The Holy Hour: Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

 From the Blessed Sacrament Prayerbook, a method of the Holy Hour, third quarter:

“Contemplate Jesus as He stands before His sleeping disciples and meekly complains:

‘I looked for one that would grieve together with Me, but there was none: and for one that would comfort Me, but there was none.’ (Ps. 69:21).

“Meditate for a moment on this complaint of Our Lord and then recite the ‘Litany of the Sacred Heart,’….

From Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Catholic Encyclopedia:

The proper act of the devotion 

This act is required by the very object of the devotion, since devotion to the love of Jesus for us should be pre-eminently a devotion of love for Jesus. It is characterized by a reciprocation of love; its aim is to love Jesus who has so loved us, to return love for love. Since, moreover, the love of Jesus manifests itself to the devout soul as a love despised and outraged, especially in the Eucharist, the love expressed in the devotion naturally assumes a character of reparation, and hence the importance of acts of atonement, the Communion of reparation, and compassion for Jesus suffering. But no special act, no practice whatever, can exhaust the riches of the devotion to the Sacred Heart. The love which is its soul embraces all and, the better one understands it, the more firmly is he convinced that nothing can vie with it for making Jesus live in us and for bringing him who lives by it to love God, in union with Jesus, with all his heart, all his soul, all his strength.

 

During Lent devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus takes on even greater significance. Hence, the inclusion of the Litany of the Sacred Heart as part of a suggested method of observing the Holy Hour. I would encourage you to read the rest of the article in the Catholic Encyclopedia. Thanks to sacredheart.com for this version of the litany. 

Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Christ, graciously hear us. God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us. God, the Son, Redeemer of the World, have mercy on us. God, the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us. Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, Son of the Eternal Father, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, formed in the womb of the Virgin Mother by the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, united substantially with the word of God, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, of infinite majesty, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, holy temple of God, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, tabernacle of the Most High, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, house of God and gate of heaven, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, glowing furnace of charity, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, vessel of justice and love, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, abyss of all virtues, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, most worthy of all praise, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, king and center of all hearts, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Divinity, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, in whom the Father is well pleased, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, of whose fullness we have all received, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, patient and rich in mercy, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, rich to all who invoke Thee, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, fount of life and holiness, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, propitiation for our sins, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, saturated with revilings, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, crushed for our iniquities, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, made obedient unto death, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, our life and resurrection, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, our peace and reconciliation, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, victim for our sins, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who hope in Thee, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, hope of those who die in Thee, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, delight of all saints, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord, Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. V. Jesus, meek and humble of Heart. R. Make our hearts like unto Thine. Let us pray Almighty and everlasting God, look upon the Heart of Thy well-beloved Son and upon the acts of praise and satisfaction which He renders unto Thee in the name of sinners; and do Thou, in Thy great goodness, grant pardon to them who seek Thy mercy, in the name of the same Thy Son, Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, world without end.”

 

The Holy Hour: Litany of the Passion

  From the Blessed Sacrament Prayerbook, a method of the Holy Hour, first quarter:

“Picture to yourself our divine Savior kneeling alone in the Garden of Gethsemani, and then with deep recollection of mind meditate for a while on these words of Jesus:

“‘My soul is sorrowful even unto death.’ (Matt. 26:38).

“After this recite the Rosary, and say each of the decades in honor of one of the sorrowful mysteries: the agony, the scourging, the crowning with thorns, the carrying of the cross, the crucifixion.

“Or say The Litany of the Passion together with other prayers.”

The litany is one of my favorite forms of prayer. If the door is not open, God wants us to keep knocking. Each line should be reflected upon prayerfully. I could, and undoubtedly will, say more about the Holy Hour and the Agony in the Garden, but the Litany of the Passion is a good way to observe this Lenten season. My thanks to Catholic Online for the following version of this great litany, written by Cardinal Newman, and approved for private devotion:

Litany of the Passion, by John Henry Cardinal Newman (for private use),

Lord, have mercy. (Lord, have mercy.) Christ, have mercy. (Christ, have mercy.) Lord, have mercy. (Lord, have mercy.) Christ, hear us.  (Christ, graciously hear us.)
God the Father of Heaven, God the Son, Redeemer of the world, God the Holy Ghost, Holy Trinity, one God, Jesus, the Eternal Wisdom, The Word made flesh, Hated by the world, Sold for thirty pieces of silver, Sweating blood in Thy agony, Betrayed by Judas, Forsaken by Thy disciples, Struck upon the cheek, Accused by false witnesses, Spit upon in the face, Denied by Peter, Mocked by Herod, Scourged by Pilate, Rejected for Barabbas, Loaded with the cross, Crowned with thorns, Stripped of Thy garments, Nailed to the tree, Reviled by the Jews, Scoffed at by the malefactor, Wounded in the side, Shedding Thy last drop of blood, . Forsaken by Thy Father, Dying for our sins, Taken down from the cross, . Laid in the sepulchre, Rising gloriously, Ascending into Heaven, Sending down the Paraclete, . Jesus our Sacrifice, Jesus our Mediator, Jesus our Judge,	Have mercy on us
Be merciful, (Spare us, O Lord). Be merciful, (Graciously hear us, O Lord).
From all sin, From all evil, Lord Jesus, From anger and hatred, From malice and revenge, From unbelief and hardness of heart, From blasphemy and sacrilege, From hypocrisy and covetousness, From blindness of the understanding, From contempt of Thy warnings, From relapse after Thy judgments, From danger of soul and body, From everlasting death,	Lord Jesus deliver us
We sinners, (beseech Thee, hear us.)
That Thou wouldest spare us, That Thou wouldest pardon us, That Thou wouldest defend Thy Church, That Thou wouldest bless Thy own, That Thou wouldest convert Thy foes, That Thou wouldest spread the truth, That Thou wouldest destroy error, That Thou wouldest break to pieces false gods, That Thou wouldest increase Thy elect, That Thou wouldest let loose the holy souls in prison, That Thou wouldest unite us to Thy saints above,	We beseech Thee, hear us
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, (Spare us, O Lord). Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, (Graciously hear us, O Lord.) Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, (Have mercy on us.) Christ, hear us. (Christ, graciously hear us.) Lord, have mercy. (Christ have mercy.)
Lord, have mercy. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee, (Because through Thy Holy Cross Thou didst redeem the world.)
Let us pray. O God, Who for the redemption of the world was pleased to be born; to be circumcised; to be rejected; to be betrayed; to be bound with thongs; to be led to the slaughter; to be shamefully gazed at; to be falsely accused; to be scourged and torn; to be spit upon, and crowned with thorns; to be mocked and reviled; to be buffeted and struck with rods; to be stripped; to be nailed to the cross; to be hoisted up thereon; to be reckoned among thieves; to have gall and vinegar to drink; to be pierced with a lance: through Thy most holy passion, which we, Thy sinful servants, call to mind, and by Thy Holy Cross and gracious death, deliver us from the pains of hell, and lead us whither Thou didst lead the thief who was crucified with Thee, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest, God, world without end. Amen.

 

A God Weary Upon Earth!

We should reflect upon Our Savior’s passion all through the year, but if we do not, we certainly should think about it deeply during these days of Lent. The following comes from a meditation on His agony in the garden, excerpted from The Blessed Sacrament Prayerbook:

A God weary upon earth! What an expression is this! ‘And he began to be weary.’….

Contemplate your divine Master, His face prostrate on the earth, His sad, anxious expression; He looks on all sides, weeps, and cries; the blood flows from his sorely wounded Heart; His sacred garments are steeped in it; even to the ground flows this ruddy stream.

But, behold, He prays. Remember this; if someday weariness should seize upon your soul, penetrate even to your heart, so not fail to imitate your Savior and pray, and an angel shall descend from heaven to comfort you, or at least to strengthen you. Seek not for comfort elsewhere, complain not to others. The earth will not respond to you, your very friends will not understand your grief, nay, they will even seem insensible to it; pray, still pray, above all pray to the Heart of Jesus, which knew all and every weariness, and He will have pity upon you; He will save you from the abyss of despair which threatens you and is ready to swallow you up.

Since Jesus was made man, a person just as fully human as you and me, and because He is the Way, everything He did and said on earth are examples to us. Not the least of His examples to us is His resort to prayer, especially in time of suffering.

But He also taught us that there is an end to our short sufferings and weariness on this earth and an eternal reward for those who follow in His footsteps.

A Little Patience for Lent

I am one of the most impatient people I know. I used to have a small cushion hanging from my office door knob that said, “Lord, grant me patience. And please hurry!” I hate being impatient. I am impatient with my lack of progress remedying this flaw, which of course only makes it worse.

Sometimes the rhythm of life’s vexations almost seems to suggest a malevolent intelligence. Little coincidences of catastrophe. What now! I want to cry. Unbelievable is one of my favorite words. How is that possible? I so often wonder. I can’t do anything right. God must really hate me. I should have stayed in bed.

Later, under the cooler light of reflection, I realize that those seemingly malicious little coincidences might neither be coincidental nor malicious. My eyes begin to see, my ears to hear. Is that you, Lord? Ah, I’m sorry about that nasty thing I said. I’ll try to do better. I know I failed you once again. Forgive me.

Lately, the rather eclectic scope of my reading has found me stumbling across the subject of patience with disturbing regularity. I can only shake my head. Coincidence? No, I truly believe the Holy Spirit speaks to us and guides us in ways such as these. In fact He speaks to us more often, probably, than most of us know. He speaks to us not only though the media but through voices of others, through our random thoughts and through the ordinary events of life…for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. We just have to pay attention. Our entire existence can be a dialogue with God. “I think I’m getting the lecture,” I told my wife over dinner the other night, the lecture on patience. The very next morning I opened my copy of Padre Pio’s Spiritual Direction for Every Day[1] to the daily entry, and the first sentence read, “You can be certain, my dear, that what most assures us of perfection is the virtue of patience.” His counsel was particularly relevant to me, because he went on to advise that we have to be even more patient with ourselves than with others. Learning to endure our own imperfections is part of our spiritual growth, even as we try to correct them.

So what does this have to do with Lent? Everything. Impatience in its essence means something isn’t going our way. Impatience is resistance to God’s will, it is rebellion. Our will or God’s? So when we think about giving up something for Lent, what is more important than giving up our own will? Or more difficult? This isn’t just for Lent, it’s for life. Patience isn’t just penitential, it is surrender. It is living in complete conformity with God’s will, no matter how difficult. As Christians that really is our ultimate goal. Oh, so much more could (and will) be said about patience, penance and God’s will, but I want to keep these posts short. No one has time to read a tome. But I can’t resist appending the following seeds for reflection:

Penance is defined as conversion, as doing things God’s way instead of our own. When God’s way conflicts with ours, we choose His plans. He will let us know His plans when we embark on a penitential life.[2]

Patience is essentially a religious disposition of the soul by which in our sufferings and afflictions we bow our head in joyful submission to the will of our heavenly Father, Who thus enables us to prove our love for Him. I was dumb and opened not my mouth, says the psalmist, because thou hast done it (Ps. Xxxviii).[3]

There is no better remedy, then, than patience and denial of self, and an abiding in the will of God.[4]

“YE have need of patience, that, after ye have done the Will of God, ye might receive the promise,” says Saint Paul; and the Saviour said, “In your patience possess ye your souls.” The greatest happiness of any one is “to possess his soul;” and the more perfect our patience, the more fully we do so possess our souls.[5]

And take heart. The more patience God requires of us, the more He loves us:

For whom the LORD loves he reproves, as a father, the son he favors.[6]

He has not tested us with fire, as he did them, to try their hearts, nor is he taking vengeance on us. But the Lord chastises those who are close to him in order to admonish them.[7]

Lastly, the paraphrased version of St. Theresa’s bookmark is one of my favorites:

Let nothing trouble thee,

Let nothing affright thee.

All things pass away.

God never changes.

Patience obtains everything.

God alone suffices!

 

---

[1] Padre Pio’s Spiritual Direction for Every Day, Gianluigi Pasquale, Ed.; Marsh Daigle-Williamson, Trans.; Servant Books (2011).

[2] Handbook of the Confraternity of Penitents, Postulant: Lesson 11, p. 172; Pub. Confraternity of Penitents (2010).

[3] Blessed Sacrament Prayerbook, p. 574.

[4] Kempis, Thomas A; Aloysius Croft; Harold Bolton (2007-01-22). The Imitation of Christ (Dover Thrift Editions) (Kindle Locations 955-956). The Portable Library. Kindle Edition.

[5] Francis of Sales, Saint (2009-06-09). Introduction to the Devout Life – Enhanced Version (Kindle Locations 1598-1602). Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Kindle Edition.

[6] Proverbs 3:12. Authors, Various; United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (2011-06-06). New American Bible Revised Edition (Kindle Locations 77138-77140). Fairbrother. Kindle Edition.

[7] Judith 8:27. Authors, Various; United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (2011-06-06). New American Bible Revised Edition (Kindle Locations 52196-52197). Fairbrother. Kindle Edition.

Am I Ready for Lent?

Am I ready for Lent? I am going to give up sweets. Is that enough? Even though I am 61, I am going to fast. Is that enough? I am going to try to give up other little things along the way like an occasional morning coffee and in general be less self-indulgent. Is that enough? I am going to try to complain less. Is that enough? I am going to go to church tomorrow morning and get the ashes for the first time in years. Is that enough?

Of course it isn’t. What good is that if I continue to commit the same old sins? What good is that if I do not seek true contrition for those sins? What good is that if I do not examine my conscience more fully every night and seek the grace to see myself just as God sees me? What good is that if I do not spend more time in prayer? What good is that if I do not try to pray with greater devotion? What good is that if I ignore the sacrament of penance? What good is that if I do not seek a greater understanding of penance? What good is that if I do not use Lent to undertake a new plan of Christian living the year round?

In the next forty days I am going to resort to a book with the prodigious title Considerations and Devout Meditations for Every Day During the Holy Season of Lent, authored by an unknown Jesuit. This book is easily obtainable in electronic form at Sancte Pater, Saints Books for Peace and Google Books. There is some heady language in the first meditation for Ash Wednesday, which I will quote in part:

I am not a man if I obey my passions; I am not a Christian if I do not combat with and overcome my passions; I am not a true penitent if I do not mortify my passions. Since my body is polluted by sin it ought to be purified by pain; and since it has part in the pleasures of the soul, it ought to glory in sharing its sorrows….

How do I know my sins are forgiven? How do I know the pain which my offenses merit is remitted? How do I know God will not punish me in my body? How do I know that he will not chastise me in my soul?…

If I spare myself, God will not spare me; if I love myself, God will not love me; if I hate myself, God will not hate me; if I punish myself God will not punish me; if I excuse nothing in myself, God will pardon all; if I excuse all things in myself, God will pardon nothing; if I am indulgent to myself, God will be severe; if I am austere and harsh with myself, God will be merciful.

Oh Christian soul! make your body a living and dying victim; mortify your passions, your senses, and your desires; mortify yourself at all times and in all places; mortify yourself with zeal, mortify yourself with discretion.

Ouch. It hurts just to read this. I get the idea that Lent meant something to this good father that it has never meant to me. Whether I agree with all these words or whether I completely accept this vision of Lent, I am certainly going to reflect upon it for many days to come.