Rev. Fr. Jean Croiset - Devotion To The Sacred Heart Of Jesus: How to Practice the Sacred Heart Devotion

The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

How to Practice the Sacred Heart Devotion

Father John Croiset, S.J.

Nihil Obstat: E. Lucas Willems, O.S.B.
Censor Deputatus

Imprimatur: H. Gibney
Vicar General
Southwark
February 26, 1959

This translation originally published by The Radio Replies Press Society, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Retypeset and republished in 1988 by TAN Books. Retypeset again in 2007. Typography is the property of TAN Books, and may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without permission in writing from the publisher, except that brief selections may be copied for non-profit use without permission.

Copyright 1988 by TAN Books

Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 88-50269

TAN Books
Charlotte, North Carolina
www.TANBooks.com

2013

Behold this Heart which has so loved men!

Words of Our Lord to St. Margaret Mary

(This painting of Our Lord, St. Margaret Mary and Bl. Claude de la Colombire by Filippo Costaggini is in Sacred Heart Basilica, Hanover, Pennsylvania, the oldest church in the United States dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The church is also known as Conewago Chapel, having begun as a Mass station and log chapel in colonial days [1741]. The Basilica was built in 1787; around 1800 it was the largest parish in the United States, numbering nearly 5,000 souls. The Basilica is located near Gettysburg.)

One day I saw the Son of God, holding in His Hand His own Heart, which appeared more brilliant than the sun and which was casting rays of light on every side; then, this amiable Saviour gave me to understand that all the graces which God unceasingly pours forth on men, according to the capacity of each, come from the plenitude of the Divine Heart.

St. Mechtilde
(quoted by Father Croiset)

Dedicated by
the translator and his brother
to the memory
of their dear parents.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD TO THE FIRST EDITION

The complete edition of The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Father Croiset, S.J., is presented to the public for the first time in English. This book was composed during the lifetime of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and published in 1691, the year after her death. The letters of St. Margaret Mary which we quote below show that the book was written at the request of Our Saviour Himself, conveyed to Father Croiset by St. Margaret Mary; in her letter to him asking him to compose this book she assured him on the part of Our Saviour that he was to get special assistance, and when the work was near completion she told him that it was so completely in accordance with the wishes of Our Lord that it would never be necessary to make any change in it. The book, then, rests on the authority of Our Lord Himself; as He promised, no change in it was ever found necessaryeven now, after the lapse of two and a half centuries during which time innumerable books on the devotion have appeared, it still remains the most practical book on the devotion to the Sacred Heart.

As will be explained later on, the book remained only thirteen years in circulation, during which time it was translated into nearly all the European languages. At that time the Catholic religion was being persecuted in England; Blessed Claude de la Colombire, who had introduced the devotion to the Sacred Heart there, was first imprisoned and afterwards banished from England, so no translation of Father Croisets book was made into English. Since the book was restored to circulation at the end of the last century, a very much abridged edition has appeared in English, in which the space available did not permit the inclusion of many important chapters.

The following are the circumstances under which the book made its first appearance: St. Margaret Mary Alacoque wrote many times to her director, Father Croiset, at the behest of her Divine Master, asking him to write a book to make the devotion to the Sacred Heart (which hitherto had been practiced by chosen souls as a private devotion) known to the general body of the faithful. In her letter to him of April 14, 1689, she said:

If you knew the ardent desire which urges me to make the Sacred Heart of my Sovereign known and glorified, you would not refuse to undertake this work. If I am not mistaken, He wishes you to do so.

And on September 15 of the same year she wrote to him: Since you wish me to tell you what I think about your plans for honoring the Divine Heart of Jesus, I believe (if I am not mistaken) that they are most pleasing to Him... And I tell you that you are happy to be among the number of those whom He will employ for the execution of His designs, as I can have no doubt but that He has chosen you for this work; follow the lights which He will give you for the execution of it. With regard to all that you propose to me in your letter both about meditations and the indulgences, it seems to me that I see clearly, and in a way which leaves no doubt, that it is He who has inspired you in this manner with these ideas. He has given me to understand that this manner is so pleasing to Him, that none other but Himself could have arranged everything so much to His wishes, and I believe that He will be very much glorified by it.

When she was aware that Father Croiset had undertaken the work she said to one of the sisters in confidence: I shall certainly die this year in order not to be an obstacle to the great fruits which my Saviour intends to draw from a book on devotion to His Sacred Heart which Father X. will get printed as soon as possible.

In two letters during the last year of her life, while assuring Father Croiset again of special divine assistance for his work, she warned him of how much he would have to suffer on account of the publication of his book. On January 17, 1690, she wrote to him: If I am not mistaken, our amiable Saviour seems to promise me that He will furnish you with all the graces and helps necessary, and even that He will supply on His part for all that may be wanting on ours. But all that will not be accomplished without much pain and suffering, which you are to receive as the strongest proofs of His will. On August 21 of the same year, she wrote to him: You are surprised at that (some trial he had to endure), but that is nothing; more is to come, for you must be purified like gold in the crucible for the execution of the designs of God. Those designs are truly great; therefore you will have much to suffer from the devil, from creatures and from yourself. But what will appear to you hardest to bear, will be when God will seem to take a share in making you suffer, but you have nothing to fear, for this is the way to show that He loves you...

But to return to the question of your work on the adorable Heart of my Jesus, I have no doubt that He has assisted you, since the whole work, if I be not mistaken, is so perfectly in accordance with His wishes, that I do not think that it will be necessary to change anything in it... Once again I pray you not to be downcast on account of all the contradictions, troubles and obstacles which this work which you have undertaken will encounter. Consider that He for whom you are doing it, being all-powerful, will not allow you to lack any of the helps necessary to accomplish it perfectly according to His desire.

Everything happened as St. Margaret Mary had foretold: she died before the end of the year; her death removed an obstacle to speaking freely about the revelations which she had received, and permitted Father Croiset to include an account of her life and the favors which she had received; the book was published as soon as possible during the year after her death; God was very much glorified by it, for in a short time it was the means of spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart to the ends of the earth; and finally it was a cause of great trouble and suffering to Father Croiset himself, for after being translated into most of the continental languages and enjoying an immense circulation for thirteen years, it was put on the Index by a Decree of the Congregation of the Index of March 11, 1704, because the author, though in good faith, had omitted certain formalities required for a book dealing with such an important subject.