Living the Liturgical Year Well: The Month of the Sacred Heart

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The roses are in full bloom, the heat is here, it is June. June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, allowing us to nestle in his Love and Mercy. It is a busy month and liturgically rich in feasts and solemnities. To me, the feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist at the end of the month is the official bugle announcing that summer is here. How to live summer well, liturgically? Some of us are off of our school year routines and sometimes our spiritual lives suffer from it. How can we maintain our spiritual routine in the midst of summer?

Dedications

All time is sacred, we will be accountable for every second of our life at the end. (Which let’s be honest, the amount of time I waste scrolling terrifies me a little…) The Church, in her desire to guide us to holiness, has sanctified time. How? By dedicating each month, and each day, to a special devotion. In June this is the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. With its root in early christianity this is one of the oldest devotions of the Church. It originated with a devotion to the Five Wounds of Christ, and grew into a deeper devotion specifically  to the wound on his side in the Seventeenth Century.

The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Our Lord appeared to a humble nun in Paray-Le-Monial, France in 1673. Sister Margaret Mary was nothing special on the outside but the Lord had chosen her to be His messenger and to remind His people of His Love and Mercy. A Visitation sister, the order founded by Saint Francis de Sales and Saint Jane de Chantal, Saint Margaret Mary was a cloistered nun in a small convent in the middle of nowhere Burgundy. From her humility the Lord brought to us one of his greatest messages of love.

History of the apparitions

In the summer of 1674 Jesus told Margaret Mary that He wanted to be honored under the figure of His Heart of flesh. He asked that people receive Him more regularly in the Eucharist, especially on the first Friday of every month. He also asked that the faithful observe one Holy Hour on that day. In the summer of 1675, Our Lord appeared again to Saint Margaret Mary, during the octave of the solemnity of Corpus Christi. He asked for the institution of a feast dedicated to His Sacred Heart, on the Friday of the octave of Corpus Christi, in reparation for the ingratitude of men for the sacrifice which Christ had made for them. However, it was not until 1873 that Pope Pius IX approved the devotion to the Sacred Heart. And it was not until 1899 that Pope Leo XIII recommended that the feast be observed worldwide.

Why be devoted to the Sacred Heart?

Well, very simply, because Jesus asked us to. But also because it is a beautiful devotion that increases our love for Christ and helps us discover His Love and Mercy for us. When Jesus asked for this devotion, He made 12 promises to each person who would venerate His Sacred Heart and promote Its devotion. You can find these promises here.

The Sacred Heart in my life

The Sacred Heart has always been very present in my life. Growing up a mere 45 minutes from Paray-le-Monial it was a traditional end of year catechism classes‘ pilgrimage. It did not matter how many times we went there, it was always a wonderful outing. When I was 12 my family moved into an old Visitation convent and representations of the Sacred Heart were everywhere (this place had the most fantastic attics a child could dream of! Full to the brim of centuries of discards). Later, in my teen years, I discovered the attachment of the French counter revolutionaries, the Vendėens, to the Sacred Heart. In rebellion, I was definitely a monarchist at the time, and anything related to the Vendėe was worth following.

And not least, my husband and I were married on the Feast of the Sacred Heart. But the funny thing is, we did not choose our wedding date, the Archbishop who married us did. But what a blessing! And finally, last year we followed Catholic Sprout’s beautiful Consecration to the Sacred Heart and consecrated our family to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Summer spiritual routine and liturgical living

Let’s open our hearts to His Heart this summer. It might be a great time to start making the First Friday devotion a priority, as asked by Our Lady in Fatima as well as by Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary. Maybe to even consecrate your family to His Sacred Heart. I highly recommend Catholic Sprout’s beautiful Consecration to the Sacred Heart. It is a 33 day preparation. Since the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart is on June 27th this year it needs to be started on May 26th. But it’s never too late! You can catch up by praying twice, once in the morning and once in the evening until you are all caught up.
And another great way to maintain your spiritual routine during summer is to discover the days of the week’s dedications and observe them more attentively.

Sanctifying each day

• Sunday: The Holy Trinity – Sunday is dedicated to the Holy Trinity. 
• Monday: The Angels – Monday is the day in which we remember the angels.  Spend some time thanking your Guardian Angels for their protections. 
• Tuesday: The Apostles – Focus your prayer on the Apostles’ Creed
• Wednesday: Saint Joseph – Pray especially to Saint Joseph and for the husband and father in your family.
• Thursday: The Holy Eucharist – Make time to go to Adoration, even if for just a few minutes.
• Friday: The Passion – It is a day of penance. What penance will you observe?
• Saturday: Our Lady – Pray a family Rosary and pray especially for the wife and mother in your home.

Liturgical Board

This month is very full of feasts and solemnities!
On June 8th we will be celebrating the solemnity of Pentecost and the end of the Easter season. Keep an eye out for the next blog post which will contain a wonderful lapbook on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit and the beginnings of the Church. Coming very soon!

On June 13th is the feast of Saint Anthony of Padua, a favorite of ours. He has always helped us find what is lost. We will read Saint Anthony of Padua by Mary Fabyan Windeatt and honor him with a yummy dinner and dessert.

Trinity Sunday, the first Sunday after Pentecost, is a beautiful day to honor all three persons of the Holy Trinity and to ponder this mystery. Three leaf clovers (see Pentecost lapbook coming soon) and a Tres Leche cake might be just the ticket to celebrate. 

The following Sunday is the solemnity of Corpus Christi, the solemnity honoring Christ’s body and blood. It was traditionally the day for First Holy Communions (I wish that was still a thing…). Therefore on that day our family celebrates the anniversary of all of our first Holy Communions. 

June 24th is the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist. Did you know that he is the only saint whose birth is celebrated by the Church apart from Jesus’ and Mary’s? We might not spend any time in the desert dressed in camel hair, but we might eat some grasshoppers… 

On June 27th we will celebrate the solemnity of the Sacred Heart, by renewing our family’s consecration and celebrate with something like this brownie cake. 

The feast honoring Mary’s Immaculate Heart is the next day. There will be cake to finish so we might just focus on a drawing activity in our prayer journals.

And on June 29th, our Apostle for the month: Saints Peter and Paul.
Picture book: The Twelve Apostles by Mariana Mayers
Activities: 
– Apostles ID cards 
– Peg dolls
Food: How about some beautiful cupcakes sailing their coats of arms?

Did I mention that June was busy? I wish all of you a full but peace filled month of June, nestled into His Sacred Heart.
Love,
Mattie