Skip to main content

Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus & The Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus & The Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary:


The month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church. What a beautiful and wonderful devotion! All month long, we are reminded to contemplate Jesus' Sacred Heart and how his heart thirsts and burns for us. When Jesus appeared to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, He gave her twelve promises that He would make to all those who were devoted to His Sacred Heart. EWTN has a great list of the promises here that you can print out and hang on your refrigerator to help remind you to honor Jesus' Sacred Heart. When I think of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, I am in awe of the Eucharistic miracle that took place in Lanciano, Italy. In a recent documentary I watched, I Am With You, there was a quote that struck me—"In Lanciano, Jesus gives us His heart." I've always known that Jesus is truly present—body, soul, and divinity— in the Holy Eucharist, but I'd never really contemplated that part of the body is the heart. With the Eucharistic miracle of Lanciano—when the Eucharist was visually and physically transformed into heart tissue—Jesus showed us, and science confirmed, that the Lord's Sacred Heart is present in the Eucharist. I just can't stop thinking about this! It's so amazing!

The day after we celebrate the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Church then celebrates the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Through the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of our Blessed Mother, we are reminded that Mary is our mediatrix of all graces, and that through her, we can draw closer to Jesus. If you'd like to learn more about devotion to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, here is an article, from EWTN, where Sister Lucia (one of the visionaries from Fatima) explains the devotion. I hope you and your family have a truly blessed time celebrating these beautiful and faith inspiring holy days!



(My rendition of the Most Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart together)

Celebrating with Food:

For the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, we made yummy heart-shaped cinnamon tortillas. To make the cinnamon tortillas, you can use a heart shaped cookie-cutter, or slice a heart-shape using a knife. We then placed the heart-shaped tortillas on a baking sheet, brushed them with melted butter, and then sprinkled them with cinnamon and sugar we'd mixed together. We then baked our "Sacred Hearts" at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about ten minutes. After plating them, we added a bit of whipped-cream. These tortilla "Sacred Hearts" are a simple yet delicious treat that are extremely fun to make!



Celebrating with a Craft: 

Celebrate these two wonderful holy days by coloring images of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary using this free printable coloring page from the website "Catholic Inspired." You can Cut your hearts out and attach a magnet to the back, so that you can hang them on your refrigerator next to your twelve promises of the Sacred Heart, or you can slide them into page protectors and then use them as placemats at your table for both holy days. You can also print this free coloring page of the Sacred Heart of Jesus from "Schola Rosa," and then have your children color it and create a mosaic collage around the image. After my children did this, I framed their pictures and hung them up in their bedrooms. 



My daughter (age 4) also drew her own version of The Sacred Heart of Jesus and it made me smile!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Saint Teresa of Avila

Saint Teresa of Avila: Feast Day October 15th (My rendition of François Gérard’s painting “Teresa of Ávila”  1827) "Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing make you afraid. All things are passing. God alone never changes. Patience gains all things. If you have God, you will want for nothing. God alone suffices.”  It's been a while since I've written a blog post, and as I reflect upon the words of Saint Teresa of Avila's "Serenity Prayer" above, I cannot help but find comfort in them. Living in a time when everything in the world seems to be turned upside down, and logic and truth abandoned, the wisdom of Saint Teresa offers hope, consolation, and peace.  Teresa of Avila lived in a time similar to our own. Born in the 16th century, she witnessed a world that contained globalism, political conflicts, and religious tensions following the Protestant Reformation. Yet during this turmoil, she trusted in God. She lived a life of contemplation, excelled in writing and p...

Saint Margaret Mary

Saint Margaret Mary: Feast Day October 16th  “Look upon yourself as a tree planted beside water, which bears its fruit in due season; the more it is shaken by the wind, the deeper it strikes its roots into the ground.” ~ Saint Margaret Mary ~ Faith is a gift—an undeserved and valuable grace granted by the Holy Spirit. Each of us has the capacity to seek The Way, The Truth, and The Life, for this longing has been inscribed within our hearts. Yet, in our free will, we have the choice and ability to ignore and turn from this divine call. Like the image of the tree Saint Margaret Mary describes above, if we seek Jesus and are rooted in our faith, nothing can shake us. Our water is the Church, and Jesus, in the Holy Eucharist, is who makes our roots deep and strong enabling us to withstand the winds of the world and produce good fruit in His name.  Jesus offers us so many opportunities to find Him, and so many ways to live with Him in Heaven. In the 1600s, He appeared to Saint Mar...

Saint Wenceslaus

Saint Wenceslaus: Feast Day Sept. 28 I’ve heard the Christmas carol “Good King Wenceslaus” practically every Christmas and played the song on the piano too, but I never knew he was a saint until recently.    When I looked Saint Wenceslaus up and read about him, I learned he was from Bohemia and was a duke and not a king. He was declared a king after his death and proclaimed a saint soon after as tales of his virtue, piety, and care for the poor spread. Today as my family celebrated “Good King Wenceslaus’s” feast day, we took a Christmas theme approach, since,  the lyrics of his Christmas carol mention him looking out the window on the Feast of Saint Stephen (The first Christian martyr whose feast day is December 26th). Craft: While listening to the Christmas carol “Good King Wenceslaus,” we made  paper snowflake patters . There are a variety of printable templates at this link that are easy to use. I then discussed with my kids that each snowflake is different and un...