Tomorrow, October 24, Pope Francis will release his fourth encyclical.“DILEXIT NOS” - Encyclical Letter on the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ,” centers around the SACRED HEART of JESUS. Its release coincides with the 350th anniversary of the apparitions of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1673) that led to devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. These apparitions, which took place at the convent of Paray-le-Monial in Burgundy, continued for 17 years.
During these apparitions, Jesus revealed His heart, which was crowned with thorns and surrounded by flames. He gave St Margaret Marythe mission to share His love, especially, His love for sinners.
In 1956 Pope Pius XII, wrote his own encyclical on the devotion, Haurietis aquas, which emphasized the devotion's importance for the Church's needs and its potential as a “banner of salvation” for the modern world.
Pope Benedict XVI, in a letter commemorating the 50th anniversary of Haurietis Aquas, reinforced this sentiment, saying, “This mystery of God's love for us is not only the content of devotion to the Heart of Jesus; it is also at the heart of all true Christian spirituality.”
In a past Blog (June 2019), I wrote of my Jesuit spiritual director, Father Alban J. Dachauer at Creighton University, who wrote The Sacred Heart: A Commentary on Haurietis Aquas (1959).