Christ, the King of All Hearts
June is the month of the Sacred Heart.
At the beginning of the month, Fr Joseph Nolla, SJ, on Twitter/X (https://x.com/josephnollasj/status/1929234725152927969) proposed that for June, one read and reflect on three papal encyclicals on the Sacred Heart. I have not been able to get through all the encyclicals (yet), but what follows are my reflections on the first, Pope Leo XIII’s Annum Sacrum (https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_25051899_annum-sacrum.html).
Pope Leo promulgated Annum Sacrum on May 25, 1899, as part of the preparations for the Holy Year he wished to celebrate in 1900. He had already in 1889 raised the feast of the Sacred Heart to the highest rank of feasts possible, but now he was proposing something new. The pope intended to consecrate the entire world to the Sacred Heart.
There seems to have been some doubt in the nineteenth century whether such a consecration was possible. Catholics freely admitted that they could consecrate themselves as individuals and even as groups to the Sacred Heart. But did the Church have the right to consecrate Christians who did not recognize devotion to the Heart of Jesus? Or even more, to consecrate those who did not believe in Christ at all?
The Holy Father argues that Christ holds dominion over not just believers but over the whole world on two grounds. First, as the Eternal Son of the Father, He has been granted dominion not only over the people of God but over the uttermost ends of the earth as well. All dominion and power has been given to Him. But second, His authority extends over the entire world because He has redeemed the entire world by His Blood. So the world is His both as omnipotent God and as redeemer King.
Pope Leo then talks about the nature of consecration, that it is ultimately giving to God what He has already given to us: our heart. God gives us the freedom to return our hearts to Him, and in fact asks this of us. He puts into the mouth of God the words of the father in Proverbs: “My son, give me thy heart” (Pr 23:26). We are begging God to receive from us a gift that He has in fact enabled us to give. (I think of CS Lewis’s sixpence here…)
The Pope next stresses that it is fitting that this consecration be made to the Sacred Heart because the Sacred Heart is “a symbol and a sensible image of the infinite love of Jesus Christ which moves us to love one another” (AS 8). The kingdom and kingship of Christ is a kingship and kingdom of love.
In order to answer Love with love, Pope Leo calls upon the bishops of the world and indeed “all who know and love this divine Heart” to consecrate the world to the Sacred Heart with him. In so doing, the Holy Father expects and prays for an outpouring of faith and love, not only in believers, but even in unbelievers and in those who know about Christ but do not keep His law. He even expects there to be changes in the way nations interact with nations, when the kingship of the Sacred Heart is acknowledged:
We must have recourse to Him who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. We have gone astray and we must return to the right path: darkness has overshadowed our minds, and the gloom must be dispelled by the light of truth: death has seized upon us, and we must lay hold of life. It will at length be possible that our many wounds be healed and all justice spring forth again with the hope of restored authority; that the splendors of peace be renewed, and swords and arms drop from the hand when all men shall acknowledge the empire of Christ and willingly obey His word, and “Every tongue shall confess that our Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:2). (AS 11)
Pope Leo next alludes to the story of Constantine the Great seeing the Cross in the sky with the words In hoc signo vinces. “And now, to-day, behold another blessed and heavenly token is offered to our sight—the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, with a cross rising from it and shining forth with dazzling splendor amidst flames of love” (AS 12). For me, this is one of the most striking passages of the encyclical, even though the Holy Father speaks in an allusive manner. He is proposing that consecration to the Sacred Heart at the dawn of the twentieth century could in fact be the impetus for a new Christendom.
The final two sections of the document (AS 14-15) deal with logistics for when and how this worldwide consecration will take place. But AS 13 alludes to an unusual feature of the encyclical. In addition to presenting the consecration as due Christ because of His twofold kingship and as leading to great benefits for individuals and all humanity, Leo XIII presents a personal motive as well:
Finally, there is one motive which We are unwilling to pass over in silence, personal to Ourselves it is true, but still good and weighty, which moves Us to undertake this celebration. God, the author of every good, not long ago preserved Our life by curing Us of a dangerous disease. We now wish, by this increase of the honor paid to the Sacred Heart, that the memory of this great mercy should be brought prominently forward, and Our gratitude be publicly acknowledged.
While it’s not stated outright in the document, Annum Sacrum came about in part from a direct request from Heaven. In 1898, through her confessor, a nun in Portugal named Sister Mary of the Divine Heart wrote to the Pope telling him that Our Lord requested the consecration of the world to His Sacred Heart. Leo XIII did not respond. In January 1899, Sr Mary wrote again, this time mentioning explicitly that a recent illness the pope had endured had been cured by Christ. This appeal connected, and led to the promulgation of Annum Sacrum.
On June 11, 1899, Pope Leo XIII consecrated the world to the Sacred Heart. Sr Mary of the Divine Heart did not live to see the consecration, having died three days earlier, on June 8. Yet her reputation for sanctity has grown to the point that Pope St Paul VI beatified her on November 1, 1975.
Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical brings to the forefront something that I do not think is often considered in devotion to the Sacred Heart—its connection to the Kingship of Christ. Christ rules in love, a love that is both human and divine. The Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart that Leo wrote is a strong reminder that the love of Christ must reign, first in us, and then through us in the rest of the world:
Most sweet Jesus, Redeemer of the human race, look down upon us humbly prostrate before Thine altar. We are Thine, and Thine we wish to be; but, to be more surely united with Thee, behold each one of us freely consecrates himself today to Thy most Sacred Heart. Many indeed have never known Thee; many too, despising Thy precepts, have rejected Thee. Have mercy on them all, most merciful Jesus, and draw them to Thy most Sacred Heart. Be Thou King, O Lord, not only of the faithful who have never forsaken Thee, but also of the prodigal children who have abandoned Thee; grant that they may quickly return to their Father's house lest they die of wretchedness and hunger. Be Thou King of those who are deceived by erroneous opinions, or whom discord keeps aloof and call them back to the harbour of truth and unity of faith, so that soon there may be but one flock and one shepherd. Be Thou King of all those who even now sit in the shadow of idolatry or Islam, and refuse not Thou to bring them into the light of Thy kingdom. Look, finally, with eyes of pity upon the children of that race, which was for so long a time Thy chosen people; and let Thy Blood, which was once invoked upon them in vengeance, now descend upon them also in a cleansing flood of redemption and eternal life. Grant, O Lord, to Thy Church, assurance of freedom and immunity from harm; give peace and order to all nations, and make the earth resound from pole to pole with one cry: Praise to the Divine Heart that wrought our salvation: to it be glory and honour forever. Amen.