“Behold the Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming Itself, in order to testify Its love”

(Revelation of the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary, June 1675).

Today in the Church, there’s an unfortunate trend of novelty plaguing Her teachings and devotions. It seems as though there is some new hollow devotion cropping up out of the woodwork every so often which either repackages an earlier devotion or is so inconsequential that it will not spread beyond a few faithful. The Sacred Heart is not one of these devotions. It emerged publicly through a private revelation of Our Lord Jesus Christ to St. Margaret Mary in 17th Century France, but has a much longer hidden history stretching back as far as the Early Church Fathers and even the Gospels. Today I would like to start a multi-part look at the roots of devotion to the Heart of Christ and it’s development within the Church.

The Notion of “Heart”

The image of one’s heart is generally associated with emotion, affection and love to most people today. But in antiquity it had a broader meaning, speaking specifically of the “center” or “core” of the individual. Or even with the individual’s will. This identification of the heart with the individual is what we can find in Holy Scripture when we see reference’s to one’s heart or God’s Heart. It is a distillation of that individual person into a single image, to have one’s heart is to have them completely. And to look upon the heart of an individual is to see into the core of their very being, to read them for who they really are.

Such early references in the Old Testament can be seen in the commandments of God: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength. And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart” (Deuteronomy 6:5-6, note: I use the Duoay-Rheims 1899 translation of the Bible for my scriptural quotes). With this particular passage explicitly outlining the role which the heart plays in the center of one’s being. So too can we see this later in Ezechiel: “And I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh” (Eze 36:26). Again speaking of the center of the individual, in this context the recreation of that person into a new man. In particular, this reference in Ezechiel can be seen as a very early prefigurement of the effect of baptism on the soul as well as of ordering oneself to the Sacred Heart.

The Wounded Heart

Not only do we see the context through which ‘heart’ is used to speak of one’s core being, but we can also see veiled references to the wound which would be inflicted upon Christ’s Heart during His Passion. “Behold I will stand there before thee, upon the rock Horeb, and thou shalt strike the rock, and water shall come out of it that the people may drink.” (Exo 17:6). This example from the Pentateuch shows the salvific waters which flow from the rock to quench the thirst of the Israelites. And again this is seen during the time of the Prophet Isaiah: “Thou shall draw waters with joy out of the saviour’s fountains” (Isa 12:3). Often taken in Church History to reference the seven Sacraments which flowed forth in the Blood and Water from the side of Christ. An outpouring of love and mercy which gives us a glimpse to the interior affections of Our Lord.

The Church Fathers were the ones who utilized this view of the Pierced Side of Christ as gateway to His Heart, with St. Iranaeus in Adversus Haereses stating “The Church is the fountain of the living water that flows to us from the Heart of Christ.” Referencing not only the water which burst forth with the blow of the spear of St. Longinus, but also the very foundation of the Church with emerges from Christ’s Heart through His Sacred Wound. This image of Christ’s wound is found on later images of the Sacred Heart, illustrating the importance of this idea to the devotion. St. Gregory the Great is another Father who venerated the Wound in the side of Christ, peering at the Heart within: “Come, my dove in the clefts of the rocks, in the hollow places of the wall.”

The Beloved Disciple

Often when speaking of the Sacred Heart devotion there are four “Great Disciples” of the devotion mentioned. One of these resides in the time of Jesus Christ, which is the apostle St. John the Evangelist. He is typically associated with the Heart of Christ due to his proximity to Our Lord during the Last Supper. ” Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23). This passage from the Gospel is often taken as a reference to it’s author, St. John the Evangelist, who plays more of an intimate role in the Passion of Our Lord as the only apostle to stand by at the Crucifixion. Church Tradition teaches that this act of affection bestowed a unique disposition within the soul of St. John. Paulinus of Nola writes, “John, who rested blissfully on the breast of our Lord, was inebriated with the Holy Spirit, from the Heart of all creating Wisdom he quaffed an understanding which transcends that of any creature.” Illustrating that St. John was given a deeper connection directly to the Heart of the Savior through this one simple act of affection. No person apart from the Virgin Mary has had such a closeness to the Heart of the Redeemer. The nearness of which floods the recipient with intense gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The intimate union which St. John has with the Heart of Jesus is later found in his identification of God as love. And is expressed through his first letter: “My little children, let us not love in word nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth. In this we know that we are of the truth and in his sight shall persuade our hearts. For if our heart reprehend us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things” (1 John 3:18-20). St. John gives us a look at the intimate gaze which God has on the hearts of all men, and further encourages us toward greater love with this knowledge. The hearts of men contain the essence of their souls, all things within a man are laid bare when one knows his heart. The love which we have toward either God or creatures is reflected within the heart, dictating our thoughts and actions.

The role of St. John the Evangelist is not just limited to his role during the Last Supper or his elucidations on Divine Love, but he plays an even greater role in a later mystic who would further form the devotion of the Sacred Heart.

To be continued…

In the second part I hope to continue this overview of the development of the Sacred Heart devotion through the Middle Ages. Looking at two early devotees to the Heart of Jesus, St. Mechtilde and St. Gertrude the Great. Until then, keep praying the rosary and meditating on the Sacred Heart.