CITY OF THE SACRED HEART

THE CITY OF THE SACRED HEART

The 9th Promise of the Sacred Heart: "I will bless every place in which an image of My Heart is exposed and honored." 

In the early 1900s, Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey began the practice of "enthronement of the home" and consecrated many households to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. He started with his own home, putting in a place of honor an image of the Sacred Heart. This act of consecration was inspired by that of Margaret Mary Alacoque and Fr. Colombiere, who were the first ones to practice self-consecration.

"Heart is where the home is."

Today, we at the National Shrine of the Sacred Heart, continue this tradition of enthronement. Following Promise No. 9, my brother priests and I, with the help of our Eucharistic Ministers enthrone homes, offices, schools, and every place possible.

Many times, we celebrate a street mass for everyone to freely participate in. Towards the end of the mass we explain enthronement. Before enthroning, we first bless the homes (or "re-bless" if already bless). We then proceed to enthronement or re-enthronement of each home. We go from one house to another in order to consecrate those who dwell in it and all their activities. An image of the Sacred Heart is placed in every home we enthrone, making Him the focal point of the household. Ideally, re-enthronement is celebrated yearly on the Feast of Christ the King.

For me, every visit is unique. We get to visit homes in the parish. We meet scores of different people and get to know them a little bit in the short but meaningful time we spend together. Sometimes they even shamefully say "Pasensya na po Father, magulo at maliit lang ang bahay namin." I disagree. I believe their homes are measured by their hearts, and welcoming us with such warmth has proven how big their hearts are. I am moved and grateful to our parishioners for allowing us to share this enthronement experience with them.

It is true. We don't really start the enthronement and consecration with the home. We start it with our hearts.

To "enthrone" means "to assign supreme virtue or value to". To enthrone one's heart and home to the Sacred Heart means to put Jesus in His supreme place in your heart and to make Him the No. 1 head of your household. The Tagalog term "Harinawa" used by many to mean "hopefully" or "sana nga" also means (literally) "Haring-awa" or "by the King's mercy" which ultimately pertains to "God-willing". Here we see how Christ is so embedded in our culture and heritage as the King of Kings whose throne rests in wherever we are and whatever we do.

And because this King's most important part is His Sacred Heart, it only follows that His heart be revered and imitated. The Sacred Heart of Jesus promises to bless every place - be it heart/self, home, office or any other establishment, unit or community - where His image is exposed and honored. To expose does not only mean "to make it visible or merely to show it off"; It also means to "reveal the true nature of His heart (exposition) and experience it fully (be exposed to)"; To know, understand and see for ourselves how valuable this Heart truly is in our day to day lives. The honor is ours to give and by virtue of His 9th promise, for us to receive as well.

Our primary goal and vision is to consecrate every Filipino home, community, city and the whole country to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus - perhaps even to consecrate Makati to become "The City of the Sacred Heart in the Philippines".

Let our hearts and our homes be a haven to His Sacred Heart. Let it touch us everyday and make us HeartStrong like Him, digging deep within our "kalooban" for the goodness in us, burning with passion in everything we put our hearts into.

May our hearts be like HIS.

Did you know?

In 1720, the Bubonic Plague struck the town of Marseilles and left 60,000 dead out of a 90,000 population. Because of this, a local nun advised their Bishop to consecrate the town to the Sacred Heart. The plague immediately stopped and Marseilles has since been known as "The City of the Sacred Heart".



REV. FR. VIC Y. APACIBLE 
Parish Priest / Rector

ENTHRONEMENT OF THE SACRED HEART IN OUR HOMES

 ENTHRONEMENT OF THE SACRED HEART

"I will bless every place in which an image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored." 

The Ninth Promise of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a devotion of love. His love to us and we respond to that love by offering our love to Him in return, first, by consecrating ourselves and our family to Jesus.

But to some, “consecrating” their selves to Jesus, may be too “holy” a term to use. Many of us dread “holiness” because we immediately think it is unreachable. 

But as beautifully explained by Fr. Vic, “consecrating” ourselves to Jesus simply means that we dedicate ourselves and our family to Jesus”. We “offer” ourselves to Jesus.

Where else will we start to respond to the love of the Sacred Heart and dedicate ourselves to Jesus than in our very home. A Christian home where a throne of love is installed in a prominent place for the Sacred Heart of Jesus, where His supreme rights over our family is recognized and honored.

When we enthrone the image of the Sacred Heart in our homes we restore our family to Jesus Christ. It is an external recognition that our Lord is the real head of our home and no one else. 

Our Lord Himself has asked St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, to whom He revealed His Sacred Heart, that He be allowed to reign over in our homes. He has promised that He will bless every place in which an Image of His Heart shall be exposed and honored. And He is faithful to His promises.

But enthronement of the Sacred Heart is just the first step and certainly not the last. As devotees of the Sacred Heart, we get inspired to stay in love. Always in love with Him. And if we are in love with Him, we will learn to forgive. For what good is dedicating ourselves to Jesus and staying in love with Him if we do not know how to forgive?

Along the way of the devotion, because of many distractions, we may stumble and get lost. Yes many times we will. But it is okay, we journey in the devotion fully equipped. 

The devotion is never without the Sacraments. It disciplines us to regularly make good confessions and prepares us to receive the Blessed Sacrament that makes beautiful our Sunday obligation. The sick is assured of the graces of Final Sacrament. 

The First Friday novena continually readies us to receive the graces and sacraments necessary for our state of life. Countless couples were bonded in matrimony or their shaky marriage fixed because of the devotion. Many priests started out as devotees of the Sacred Heart and have deepened their devotion now that they are priests.

Enthronement is a simple solemn ceremony of love. Visit the parish office now and schedule an enthronement in your home. Better yet, group yourselves with your neighbors and together receive and install Jesus Christ as King of your homes, of your neighborhood, of your street.

 

NOEL M. DAVID
Parish Pastoral Council
Makati City, Philippines

ENTHRONING THE SACRED HEART IN THE HOME

It was only recently when a family in my parish asked me to do for them something which I had been doing for a long time - that is, presiding over the enthronement ceremony of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in private homes. Apparently, this family had taken hold of a very beautiful image of Christ The King from their ancestral house in Pampanga and brought it to their home in Quezon City.

After that occasion, I went to some local religious bookstores to look for a copy of the ritual, but I was sad to realize that this ceremonial was no longer available in most of them. Once, I found old copies of the ritual on sale at a Tayuman store of religious articles. They were not just for sale. They were ON SALE - treated like bargain books which take up too much space in their storage rooms.

This shows that the custom of enthroning the Image of the Sacred Heart seems to be losing its popularity, or is it in danger of disappearing into oblivion. And this is sad, for here we have a family custom that would ensure the Lord's privileged place in every Christian home.

THE ENTHRONEMENT CEREMONY

Actually, the enthronement is a wonderful opportunity to invite the parish priest to visit a family under his care. After reading the Word of God, the priest explains to the family the significance of enthroning the Image of the Sacred Heart in their home. He then blesses the Image and the father (or the mother in the absence of the father) enthrones it in the place of honor prepared for it.

Then the family prays the Act of Consecration and Psalm 127. The priest leads the General Intercession and then, the family entrusts and consecrates itself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Finally, the ceremony ends with the priest blessing the entire family members.

The significance of the ceremony is emphasized in the rite itself. It is supposed to be a hearty welcome to Jesus as King and Friend of the family. By doing so, the family becomes Christ-centered.

By means of enthronement, the family members acknowledge Christ as the center of their lives, and all the big and small events of their existence become more meaningful as they view them as expressions of God's personal love for them. The Sacred Heart takes charge of all the family affairs, big or small. He becomes the family Friend, constant Companion, the unseen Guest at every meal. Jesus becomes truly a member of the family.

Giving the Image of the Sacred Heart a prominent place in the home becomes an external sign of an even more significant enthronement. Jesus takes His rightful place in the center of the life of the entire family and also of its individual members.

Every day, as the family members pass in front of the Image of the Sacred Heart, they are reminded of His Sovereignty over their lives. The nightly prayer which the family says before this Altar must be a daily confirmation of the consecration they made to Him.

Every year it is good to renew this solemn consecration. To those who do not understand, it is simply just a ceremony. But to those who take the consecration to heart, the central place of Jesus would mean both their daily commitment to fulfill the Lord's commandment of love and also the assurance of His constant guidance and protection.

Let us keep in mind that the Lord made the promise to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque: "I will bless the homes in which the Image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and honored".


FATHER MICHELL JOE B. ZERRUDO
The Messenger of Divine Love
July-September 2007