ed. Leon, tom 11,
1903, p. 142.

53. Cfr. Ibid. 3, q. 33, a. 2, ad
3m; q. 46, a. 6: ed. Leon,
tom. 11, 1903, pp. 342, 433.

54. Tit. 3, 4.

55. Mt. 27, 50; Jn. 19, 30.
56. Eph. 2, 7.
57. Heb. 10, 5-7, 10.
58. Registr. epist. lib. IV ep.

31 ad Theodorum Medi-
cum: P. L. LXXVII, 706.

59. Mk. 8, 2.
60. Mt. 23, 37.
61. Mt. 21, 13.
62. Mt. 26, 39.
63. Mt. 26, 50, Lk. 22, 48.
64. Lk. 23, 28, 31.
65. Lk. 23, 34.
66. Mt. 27, 46.
67. Lk. 23, 43.
68. Jn. 19, 28.
69. Lk. 23, 46.
70. Lk. 22, 15.
71. Lk. 22, 19-20.
72. Mai., 1, 11.

73. De Sancta Virginitate, VI,
P. L. XL, 339.

74. Jn. 15. 13.
75. Jn. 2, 16.
76. Gal. 2, 20.

77. Cfr. S. Thom. Sum. Theol.
Ill, q. 19, a. 1: Ed. Leon.
Tom. XI, 1903, p. 329.

78. Sum. Theol. Suppl. q. 42,
a.l ad 3m: ed. Leon tom.
XII, 1906, p. 81.

79. Hymn ad Vesp. Festi. SS
mi cordis Iesu.

80. Sum. Theol. Ill, q. 66 a.3,
ad 3m: Leon. Tom. XII,
1906, p. 65.

81. Eph. 5, 2.
82. Eph. 4, 8, 10.
83. Jn. 14, 16.

84. Col. 2, 3.

85. Rom. 8, 35, 37-39.
86. Eph. 5, 25-27.
87. Cfr. 1 Jn. 2, 1.

88. Heb. 7, 25.
89. Heb. 5, 7.
90. Jn. 3, 16.

91. St. Bonaventure, Opusa.
X : Vitis mystica, c. Ill, N.
5 ; Opera Omnia, Ad
Claras Aquas (Quararchi)
1898, Tom. VIII, p. 164;
cfr. S. Thom. Sam. Theol.
Ill, 9. 54, a.4: ed Leon
Tom XI, 1903, p. 513.

92. Rom. 8, 32.
93. Cfr. Sum. Theol., 3, q. 48,

a.5: ed. Leon. Tom. 11,
1903, p. 467.

94. Lk. 12, 50.
95. Jn. 20, 28.

96. Jn. 19, 37; Za. 12, 10.

97. Cfr. Enc. Miserentissimus
Redemptor: A. A. S., 20,
1928, pp. 167-168.

98. Cfr. A. Gardellini, Decreta
authentica 1857, n. 4579,
tom. 3, p. 174.

99. Cfr. Deer. S. C. Rit. Apud
N. Nilles De rationibus
f e s to rum Sacratissimi
Cordis Jesu et purissimi
Cordis Mariae 5th edition.
Innsbruck, 1885, tom. 1, p.
167.

100. Eph. 3, 14, 16-19.
101. Ti. 3, 4.

102. Jn. 3, 17.

103. Jn. 4, 23-24.

104. Innocent XI, Constit, Ap.
Colelestis Pastor, Novem-
ber 19, 1687; Bullarium
Romanum, Rome, 1734,
1734, tom. 8, p. 443.

105. Sum. Theol. II-II, q. 81 a.
3 ad 3m; ed. Leon. tom.
9, 1897, p. 180.

106. Jn. 14, 6.

107. Jn. 13, 34; 15, 12.

108. Jer. 31, 31.

109. Comment, in Evang. S.
Joann, c. 13, lect. 7, 3, ed.
Parmae, 1860, tom. 10, p.
541.

110. Sum. Theol. II-II q. 82 a.
1.

111. Sum. Theol. I q. 38 a. 2.
112. Mk. 12, 30; Mt. 22, 37.

40



113. Cfr. Leo XIII Enc. Annum
Sacrum: A. Ls.

f
vol. 19,

1900, p. 71 sq. ; Deer. S. C.
Rituum June 28, 1899, in
Deer. Auth. 3, x. 3712;
Pius XI, Enc. Miserentis-
simus Redemptor: A. A.
S. 1928, p. 177 sq.; Deer.
S. C. Rit. January 29,
1929; A. A. S. 21, 1929,
p. 77.

114. Lk. 15, 22.
115. Exposit. in Evang. sec.

Lucam, 1 , 10, n. 175; P.
L. 15, 1942.

116. Cfr. St. Thomas Sum.
Theol. II-II, q 34, a.2: ed.
Leon tom. 8, 1895, p. 274.

117. Mt. 24, 12.
118. Cfr. Enc. Miserentissimus

Redemptor: A. A. S. 20,
1928, p. 166.

119. Is. 32, 17.
120. Enc. Annum Sacrum: A.

L., vol. 19, 1900, p. 79;
Miserentissimus Redemp-
tor

; A, A. S.t 20, 1928, p.
167.

121. Litt. Apost. Quibus Arch-
isodalitas a Corde Eucha-
ristico Jesu ad S. Jochim
de Urbe erigitur, Febru-
ary 17, 1903; A. L. Vol.
22, 1903, p. 307 sq.; cfr,
Enc. Mirae caritatis May
22, 1902: A. L. vol. 22,
1903, p. 116.

122. St. Albert the Great De
Eucharistia dist. 6, tr. 1,
c. 1: Opera Omnia ed.
Borgnet, vol. 38, Paris,
1890, p. 358.

123. Enc. Tamisti, A. L. vol.
20, 1900 p. 303.

124. Cfr. A. A. S. 34, 1942, p.
345.

125. Roman Missal Preface of
Jesus Christ the King.

41



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