Sacred Heart Of Jesus Worshipped In Roman Catholic Anglican Churches

Jesus is one of the epitomes of love; his love for humanity is unparalleled. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is symbolic of his heart that is full of love for all mortals. The devotion to the Sacred Heart is predominantly found in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Church. The Anglo-catholic devotees mainly follow this devotion. The concept of loving Jesus is the main essence of this devotion.

A Catholic nun from France, Marguerite Marie Alacoque, had a vision of Jesus and was the first proponent of the Sacred Heart of Jesus devotion. History shows that the first worship of this form was in the eleventh or twelfth century. The concept of the sacred heart started to spread from the thirteenth century till the sixteenth century.

Although practiced in most places, at that time, this devotion was a mere sect and not a movement. It was 1670s when Visitandine Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690) had the vision. She reported that Jesus had allowed her to touch the Sacred Heart of Jesus and feel the pure love he had for all of mankind. Jesus had chosen St Margaret Mary to spread the love within all mankind.

The painting of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is found in many of the Roman Catholic paintings. It is depicted in the form of a heart on Jesus chest. A crown of thorn surrounding the heart along with a wound caused by a spear makes the heart bleed; it depicts the heart that is saddened by the sorry state the mortals are in due to all their sins and also the manner in which He was crucified. The heart is also surrounded by an aura of light that depicts the His divinity and the love for humans. Sometimes the paintings also show Jesus pointing at the heart on his chest.

The feast of the Sacred Heart, that takes place after 19 days from Pentecost, is a holy day in the Roman Catholic calendar. The feast normally takes place on a Friday. During the first feast of the Sacred Heart the Roman Catholic Acts of Consecration, Reparation and Devotion were established. The worship of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is done with the help of a number of hymns, the salutation of the Sacred Heart and the litany of the Sacred Heart.

Another Roman Catholic ceremony is the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In this ceremony, the priest consecrates members of a household to the sacred heart. During this ceremony a Sacred heart of Jesus is placed in the home of the members as a mark of their consecration to the sacred heart. The Enthronement is based on the concept the foundation on which to build the kingdom of God in the hearts of individuals, families, and nations… by Pope Pius XII. Sacred Heart