Sacred Heart Novena: Pray With Benedictine College and U.S. Bishops

Novena to the Sacred Heart

Day 1 – Heart of Jesus, aflame with love for us

In his prayer intention for June, the month dedicated the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Pope Leo XIV encourages us, “Let us pray together that each one of us might find consolation in a personal relationship with Jesus, and from His Heart, learn to have compassion on the world.” As we begin this Novena to the Sacred Heart, we join the Holy Father in that prayer.

Lord, I come to Your tender Heart today,  

to You who have words that set my heart ablaze,  

to You who pour out compassion on the little ones and the poor,  

on those who suffer, and on all human miseries.  

I desire to know You more, to contemplate You in the Gospel,  

to be with You and learn from You  

and from the charity with which You allowed Yourself  

to be touched by all forms of poverty.  

You showed us the Father’s love by loving us without measure  

with Your divine and human Heart.  

Grant all Your children the grace of encountering You.  

Change, shape, and transform our plans,  

so that we seek only You in every circumstance:  

in prayer, in work, in encounters, and in our daily routine.  

From this encounter, send us out on mission, 

a mission of compassion for the world  

in which You are the source from which all consolation flows.

Amen.

Day 2 – Heart of Jesus, source of justice and love

When contemplating the Sacred Heart as the source of justice and love, we connect Christ’s love for us with our love for others. As Pope Francis said in Dilexit Nos, “Our best response to the love of Christ’s heart is to love our brothers and sisters. There is no greater way for us to return love for love” (no. 167). As we meditate on the love Christ has for us, let us pray this Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for Love and Mercy.

Lord Jesus, 

You gave your life for us. 

Your Sacred Heart is ablaze with love. 

Your hand extends towards me, and towards all, 

offering love, mercy, and healing. 

Sacred Heart of Jesus may your love transform me. 

Burn away my hesitation that I may become your 

love and radiate your mercy. 

Amen.

Day 3 – Heart of Jesus, worthy of all praise

Saint John Henry Newman took the episcopal motto Cor ad cor loquitur (“Heart speaks unto heart”), understanding that the Lord saves us by speaking to our hearts from his Sacred Heart. It was in the Holy Eucharist, the greatest form of praise to God, that Saint John Henry Newman cultivated his deepest encounter with the living heart of Jesus. Let us pray with Saint John Henry Newman so that we might hear the Sacred Heart speak to us when we praise and adore Jesus in the Eucharist.

O most Sacred, most loving Heart of Jesus, Thou art concealed in the Holy Eucharist, and Thou beatest for us still… I worship Thee then with all my best love and awe, with my fervent affection, with my most subdued, most resolved will. O my God, when Thou dost condescend to suffer me to receive Thee, to eat and drink Thee, and Thou for a while takest up Thy abode within me, O make my heart beat with Thy Heart” (Meditations and Devotions, London, 1912, Part III [XVI], par. 3, pp. 573-574).

Day 4 – Heart of Jesus, patient and full of mercy

Perhaps the most well-known reflection on the merciful heart of Jesus can be found in the Divine Mercy devotion. Saint Faustina Kowalska, a 20th century Polish sister, revealed that Jesus appeared to her with rays emanating from his heart and instructed her to paint his image with the signature “Jesus, I trust in you,” and that all who venerate the image of Divine Mercy will not perish. Trusting in the endless mercy of Jesus, let us pray with Saint Faustina from the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself. Amen (Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul, 950). 

Day 5 – Heart of Jesus, fountain of life and holiness

The love poured out from the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a constant source of renewal for the missionary spirit of the Church and our call to universal holiness. Servant of God Fr. Jules Chevalier, who founded the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1854, recited this daily prayer to remain close to the Sacred Heart.

Lord Jesus, 

Saviour of the world and source of holiness, 

look with kindness 

on all whom you have chosen 

to be Missionaries of your loving Heart. 

Ask your heavenly Father 

to keep us in your love, 

and sanctify us in the truth 

so that you may be glorified in us 

and we may reflect your goodness. 

Ask your Father to keep us from evil 

that we may always be united in bonds of love. 

As you are one with your Father, 

so may we be one with each other 

in your divine Heart, 

whose sentiments shall forever be ours 

and to which we consecrate ourselves 

in time and for eternity. Amen.

Day 6 – Heart of Jesus, atonement for our sins

As we consider the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Christ’s great love for humanity, we reflect on how we have fallen short of his love and the need to atone for our sins. We also take this moment to repent as a nation for the sins of our country’s past. Let us pray for forgiveness and healing from the harms caused by our nation’s original sins of slavery and racism. A central element of devotion to the Sacred Heart is reparation – the practice of making amends for the wrongs we have done, asking Christ to forgive our sins and convert our hearts to love as he loves. Let us pray with St. Alphonsus Liguori, founder of the Redemptorists, as we atone for our sins and consecrate ourselves to the heart of Jesus:

My Jesus, I love You with my whole heart. I am sorry for having so many times offended Your infinite goodness. With the help of Your grace, I purpose never to offend You again. And now, unworthy though I am, I consecrate myself to You without reserve. I renounce and give entirely to You my will, my affection, my desires, and all that I possess.

Day 7 – Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation

In Dilexit Nos, Pope Francis describes the consoling nature of devotion to the Sacred Heart as “flesh and blood in the Church’s pilgrimage through history;” a mutual sharing of suffering between Christ and us (no. 157). Because Christ bore our sin in the wounds of his passion and death on the cross, we console him for our affronts. Because we also raise up our suffering to Christ, we ask him to console us.

Let us ask the Sacred Heart of Jesus for strength and increased faith with this prayer by Blessed Miguel Pro, S.J.

I believe, O Lord, but strengthen my faith… 
Heart of Jesus, I love Thee; but increase my love. 
Heart of Jesus, I trust in Thee; but give greater vigor to my confidence. 
Heart of Jesus, I give my heart to Thee; but so enclose it in Thee that it may never be separated from Thee. 
Heart of Jesus, I am all Thine; but take care of my promise so that I may be able to put it in practice even unto the complete sacrifice of my life. Amen.

Day 8 – Jesus, gentle and humble of heart

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, “the Little Flower,” profoundly understood the gentle and humble heart of Jesus. In contemplating how to be transformed by Christ’s love, she reflected that “What pleases [Jesus] is that he sees me loving my littleness and my poverty, the blind hope that I have in his mercy… the weaker one is, without desires or virtues, the more suited one is for the workings of this consuming and transforming Love” (Letter 197 to Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart, September 17, 1896). Let us join with Saint Thérèse in praying for our hearts to be humble like Jesus.

O Jesus! When You were a Pilgrim on earth, You said: “Learn of Me for I am gentle and humble of heart and you will find rest for your souls.” O Mighty Monarch of Heaven, my soul finds rest in seeing You, clothed in the form and nature of a slave, humbling Yourself to wash the feet of Your apostles… I beg You, my Divine Jesus, to send me a humiliation whenever I try to set myself above others. I know that You humble the proud soul but to the one who humbles one’s self. You give an eternity of glory… To obtain this grace of Your infinite mercy I will very often repeat: “O Jesus, gentle and humble of heart, make my heart like Yours!”

Day 9 – Consecration of the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Today, we consecrate the United States of America to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Parishes and individuals around the country are encouraged to join the U.S. Catholic bishops in this historic occasion, beginning with this Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus written for the consecration.

O Most Sacred Heart of Jesus:  

You know the longings of our hearts, and you desire that we enjoy friendship with you.  

From your pierced side, you have poured out the wellspring of life, for which we thirst.  

Your heart burns with a love for all people to return to a right relationship with you.  

We celebrate the abundant gifts you have given this nation, founded on the self-evident truths that our Creator has endowed all people with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  

We make reparation for the offenses against you and against human dignity that have taken place in this nation.  

May our hearts be united to yours, so that our families and communities enjoy peace and happiness; may broken relationships be reconciled, injustices repaired, and the wounds of our land be healed.  

May your holy Catholic Church serve as a sign, pointing all people to your infinite love.  

O Desire of Nations and Center of History, we ask you to bless these United States of America.  

Who live and reign with God the Father   

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,  

God, for ever and ever.  

Amen.  

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!  

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us! 

Image: The Sacred Heart of Jesus statue was enthroned at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, in 2016. Behind it is St. Benedict Church on campus, which offers Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for students, faculty and staff. 

By Benedictine College