Chapter 10: The Sacred Heart of Jesus is Our: Treasure House

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is Our

Treasure House

THE ADORABLE HEART of our Saviour has been considered as a flaming furnace of love for us. We shall now see, first of all, that this heart is a vast treasure house containing infinite riches; secondly, that this wealth is ours; thirdly, the sacred use that we should make of it.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is indeed an incalculable treasure, containing in itself all the marvelous riches of heaven and earth, in nature, grace and glory, in all the angels and saints, in the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the Godhead, in the Most Holy Trinity, and in all the divine perfections. St. Chrysost(ym says that the Blessed Virgin is an infathomable abyss of the boundless perfections of the Godhead: Abyssus immensarum Dei perfectionum.(1) How much more is this true of die adorable Heart of Jesus?

Moreover, His Heart is a most precious treasure house containing all the merits of His life , all the fruits of His divine mysteries, all the graces merited by His toils and sufferings, all His infinitely perfect virtues, all the gifts of the Holy Ghost wherewith He was endowed: Requiescet super eum Spiritus Domini, Spiritus sapientiae et intellectus.(2) In short, everything great, rich , precious and admirable in Creator and creatures, is stored in that incomparable treasure.

To whom does this marvelous treasure belong? It belongs to all of us and to each one i n particular, since it depends only on us to take possession of it. By what titles and deeds does this treasure belong to us? By the title and deed of a gift. But who has given it to us? The Father of Jesus has given it to us in giving us His Son; and (I). In Hor. ani. (2). Isa. 11,2

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He gives Him to us unceasingly, for His gifts are not transitory. Sine poenitentia sunt dona Dei. ( 3 ) The Son of God has also given it to us, time and time again, in giving Himself to us, and He gives it to us ceaselessly in the Blessed Eucharist. The Holy Ghost imparts this treasure to us incessantly. The Blessed Virgin also gives it to us continually, since she has but one heart and one will with her Son, her will is bound up in every gift of His.

It is, therefore, a clear fact that the loving Heart of Jesus is wholly ours, our very own Heart. Each of us can say with St. Bernard: "The Heart of Jesus is my Heart. I speak this fearlessly. For i f Jesus is my Head, than what belongs to the Head belongs to me. just as the eyes of my corporal head are truly my eyes, so the Heart of my spiritual Head is truly my Heart. What joy is mine! I am certain that my heart is one with Jesus." Cor Jesu meum est, audarter dicam: si enim caput meum Christus est, quomodo quod capitis mei est non meum est? Sicut ergo oculi capitis mei corporalis mei oculi vere sunt, ita et spiritualis Cor, Cor meum est. Bene ergo mihi, ego vere cum Jesu Cor habeo. ( 4 )

What would be the use of possessing an object of great value if the owner let himself die of hunger, thirst and cold? Or suppose he went into bankruptcy while still keeping the treasure? Similarly, what shall this greatest of treasures, the Heart of Our Lord, be worth to us if we do not draw upon its resources? God has given us His Heart to be our riches and our wealth, to draw upon to satisfy our obligations and to pay all our debts.

What are those debts? They are endless, for we are in debt to God and men, to the Creator and to all creatures. We owe the Creator five tremendous tributes: 1. adoration together with honor, glory and praise; 2. love; 3. thanksgiving for all the blessings that we continually receive; 4 . reparation for our sins; 5. the gift of ourselves, seeing we belong to Him. Add to this, prayer, an obligation which is based on two principles: first, our infinite poverty and need, since we are nothing and have nothing of ourselves; secondly, the (3). Rom. 11, 29. (4). St. Bernard: Tract on the Passion ot our Lord, Chap. 3. The treatise hem mentioned by St. John Eudes is now attributed to St. Bonaventure.

fact that God is the supreme good and the source of all good, and that His infinite goodness inclines Him to pour out of His goodness upon us to an infinite degree. He wills, and justly so, that we ask Him for this in prayer.

Now, to pay all these debts, here is what must be done:

First, it is necessary to be in the state of grace. Secondly, when you celebrate Holy Mass ( i f you are a Priest) or when you assist at Mass (if a layman), but especially after Holy Communion, remember that you have the Sacred Heart there within your breast and the Three Divine Persons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Addressing yourself first to the Father, speak to Him, with all possible respect and humility:

"Holy Father, I owe Thee infinite honor, glory, love, adoration, praise, thanksgiving and satisfaction; I also owe to Thee myself for countless reasons. Of myself I have no means wherewith to pay all these debts, being nothing and having nothing. But here is the divine Heart of Thy W ell - beloved Son that Thou hast given me, which I now offer to Thee to make satisfaction for my obligations to adore Thee, to honor, praise and glorify Thee, to love Thee, to give Thee thanks, to make amends for my sins, to give myself to Thee, and to implore Thee by this same Heart, to grant me all graces of which I stand in need. This is my treasure that Thou hast given me out of the excess of Thy goodness; be pleased to receive it, 0 Father of mercies, and graciously to reward Thyself by taking with Thine own bands from this sacred treasure the wherewithal fully to satisfy and pay all my debts." After that make a similar offering to the Son of God, giving him that selfsame treasure, His own Heart as well as that of His most holy Mother, which is in a way but one with His, and which i s more pleasing to Him than all the hearts of paradise.

Perform the same act with respect to the Holy Ghost.

Next, remember the infinite obligations that you have to the Mother of God, who gave you a Saviour with all the countless blessings that proceed from that marvelous gift and offer her the loving Heart of her Beloved Son, in thanksgiving for all the favors that you have received from that divine Mother. Offer her also that same

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Heart in reparation, Over and above, for all your negligences, infidelities, and failures in gratitude towards her. This is but a direction which she herself gave to St. Mechtilde, who, being anxious about her negligences in Our Lady's service, was counselled by the latter to offer her the most holy Heart of her Dearest Son. The Blessed Virgin assured the saint that this offering would be much more pleasing to her than any other pious devotions and practices.' In addition, remember that you are still indebted to your Guardian Angel, to all the other angels, to your Patron Saint and to all the other saints, for their prayers and for the manifold helps they have given you. Consider, and offer to them all in general and to each one in particular your great treasure, as an act of thanksgiving, to satisfy for your shortcomings and to contribute to their accidental glory and joy.

Remember that you are also under obligations to your neighbor. You owe charity to all men, even your enemies; help to the poor, according to your ability; respect and obedience to your superiors, and the like. To satisfy all these obligations offer our Saviour His divine Heart to make up for the shortcomings of which you are guilty; ask Him to repay them for you and to give you all the graces necessary in the future to fulfil perfectly your obligations to your neighbor.

In the books of St. Mechtilde I find that when the saint was asked to implore Our Lord to grant a certain person a humble, pure and charitable heart, she acceded to his request and received this heavenly answer: "Let him seek in my Heart everything he desires and needs; and let him ask for them as a little child would confidently ask his father for anything be wants. When he desires purity of heart, let him have recourse to my innocence; when he desires humility, let him draw up from the deep well of my most humble Heart; there too let him drink in my love together with my holy converse, confidently taking to himself everything that is good and holy in that Heart, since I have given it wholly to my children." (6) (5). Saint John Eudes does not mention where he obtained this fact. It was perhaps taken from a passage of the Lime de la Grâce spéciale~, p. X, chap. 46. (6). Livre de la Grâce spéciale, P. 4, Ch.2, P. 28.

This is the boundless and inexhaustible treasure that our Most Gracious Jesus has given us, i n which we may confidently find everything that we need, so long as we possess that divine treasure i n its richness. If we should lose it through sin, what a dreadful loss it would be! I am certain that if we fully understood it, we would realize that we would never sufficiently deplore such a great misfortune even though we were to live until the Day of Judgment and spend our time in weeping floods of tears and blood. if all the angels and saints were to descend from heaven to console us, they could never wipe away our tears. Heu! quid perdidit, qui Deum amisit, exclaims St. Augustine. "Alas! what hath he lost who hath lost God?" Heu! quid perdidit, qui Cor Jesu amisit: Alas! what bath he lost who hath lost the Heart of Christ, his Saviour? Who can understand the magnitude of that loss? Who can express it? Who can worthily deplore it?

Yet, after losing that infinite treasure, so many many times, you, 0 foolish man, are little affected by the deprivation. What sorrow should be yours! What tears of blood you should shed! How horrified you should be at your sins that have caused so dreadful a disaster! What fear of backsliding! How necessary to seek all the means possible to keep yourself from it! What would one not lose rather than to lose the loving Heart of our Redeemer! That gone, all is gone. Let us prefer to lose everything, our earthly goods, our friends, our health, even our life, rather than to lose the Heart of Jésus! 0 m y Saviour, grant us that grace! Mother of Jesus~ obtain it from thy Dear Soul 51-