June is the month of the Sacred Heart! May it be the case that our Holy Father, Leo XIV, who assumed the name “Leo” out of respect to Pope Leo XIII, continue Pope Leo XIII’s legacy of promoting the Divinity and Royalty of our Lord Jesus Christ, both in the Church and beyond. By doing so, our current pope will be acting in a way that is not only Christ-like, but also undeniably Marian and Leonine.
Devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus has featured prominently in the teachings of many Popes throughout the centuries to eventually establish the Social Kingship of our Lord Jesus Christ in human society.
Pre-Vatican II popes, including Popes Blessed Pius IX, Leo XIII and Pius XII, have publicly endorsed such an edifying devotion to our Savior and Redeemer.
Strikingly, Pope Leo XIII played a significant role in spreading this devotion throughout the entire Catholic Church, with his encyclical “Annum Sacrum” (published on 25 May 1899 before the Holy Year of 1900), urging for the consecration of the whole human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Notably, Pope Leo XIII published “Annum Sacrum” after numerous requests, including those inspired by the visions of Sister Mary of the Divine Heart Droste zu Vischering, for a worldwide consecration of the human race to the Sacred Heart of our Divine Lord .
In this encyclical, Pope Leo XIII reinforced that all power has been given to our Lord Jesus Christ, whose reign is absolute and supreme over all.
A few excerpts from “Annum Sacrum” read as follows:
“This world-wide and solemn testimony of allegiance and piety is especially appropriate to Jesus Christ, who is the Head and Supreme Lord of the race. His empire extends not only over Catholic nations and those who, having been duly washed in the waters of holy baptism, belong of right to the Church, although erroneous opinions keep them astray, or dissent from her teaching cuts them off from her care; it comprises also all those who are deprived of the Christian faith, so that the whole human race is most truly under the power of Jesus Christ. For He who is the Only-begotten Son of God the Father, having the same substance with Him and being the brightness of His glory and the figure of His substance (Hebrews i., 3) necessarily has everything in common with the Father, and therefore sovereign power over all things. This is why the Son of God thus speaks of Himself through the Prophet: ‘But I am appointed king by him over Sion, his holy mountain. . . The Lord said to me, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession’ (Psalm, ii.). By these words He declares that He has power from God over the whole Church, which is signified by Mount Sion, and also over the rest of the world to its uttermost ends. On what foundation this sovereign power rests is made sufficiently plain by the words, ‘Thou art My Son.’ For by the very fact that He is the Son of the King of all, He is also the heir of all His Father’s power: hence the words- ‘I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance,’ which are similar to those used by Paul the Apostle, ‘whom he bath appointed heir of all things’ (Hebrews i., 2).”
“Christ reigns nor only by natural right as the Son of God, but also by a right that He has acquired. For He it was who snatched us ‘from the power of darkness’ (Colossians i., 13), and ‘gave Himself for the redemption of all’ (I Timothy ii., 6). Therefore not only Catholics, and those who have duly received Christian baptism, but also all men, individually and collectively, have become to Him ‘a purchased people’ (I Peter ii., 9). St. Augustine’s words are therefore to the point when he says: ‘You ask what price He paid? See what He gave and you will understand how much He paid. The price was the blood of Christ. What could cost so much but the whole world, and all its people? The great price He paid was paid for all’ (T. 120 on St. John). How it comes about that infidels themselves are subject to the power and dominion of Jesus Christ is clearly shown by St. Thomas, who gives us the reason and its explanation. For having put the question whether His judicial power extends to all men, and having stated that judicial authority flows naturally from royal authority, he concludes decisively as follows: ‘All things are subject to Christ as far as His power is concerned, although they are not all subject to Him in the exercise of that power’ (3a., p., q. 59, a. 4). This sovereign power of Christ over men is exercised by truth, justice, and above all, by charity.”
Moreover, given that the Sacred Heart is “a symbol and a sensible image of the infinite love of Jesus Christ”, Pope Leo XIII called for a worldwide consecration to our Lord’s Divine Heart, not just among Catholics, but for all. In fact, the pontiff portrayed mankind’s consecration to the Heart of Jesus as “the summit and crowning of all the honours which have been customarily paid to the Most Sacred Heart”.
As “Annum Sacrum” continues:
“And since there is in the Sacred Heart a symbol and a sensible image of the infinite love of Jesus Christ which moves us to love one another, therefore is it fit and proper that we should consecrate ourselves to His most Sacred Heart-an act which is nothing else than an offering and a binding of oneself to Jesus Christ, seeing that whatever honor, veneration and love is given to this divine Heart is really and truly given to Christ Himself. For these reasons We urge and exhort all who know and love this divine Heart willingly to undertake this act of piety; and it is Our earnest desire that all should make it on the same day, that so the aspirations of so many thousands who are performing this act of consecration may be borne to the temple of heaven on the same day. But shall We allow to slip from Our remembrance those innumerable others upon whom the light of Christian truth has not yet shined? We hold the place of Him who came to save that which was lost, and who shed His blood for the salvation of the whole human race. And so We greatly desire to bring to the true life those who sit in the shadow of death. As we have already sent messengers of Christ over the earth to instruct them, so now, in pity for their lot with all Our soul we commend them, and as far as in us lies We consecrate them to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In this way this act of devotion, which We recommend, will be a blessing to all. For having performed it, those in whose hearts are the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ will feel that faith and love increased. Those who knowing Christ, yet neglect His law and its precepts, may still gain from His Sacred Heart the flame of charity. And lastly, for those still more unfortunate, who are struggling in the darkness of superstition, we shall all with one mind implore the assistance of heaven that Jesus Christ, to whose power they are subject, may also one day render them submissive to its exercise; and that not only in the life to come when He will fulfil His will upon all men, by saving some and punishing others, (St. Thomas, ibid), but also in this mortal life by giving them faith and holiness. May they by these virtues strive to honor God as they ought, and to win everlasting happiness in heaven.”
By emphasizing the importance of a universal consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Pope Leo XIII pointed out our Lord’s Divine Heart as the source of mankind’s salvation and demonstrated the connection between such a devotion and the Church’s evangelizing mission of preaching Catholic truth to all peoples.
Significantly for Pope Leo XIII, the image of the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ is a tangible symbol of the link between God and civil/state affairs:
“Such an act of consecration, since it can establish or draw tighter the bonds which naturally connect public affairs with God, gives to States a hope of better things. In these latter times especially, a policy has been followed which has resulted in a sort of wall being raised between the Church and civil society. In the constitution and administration of States the authority of sacred and divine law is utterly disregarded, with a view to the exclusion of religion from having any constant part in public life. This policy almost tends to the removal of the Christian faith from our midst, and, if that were possible, of the banishment of God Himself from the earth. When men’s minds are raised to such a height of insolent pride, what wonder is it that the greater part of the human race should have fallen into such disquiet of mind and be buffeted by waves so rough that no one is suffered to be free from anxiety and peril? When religion is once discarded it follows of necessity that the surest foundations of the public welfare must give way, whilst God, to inflict on His enemies the punishment they so richly deserve, has left them the prey of their own evil desires, so that they give themselves up to their passions and finally wear themselves out by excess of liberty.”
Faithful Catholics who wish to draw closer to the Most Sacred Heart of our Divine Lord can best and most easily do so with the intercession of Mary Most Holy, the Hodegetria (“She Who Points the Way”).
That Pope John Paul II canonized the Jesuit priest Claude La Colombière, the spiritual director of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, and who propagated the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, on May 31, 1992, the feast of Mary as Mediatrix of all Graces, is providential as the Blessed Virgin Mary certainly leads us to Her Divine Son Jesus in the quickest manner possible.
May it be the case that politicians worldwide, including the current American Vice President, J.D. Vance, who, in recent remarks following the election of Pope Leo XIV, seems to rely more on the American Constitution than on Catholic teaching for his policy decisions, submit to the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ as God and King in both their private lives and public domain.
Also, may it be the case that our Holy Father, Leo XIV, who assumed the name “Leo” out of respect to Pope Leo XIII, continue Pope Leo XIII’s legacy of promoting the Divinity and Royalty of our Lord Jesus Christ, both in the Church and beyond. By doing so, our current pope will be acting in a way that is not only Christ-like, but also undeniably Marian and Leonine.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, pray for us.
