June belongs to the Sacred Heart of Jesus - a devotion that finds its roots with a young French nun in the 1600s and a series of visits and visions from Jesus.
Margaret Mary Alacoque was living a quiet, hidden life in Paray-le-Monial, France. But between 1673 and 1675, Jesus appeared to her multiple times, slowly revealing the depth of His Sacred Heart. He showed her a heart on fire - absolutely consumed with love for humanity, but aching because so few people loved Him back.
The defining moment happened on June 16, 1675, during what we now call the Great Apparition. Jesus showed St. Margaret Mary His Heart, surrounded by flames, encircled by a crown of thorns, and topped with a cross. Then, He spoke words that still echo today:
"Behold this Heart which has loved men so much, and yet men do not want to love Me in return... Through you, My divine Heart wishes to spread its love everywhere on earth."
Jesus longs for us. He wants our love, penance, and consecration.
Out of that request came some of the most beloved practices we still have today. The First Fridays: receiving Holy Communion on the first Friday of nine consecutive months in a row. The Feast of the Sacred Heart, which falls this year on June 7th. These aren't arbitrary traditions. They're a direct response to what He asked for.
He also made twelve specific promises to those who would devote themselves to His Heart. I want you to sit with these, because they are not small:
- "I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life."
- "I will establish peace in their homes."
- "I will comfort them in all their afflictions."
- "I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all, in death."
- "I will bestow abundant blessings upon all their undertakings."
- "Sinners will find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy."
- "Lukewarm souls shall become fervent."
- "Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection."
- "I will bless every place in which an image of my Heart is exposed and honored."
- "I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts."
- "Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in my Heart."
- "I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays in nine consecutive months the grace of final perseverance; they shall not die in my disgrace, nor without receiving their sacraments. My divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment."
You can start the tradition of the First Fridays at anytime. Put an image of the Sacred Heart somewhere in your home. Come back to these promises when you're having a hard week.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in You.
