The Promises of the Sacred Heart
AS given to the Saint
by Father Croiset - St Margaret Mary's Spiritual Director
The twelve promises which we find in prayer books and manuals of the devotion to the Sacred Heart do not contain all of the promises made by Our Divine Lord to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. They are not even a summary of them, but rather are a selection of those promises best calculated to arouse sentiments of love for Our Lord in the hearts of the faithful and to induce them to practice the devotion. These twelve promises are found in the writings of St Margaret Mary, but not all in one place.
We give here the complete list of the various promises, as found in Monsignor Gauthey's edition of the writings of St. Margaret Mary, but we do not give the full text. Those who wish to have the full text of the promises will find it in The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus the Essence of Christianity, pages 48-69.
Promises attached to the veneration of
the Image of the Sacred Heart
A: Blessings Promised To Nations That Put The Image Of the Sacred Heart On Their Standards:
"........Our Divine Lord does not wish to stop there: He desires, it seems to me, to enter with pomp and magnificence into the houses of princes and kings, in order to be honoured there as much as He was outraged, despised and humiliated in His Passion, and to receive as much pleasure at seeing the great ones of this world abased and humiliated before Him, as He felt bitterness at seeing Himself annihilated at their feet".
B: Blessings Promised To Families Where The Image Of The Sacred Heart Is Honoured.
"Our Divine Lord assured me that He takes a singular pleasure in being honoured under the figure of His Heart of flesh, the image of which He wishes to be exposed in public in order to touch the unfeeling hearts of men. He promised that He would pour out in abundance into the hearts of all those who would honour His Heart all the gifts with which It is filled, and that everywhere this image is exposed and honoured, it will draw down all kinds of blessings.
C: Blessings promised to Communities
"He promised that He would pour out the sweet unction of His ardent charity on all those communities in which this divine image would be honoured; that He would turn away from them the thunderbolts of the just anger of God, and that He would restore them to His grace, if they should have the misfortune to fall into sin."
D: Blessings promised to Individuals
"He promised to pour out into the hearts of all those who honour the image of His Heart all the gifts which It contains. He promised also to imprint His love on the hearts of all those who would wear this image on their persons, and that He would destroy in them all disordered movements."
Promises attached to the consecration
to the Sacred Heart
A. This Consecration Rejoices The Sacred Heart And Terrifies The Devil, Against Whom It Is A Powerful Weapon.
"Let us renew often our consecration to the Heart of Jesus" writes St. Margaret Mary, "and let us live that consecration faithfully. The Sacred Heart takes a singular pleasure in it. ...."The devil has a most intense fear of the devotion to this loving Heart, because of the salvation of the multitude of souls which it effects in favour of those who consecrate themselves completely to the Sacred Heart for the purpose of loving It, honouring It, and glorifying It"
B: Consecration To The Sacred Heart Is A Sovereign Remedy Against Mortal Sin.
"I cannot believe" writes St. Margaret Mary, "that those consecrated to the Heart of Jesus will fall under the domination of Satan through mortal sin, if having consecrated themselves to the Heart of Jesus, they endeavor to honour It, love It, and glorify It, by conforming themselves in all things to Its holy maxims."
C: Consecration Puts Souls On The Road To Perfection.
"There is no surer means of attaining perfection than to be consecrated to the Heart of Jesus. If, therefore, we wish to attain that perfection which the adorable Heart of Jesus desires of us, we must make an entire sacrifice of ourselves and of everything that depends on us, to the Sacred Heart and live entirely for It.
D: Consecration Will Procure Peace.
"Establish your dwelling in the amiable Heart of Jesus, and you will find unalterable peace, strength to carry out all your good desires, and a protection against voluntary faults."
E: Consecration Is The Key Which Opens The Sacred Heart To Us.
"Our Lord gave me to understand that He wishes to be known, loved and adored by men, and for that end He would give them many graces, provided they consecrated themselves to the devotion and love of His Sacred Heart"
F: Consecration To The Sacred Heart Is A Pledge Of Salvation.
There is no surer means of salvation than to consecrate oneself to the Divine Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The loving Heart of Jesus will not allow any of those consecrated to It to perish, so great is His desire that His Sacred Heart be known, loved and honoured by His creatures. In this Sacred Heart they will find assistance during their life in all their necessities: It will be their secure place of refuge at the hour of their death, into which they will be received and protected from their enemies."
Promises made in favour of sinners
The Devotion To The Sacred Heart Is An Efficacious Means Offered For The Conversion Of Sinners
"My Divine Master" writes St. Margaret Mary, "revealed to me that it was His ardent desire to be known, loved and honoured by men, and His Heart to men with all the treasures of love, mercy, grace, sanctification and salvation that It contains, in order to have a means of satisfying Its desire to pour out on them abundantly Its Heart of our loving Jesus wishes to save many souls from eternal perdition....This Divine Heart is like a fortress or a secure place of refuge for al poor sinners who wish to take bolts of whose wrath, like an impetuous torrent, would overwhelm sinners and their sins, on account of the enormous number committed at the present time".
The Devotion To The Sacred Heart Is A Sovereign Remedy Against Tepidity.
"Our Lord wishes through this devotion to His Divine Heart to rekindle the charity that has grown cold and has almost been extinguished in the hearts of the greater part of Christians; He wishes to give men a new means of loving God by His Sacred Heart, as much as He desires and merits, and of making reparation for their ingratitude........If we are cowardly, cold, impure, imperfect, the Sacred Heart is an ardent furnace in which we must purify and perfect ourselves like gold in the crucible. It will purify all that is imperfect in our actions; it will sanctify those that are good."
Promises made in favour of the just
"There is no shorter way of attaining perfection than to render to the Divine Heart all the homage, love, honour and praise in our power. I do not know of any other exercise in the spiritual life more calculated to raise a soul in a short time to the height of perfection, and make it taste the true sweetness that is to be found in the service of God: if it were known how pleasant this devotion is to Jesus Christ, there is no Christian, however little his love for our amiable Saviour, who would not begin to practice it immediately.
"The names of beginners are written on the adorable Heart of Jesus only with ink. This signifies the initial grace given to us to combat and conquer our imperfections, especially our proud self love, which insinuates itself everywhere, sullying and disfiguring our holiest actions. These black letters should be purified from the earth which they contain and made bright in the crucible. This means that our inclinations and actions should be purified in the furnace of the love of the Divine Heart from all that is earthly and human and from all self-seeking.
"These black letters will gradually brighten in the crucible of Divine Love, and become like silver, which signifies purity of heart. But when in the process of purification all the black letters are changed into letters of silver, we must not stop there, we must continue until they are changed into gold.
"It is love that will change them into gold. Charity is the divine gold that will write our names on the Heart of Jesus in the letters never to be effaced. We shall then become like holocausts, consumed completely in the ardent flames of the loving Heart of Jesus"
Promises for the afflicted
A: The Heart Of Jesus Consoles His Servants In Their Private Calamities.
B: The Heart of Jesus Is The True Source Of Consolation In Public Calamities.
Promises that have reference to our last end
The Great Promise.
This promise is contained in a letter written in May 1688, by St. Margaret Mary to Mother Saumaise:
"On a Friday during Holy Communion, He said these words to His unworthy slave, If I am mistaken not:
: I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that Its all powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on First Fridays of the month consecutively, the grace of final repentance; they will not die under My displeasure or without receiving their Sacraments, My Divine Heart making Itself their assured refuge at the last moment".
"With regard to this promise it may be remarked that Our Lord required Communion to be received on a particular day chosen by Him: that the nine Fridays must be consecutive: that they must be made in honour of His Sacred Heart, which means that those who make the nine Fridays must practice the devotion and must have a great love for Our Lord: that Our Lord does not say that of their obligation or from exercising the vigilance necessary to lead a good life and overcome temptation; rather He implicitly promises abundant graces to those who make the Nine Fridays to help to carry out these obligations and persevere to the end; that perseverance in receiving Holy Communion for nine consecutive First Fridays helps the faithful to acquire the habit of frequent Communion, which Our Lord eagerly desires; and finally, that the practice of the Nine Fridays is very pleasing to Our Lord since He promises such a great reward, and that all Catholics should endeavor to make the Nine Fridays."
Protection Promised By Our Lord At The Moment Of Death.
"The Divine Heart of Jesus again gave me to understand and assured me, that the pleasure which He takes in being known, loved and honoured by His creatures is so great that He promised me that none of those who practice this amiable devotion and are devoted to His adorable Heart will ever perish".
Promises made for people in the world and their families
"Our Divine Lord assured me, that He takes such pleasure in being known and loved and honoured by His creatures, that He promises: that people that people in the world will find through this amiable devotion all the helps necessary for their state of life, that is to say: peace in their families: He promised me that He will unite families that are divided. Our Divine Lord wishes us to have great charity for our neighbour: He wishes us to pray to Him for our neighbour as we would for ourselves, for it is one of the special effects of this devotion to unite hearts divided and to bring peace to souls: consolation in their afflictions: solace in their labours: He promised that He would protect and assist families that were in any necessity, if they addressed themselves to Him with confidence: the blessings of Heaven on all their enterprises; that in His Sacred Heart they would find refuge during their life and especially at the hour of their death.
Special Promises made to persons consecrated to God
Promises made to Religious Communities.
"Our Divine Lord promised me, that as His Sacred Heart is the source of all blessings, He will pour out the sweet unction of His ardent charity on all those communities where His Sacred Heart is honoured and who place themselves under Its special protection.
"He promises me that He would keep their hearts united so that they would form but one. He promised me that He would turn away the thunder bolts of Divine Justice from them and restore them to favour if they should fall.
"Let religious embrace this amiable devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, for they will drawn from It such help that no other means will be needed to re-establish in their first fervor and in the most exact observance of their rule those communities that have become lax, and to bring to the height of perfection communities that are already fervent.
10 Promises for the Apostles of the Sacred Heart.
First Promise for the Apostles of the Devotion.
"My Divine Master showed me the names of several persons written in letters of gold on His Sacred Heart, names of which He will never allow to be effaced. These are the names of the persons who have laboured the most to make His Sacred Heart known and loved."
Second Promise For the Apostles Of The Devotion.
"The Sacred Heart of Jesus has such a great desire to be known, loved and honoured by men: He wishes so ardently to establish the empire of His love in all hearts by destroying in then the empire of Satan, that He promises great recompenses to all those who devote themselves with their whole hearts to establishing the reign of His Sacred Heart according to the lights and graces which He gives them."
Third Promise for the Apostles of the Devotion.
In addition to the friendship of the Divine Heart, the Apostles of the Devotion are assured of the protection of the Blessed Virgin and of the Saints, especially St Margaret Mary. She writes:
"O what happiness for us and for all who contribute in making the loving Heart of Jesus known and glorified! For they will draw down upon themselves the friendship and eternal blessings of this unique Love of our hearts. The Blessed Virgin will be their special protectress, She will assist them in attaining to the perfect life."
Fourth Promise For the Apostles of the Devotion.
The apostles of the Sacred Heart will make rapid progress in virtue. The Sacred Heart of Jesus will sanctify and glorify them:
"The loving Heart of Jesus has made known to me that He will take care to sanctify and glorify us before His Heavenly Father in the measure in which we exert ourselves to procure the glory for Him and to increase the reign in the hearts of men,"
Fifth Promise for the Apostles of the Devotion.
The apostles of the Sacred Heart will receive the grace of the pure love of God:
with which you labour to make the Sacred Heart of Jesus known and loved will gain for you in an ever increasing degree the crowning gift of the pure love of God."
Sixth Promise For the Apostles of the Devotion.
The apostles of the Sacred Heart will draw down special blessings on their native land and on their families:
"Oh! What happiness for those who contribute to making the adorable Heart of Jesus known, loved and glorified! By what means why will secure a powerful Protector for their native land."
Seventh Promise For the Apostles of the Devotion.
Great blessings are reserved for the works of zeal undertaken by those apostolic workers who propagate the devotion to the Sacred Heart. They will make great conversions:
"My divine Saviour assured me that those who labour for the salvation of souls will have the art of touching the hardest hearts and will obtain marvelous success, if they themselves are animated with a tender devotion to His Divine Heart.
"He will penetrate the most unfeeling hearts by the words of His preachers and faithful friends. He will so pour out the sweet unction of His ardent charity with such strong and powerful graces on their words that He will make them like a flaming sword which will cause the most frozen hearts to melt in His love. The words of these apostles will be like two edged swords, which will penetrate the most hardened hearts and make the holy fountain of penance spring up in them, purifying and sanctifying the most obstinate sinners and rendering them susceptible to the love of this Divine Heart. By this means the most criminal souls will be led on to salutary penance."
Eighth Promise For the Apostles of the Devotion.
It will be given to the apostles of the Sacred Heart to understand the inestimable value of the Cross, and they will obtain strength and consolation in their difficulties:
"The adorable Heart of Jesus wishes to establish the reign of His pure Love in all hearts. Happy are those whom He will employ to aid Him to establish His reign! But He did not tell me that His friends would have nothing to suffer, for He wishes them to make their greatest happiness consist in tasting its bitterness."
Ninth Promise For the Apostles of the Devotion.
The apostles of the Sacred Heart will obtain the grace of final perseverance and of a holy death.
Tenth Promise For the Apostles of the Devotion.
The Sacred Heart Itself will be the reward of Its apostles
Happy are those whom the Sacred Heart of Jesus will employ in establishing His reign. For it seems to me that It is like a king who thinks only of recompensing His friends while He gains victories and triumphs over His enemies. When this Heart reigns victorious on Its throne, It will be Itself their eternal recompense."
The Devotion of the Sacred Heart benefits
the holy souls in Purgatory
Would that people knew with what great eagerness the poor souls in Purgatory, ask for this new remedy which is so powerful to relieve their sufferings. They call the Devotion to the Sacred Heart the 'Sovereign Remedy, and ask particularly for Masses in honour of the Sacred Heart of Jesus."
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