Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica Of The Nativity Of Saint Mary, Milan, Italy. Basilica Cattedrale Metropolitana Di Santi Maria Nascente, Milano. (Part Five).

English: Milan Cathedral.

Italiano: Milano - Duomo.

This File: 30 January 2014.

Source: Own work.

This file is licensed under the

Creative Commons Attribution-

Share Alike 3.0 Unported Licence.

User: Чаховіч Уладзіслаў

(Wikimedia Commons)

Duomo of Milan.

The Church That Took 600 Years To Finish.

Available on YouTube

HERE

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless stated otherwise.

A clash arose, which forced Gian Galeazzo to decide on the foundation of a new construction site intended exclusively for the Visconti dynasty: The Certosa di Pavia.[10] 

Work proceeded quickly, and, at the death of Gian Galeazzo in 1402, almost half the Cathedral was complete. Construction, however, stalled almost totally until 1480 for lack of money and ideas: The most notable works of this period were the tombs of Marco Carelli and Pope Martin V (1424) and the windows of the Apse (1470s), of which those extant portray Saint John the Evangelist, by Cristoforo de’Mottis, and Saint Eligius and San John of Damascus, both by Niccolò da Varallo.

In 1452, under Francesco Sforza, the Nave and the Aisles were completed up to the sixth Bay.

In 1488, both Leonardo da Vinci and Donato Bramante created models in a competition to design the central Cupola; Leonardo later withdrew his submission.[11] 

From 1500 to 1510, under Ludovico Sforza, the octagonal Cupola was completed, and decorated in the interior with four series of fifteen statues, each portraying Saints, Prophets, Sibyls, and figures from the Bible.

Artwork on Milan Cathedral’s door.

Photo: 27 June 2016.

Source: Own work.

Author: Harvinder Chandigarh

(Wikimedia Commons)

The exterior long remained without decoration, except for the Guglietto dell’Amadeo (“Amadeo’s Little Spire”), constructed 1507–1510. This is a Renaissance masterwork which nevertheless harmonised well with the Gothic appearance of the Church.

During the subsequent Spanish domination, the new Church proved usable, even though the interior remained unfinished, and some Bays of the Nave and the Transepts were still missing. In 1552, Giacomo Antegnati was commissioned to build a large Organ for the North Side of the Choir, and Giuseppe Meda provided four of the sixteen reliefs which were to decorate the Altar area (the programme was completed by Federico Borromeo).

In 1562, Marco d’Agrate’s St. Bartholomew and the famous Trivulzio Candelabrum (12th-Century) were added.

English: 

Plate celebrating the first stone in 1386.

Italiano: 

Lapide dentro il Duomo che commemora 

l’inizio della costruzione, nel 1386.

This File: 13 May 2005.

User: Marco Bonavoglia

(Wikimedia Commons)

PART SIX FOLLOWS.

Yesterday Was The Feast Day Of The Most Sacred Heart Of Jesus. Here Is An Act Of Consecration Of The Human Race To The Most Sacred Heart Of Jesus. To Be Said On The Feast Of Christ The King (Last Sunday Of October).

Catholic Holy Card 

depicting The Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Auguste Martin Collection, 

University of Dayton Libraries.

Date: 1880.

Source: Turgis.

Author: Turgis.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,

unless stated otherwise.

Act Of Consecration

Of The Human Race

To The Sacred Heart Of Jesus.

Indulgence of 300 days each time.

On The Feast of Christ The King (the last Sunday of October), to be Solemnly Read with The Litany of The Sacred Heart before The Blessed Sacrament exposed: Then, Seven Years and Seven Quarantines, and a Plenary Indulgence, supposing Confession and Communion.

Most Sweet Jesus, Redeemer of The Human Race,

look down upon us humbly prostrate before Thy Altar.

We are Thine, and Thine we wish to be;

but, to be more surely united with Thee,

behold each one of us freely Consecrates himself today 

to Thy Most Sacred Heart.

Many, indeed, have never known Thee; many, too, despising Thy precepts, have rejected Thee. Have mercy on them all, most merciful Jesus, and draw them to Thy Sacred Heart.

Be Thou King, Oh, Lord, not only of The Faithful who have never forsaken Thee, but, also, of the prodigal children who have abandoned Thee; grant that they may quickly return to their Father’s house, lest they die of wretchedness and hunger.

Be Thou King of those who are deceived by erroneous opinions, or whom discord keeps aloof, and call them back to the harbour of Truth and Unity of Faith, so that, soon, there may be but one flock and one Shepherd.

Be Thou King of all those who are still involved 

in the darkness of idolatry or of Islamism, and refuse not to draw them all into the light and kingdom of God. Turn Thine eyes of mercy towards the children of that race, once Thy chosen people: Of old, they called down upon themselves The Blood of The Saviour; may It now descend upon them 

a laver of redemption and of life.

Grant, Oh, Lord, to Thy Church, assurance of freedom and immunity from harm; give peace and order to all Nations, and make the Earth resound from Pole to Pole with one cry: Praise be to The Divine Heart that wrought our Salvation; 

to It be glory and honour for ever.

Amen.

Saint Anthony Of Padua (1195-1231). Confessor. Feast Day 13 June. White Vestments.

English: Apparition of The Child Jesus 

to Saint Anthony of Padua.

Português: Aparição do Menino Jesus 

a Santo Antônio de Pádua.

Artist: Francisco de Zurbarán (1598–1664).

Date: 1627-1630.

Current location: São Paulo Museum of Art, Brazil.

This File: 4 January 2010.

User: Dornicke

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Anthony of Padua.

Available on YouTube

HERE

Text from “The Liturgical Year”.
   By: Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.
      Volume 12.
      Time After Pentecost.
      Book III.

Saint Anthony Of Padua (1195-1231). 

   Confessor.

“Rejoice, thee, happy Padua, rich in thy priceless treasure !” [Editor: The Antiphon to The Benedictus for the Feast in the Franciscan Breviary.]

Anthony, in bequeathing thee his body, has done more for thy glory than the heroes who Founded thee on so favoured a site, or the Doctors who have illustrated thy famous university !

The days of Charlemagne were past and gone: Yet the work of Pope Leo III still lived on, despite a thousand difficulties. The enemy, now at large, had sown cockle in the field of the Divine Householder; heresy was springing up here and there, whilst vice was growing apace in every direction.

In many an heroic combat, the Popes, aided by the Monastic Order, had succeeded in casting disorder out of the Sanctuary, itself: Still the people, too long scandalised by venal Pastors, were fast slipping away from The Church.

Who could rally them once more ? Who wrest from Satan a reconquest of the World ? At this trying moment, the Spirit of Pentecost, ever living, ever present in Holy Church, raised up the sons of Saint Dominic and of Saint Francis.

The brave soldiers of this new militia, organised to meet fresh necessities, threw themselves into the field, pursuing heresy into its most secret lurking-holes, and thundering against vice in every shape and wheresoever found. In town or in country, they were everywhere to be seen confounding false teachers by the strong argument of Miracle as well as by doctrine; mixing with the people, whom the sight of their heroic detachment easily won over to repentance.

Crowds flocked to be enrolled in The Third Orders instituted by these two Holy Founders, to afford a secure refuge for the Christian life in the midst of the World.

The best known and most popular of all the sons of Saint Francis is Anthony, whom we are celebrating this day. His life was short; at the age of thirty-five, he took his flight to Heaven. But a span so limited allowed, nevertheless, of a considerable portion of time being directed by Our Lord to preparing this chosen servant for his destined ministry.

The all-important thing in God’s esteem, where there is question of fitting apostolic men to become instruments of salvation to a greater number of Souls, is not the length of time which they may devote to exterior works, but, rather, the degree of personal sanctification attained by them, and the thoroughness of their self-abandonment to the ways of Divine Providence.

As to Anthony, it may almost be said that, up to the last day of his life, eternal Wisdom seemed to take pleasure in disconcerting all his thoughts and plans. Out of his twenty years of Religious life, he passed ten amongst the Canons Regular, whither the Divine Call had invited him at the age of fifteen, in the full bloom of his innocence; and there, wholly captivated by the splendour of the Liturgy, occupied in the sweet study of the Holy Scriptures and of The Fathers, blissfully lost in the silence of the Cloister, his Seraphic Soul was ever being wafted to sublime heights, where (so it seemed) he was always to remain, held and hidden in the secret of God’s face.

Suddenly, behold ! The Divine Spirit urges him to seek the Martyr’s Crown; and, presently, he is seen emerging from his beloved Monastery, and following the Friars Minor to distant shores, where, already, some of their number had won the Glorious Palm.

Not this, however, but the Martyrdom of love, was to be his. Falling sick and reduced to impotence before his zeal could effect anything on the African soil, he was recalled by obedience to Spain, but was cast by a tempest on the Italian coast.

It happened that Saint Francis was just then convoking his entire family, for the third time, in General Chapter. Anthony, unknown, lost in this vast assembly, beheld at its close each of the Friars in turn receive his appointed destination, whereas to him not a thought was given. What a sight ! The scion of the illustrious family de Bouillon and of the Kings of the Asturias completely overlooked in the throng of holy poverty’s sons !

At the moment of departure, the Father Minister of the Bologna Province, remarking the isolated condition of the young Religious, whom no-one had received in charge, admitted him, out of Charity, into his company. Accordingly, having reached the hermitage of Monte Paolo, Anthony was deputed to help in the kitchen and in sweeping the house, being supposed quite unfitted for anything else.

Meanwhile, the Augustinian Canons, on the contrary, were bitterly lamenting the loss of one whose remarkable learning and Sanctity, far more even than his nobility, had, up to this, been the glory of their Order.

The hour at last came, chosen by Providence, to manifest Anthony to the World; and, immediately, as was said of Christ, Himself, the whole World went after him. Around the Pulpits, where this humble Friar Preached, there were wrought endless prodigies in the order of Nature and of Grace.

At Rome, he earned the surname of “Ark of The Covenant”; in France, that of “Hammer of Heretics”. It would be impossible  for us here to follow him throughout his luminous course; suffice it to say that France, as well as Italy, owes much to his zealous ministry.

Saint Francis had yearned to be himself the bearer of the Gospel of Peace throughout the fair realm of France, then sorely ravaged by heresy; but, in his stead, he sent thither Anthony, his well-beloved son, and, as it were, his living portrait. 

What Saint Dominic had been in The First Crusade against the Albigensians, Anthony was in the Second. At Toulouse, was wrought that wondrous Miracle of the famished mule turning aside from the proffered grain in order to prostrate in homage before The Sacred Host.

From the Province of Berry, his burning word was heard thundering in various distant Provinces; whilst Heaven lavished delicious favours on his Soul, ever child-like amidst the marvellous victories achieved by him, and the intoxicating applause of an admiring crowd.

Under the very eyes of his host, at a lonely house in Limousin, The Infant Jesus came to him, radiant in beauty; and throwing Himself into his arms, covered him with sweetest caresses, pressing the humble Friar to lavish the like on Him.

 

Historical Note.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

In 1817, Pope Pius VIII extended to the whole Church
the Feast of The Seven Sorrows of Our Lady (Feast Day 

15 September), which had been observed by the Servites since the 13th-Century.

In 1847, Blessed Pope Pius IX (“Pio Nono”) extended to the universal Church the Feast of the Solemnity of Saint Joseph (Feast Day the Wednesday after the Second Sunday After Easter).

In 1849, Blessed Pope Piux IX (“Pio Nono”) instituted the Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord (Feast Day 1 July) and raised the Feast of the Visitation of Our Blessed Lady (Feast Day 2 July) to that of a Double of the Second Class, on the occasion of his return to Rome.

In 1854, Blessed Pope Pius IX (“Pio Nono”) proclaimed the Dogma of The Immaculate Conception of Mary, its Feast Day (8 December) having already been granted to the whole Church by Pope Clement X in 1708.

In 1854, Blessed Pope Pius IX (“Pio Nono”) Consecrated the Basilica of Saint Paul-without-the-Walls and fixed the Feast of the Dedication to 18 November. The former Church had been destroyed by fire in 1823.

In 1870, Blessed Pope Pius IX (“Pio Nono”) declared Saint Joseph to be Protector of The Universal Church.

In 1879, Pope Leo XIII extended the Vigil of the Feast Day of The Immaculate Conception of Mary to the whole World.

In 1879, Pope Leo XIII raised to the rank of a Double of the Second-Class the Feast Day of Saint Joachim (Pope Leo’s Patron) (Feast Day 16 August) and also the Feast Day of Saint Anne (Feast Day 26 July). [Editor: Both these Saints being, of course, the parents of Our Blessed Lady.]

In 1888, Pope Leo XIII, moved by the sad trials which The Church was undergoing, composed a new Mass and a new Office of Our Lady of the Rosary (Feast Day 7 October). He raised this Feast to the rank of a Double of the Second-Class.

In 1889, Pope Leo XIII raised the Feast of The Sacred Heart of Jesus (Feast Day the Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christi) to the rank of a Double of the First-Class. This Feast had been approved by Pope Clement XIII in 1765.

The Saints of this Century are:

Saint John Vianney (☩ 1859). Holy Parish Priest. Feast Day 

9 August;

Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows (☩ 1862). A member of The Passionist Congregation. Feast Day 27 February. Pope Benedict XV Canonised him in 1920 and Pope Pius XI extended his Feast Day to the whole Church in 1932;

Saint Theresa of The Infant Jesus (☩ 1897). A Carmelite. Feast Day 3 October. Well-known as Saint Thérèse of Lisieux;

Saint Conrad of Parzham (☩ 1894). A Capuchin Lay-Brother. Feast Day 24 April;

Saint Mary-Bernard, of The Sisters of Nevers. Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes. Saint Bernadette. (☩ 1879). Feast Day 

18 February;

Saint Joseph Cottolengo, of the Vincent de Paul of Torino 

(☩ 1842). Feast Day 30 April;

Saint John Bosco. Founder of The Salesians (☩ 1888). Feast Day 31 January;

Saint Andrew Fornet (☩ 1834). Founded a Congregation of Daughters of The Cross. Feast Day 13 May;

Saint Mary Michæl of The Blessed Sacrament (☩ 1865). Adorers of The Blessed Sacrament. Feast Day 25 August.

The 1882 Queen Victoria £5 Orange Stamp. Acquiring The Holy Grail. The Queen Of Stamps.

Illustration: COLONIAL STAMP COMPANY

The following Text is from LINN’S STAMP NEWS

By David Alderfer.

The 1882 £5 Orange Queen Victoria High Value Stamp (Scott 93) is known to many collectors, who specialise in Great Britain Stamps, as The Holy Grail of British Stamps. In May 2015, I acquired an example of this sought-after Stamp.

When I began collecting Great Britain Stamps, more than thirty-five years ago, The £5 Orange Victoria was my ultimate desire. However, I believed that it was unlikely that I would ever possess one. Its cost, several thousand dollars for a used example, seemed prohibitive. A mint example was out of the question.

For more than three decades, I settled for the reproduction printed by Harrison and Sons as a souvenir of The 1982 British Philatelic Exhibition in London. The image, though taken from a genuine £5 Stamp, lettered DJ in the two lower corners, shows considerable loss of the fine detail of an original Stamp.

I am now retired. Major expenses of living, such as house, car, and retirement savings, are fulfilled. An inheritance from my father - also an avid stamp collector - finally made it financially possible for me to consider buying an example of this Stamp.

A trip to London in May 2015, to attend the Europhilex Stamp Exhibition, gave me an opportunity to shop and select from among about fifty used examples that dealers offered for sale. I found and purchased The £5 Orange Victoria, shown above, paying $2,370.

Before putting out that much money, I did research on my intended purchase. The definitive research, on The £5 Orange Victoria, is an award-winning 312-page, hardbound, colour-illustrated book, published in 2013 by Stanley Gibbons Ltd., entitled “The £5 Orange”, by John Horsey. It costs £75 (about $112).

The £5 Orange started out as a Telegraph Stamp, not a 

Postage Stamp. In the 1880s, rates for some Overseas Telegrams were very high. Telegrams to Bermuda, for example, cost £1 4 shillings 4 pence per word.

A message of just four words cost more than £5, hence the need for a £5 Telegraph Stamp to receipt payments of high charges.

On 31 October 1881, the special series of labels designated to receipt payments of Telegrams was withdrawn from use. Thereafter, Postage Stamps were used to receipt payment of Telegrams.

Because there was no £5 Postage Stamp, and because high-cost Telegrams were still being sent, the Post Office decided to print its first £5 Postage Stamp, which could also be used to receipt Telegrams.

To save the cost of making a new design and plate, the Post Office took the plate that had been used to print £5 Telegraph Stamps and modified it to print £5 Postage Stamps.

The modification was to mill out the word “Telegraphs” over the profile of The Queen and make a second plate to print the word “Postage,” flanked by key pattern ornaments, to fill the wide space left by the deletion of “Telegraphs.”

Very few of the High-Value Postage Stamps were actually used to pay Postage. Horsey identifies and illustrates only three examples for which a “beyond doubt” Postal Use can be proven.

Of the 2,712 used examples he examined, only three were likely applied to heavy, registered parcels commanding High Postage.

Most used £5 Orange Queen Victoria Postage Stamps in the hands of collectors were used to receipt Telegrams after the Telegraph version was withdrawn from use.

These often bear Boxed Cancels, in addition to Circular Date Stamps of the Sending Telegraph Offices. Many examples of the Box Cancels bear the abbreviation T.A.B., which stands for Telegraphs Accounts Branch.

A second popular use of the Postage Version was internal accounting. The Stamps were used to receipt bulk mail payments, so customers could pay total Postage Due without having to apply individual Stamps to hundreds, sometimes thousands, of the same item.

According to Horsey, the Cancellation on my Used £5 Orange Postage Stamp, shown with this Article, indicates the Stamp was likely used to receipt the payment in Belfast of Excise Tax on Whiskey or Tobacco.

Serendipitously, I met Horsey in front of his five-frame £5 Orange Queen Victoria exhibit at Europhilex in London in May 2015. We introduced ourselves, and then he commented on noteworthy features of his exhibit.

Our exchange was most cordial, as often are conversations between fellow Stamp Collectors about their passions.

Horsey’s well-researched and illustrated book gives many interesting facts about this classic British Stamp. For example, only 246,759 Stamps were issued to Post Offices for use over its life of twenty-one years.

He estimates that around 8,000 are still in existence today. This is a relatively small number of surviving examples, which is one reason the Stamp commands high prices.

Most of these survivors were illicitly liberated from security waste paper scrap intended for destruction by pulping.

Acquiring The Holy Grail is a milestone. Acquisition brings with it a great deal of satisfaction and pride of place. But I also feel a dream, a lifelong challenge, has ended. 

What now ?

Saint Anthony Of Padua (1195-1231). “The Ark Of The Testament” And “The Hammer Of Heretics”. Confessor And Doctor Of The Church. Feast Day, Today, 13 June. White Vestments.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Saint Anthony Of Padua.
   Confessor.
   Doctor Of The Church.
   Feast Day 13 June.

Double.

White Vestments.

English: Apparition of The Child Jesus 

to Saint Anthony of Padua.

Português: Aparição do Menino Jesus 

a Santo Antônio de Pádua.

Artist: Francisco de Zurbarán (1598–1664).

Date: 1627-1630.

Current location: São Paulo Museum of Art, Brazil.

This File: 4 January 2010.

User: Dornicke

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Anthony of Padua.

Available on YouTube

HERE

“Always present and living in The Church, The Holy Ghost raised up, in the 13th-Century, The Sons of Dominic and The Sons of Francis”, writes Dom Guéranger in his “The Liturgical Year”. “These new hosts, organised for new needs, threw themselves into the arena, pursuing heretics, thundering against vice, mixing with the people whom they enrolled in crowds into their Third Orders, the assured refuge of Christian Life.

“Of all The Sons of The Patriarch of Assisi, the best-known, the most powerful before God and men, is Anthony, whose Feast Day we are Celebrating."

Born at Lisbon, Portugal, of noble parents, he despised all riches (Gospel). Full of The Holy Ghost, Who transformed The Apostles, he entered The Religious Host so as to be able to fight for The Faith and to be ready when The Master came (Gospel).

Living a retired life in Tuscany, he gave himself up to Divine Contemplation (Introit); he then received the mission to Preach the Gospel. The wisdom of his Doctrine and his eloquence caused him to be called The Ark of The Testament and The Hammer of Heretics.

A year before his death, he came to Padua, where, loaded with merits, he died at the age of thirty-five in 1231, and was established by Jesus over all His Riches (Communion).

Remembering how Saint Anthony recovered, by Divine Intervention, a Sacred Book that had been stolen from him, let us ask this Saint not only to make us recover Earthly and perishable things, but, also, to obtain for us the Spiritual help by which we may deserve to enjoy Eternal Riches (Collect).

Mass: Os justi.

Solemn Mass Within The Octave Of Corpus Christi. Saint Mary’s Church, Norwalk, Connecticut. Fr. Falciano’s First Mass In His Former Parish. White Vestments.

Fr. Joseph Marie Falciano, FSSP, Celebrated 

a Traditional Solemn Mass recently at 

Saint Mary’s Church, Norwalk, Connecticut.

Ordained to the Priesthood on 28 May 2026, 

Fr. Falciano Celebrated his First Mass in his former Parish.

After Mass, he offered his First Blessing to each of the Faithful. 

Many more beautiful photos of this First Mass are available at 

THE SOCIETY OF SAINT HUGH OF CLUNY

This Mass and Sacred Music was sponsored by 

The Society of Saint Hugh of Cluny.

Illustration: THE SOCIETY OF SAINT HUGH OF CLUNY

Saint John Of San Facondo (Saint John of Sahagún). Confessor. Feast Day 12 June. White Vestments.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Saint John Of San Facondo.
   Confessor.
   Feast Day 12 June.

Double.

White Vestments.

English: Saint John of Sahagún (or San Facondo),

The Order of Saint Augustine (O.E.S.A.) (Spanish: Juan de Sahagún), (24 June 1419 – 11 June 1479) was a Spanish Augustinian Friar and Priest. He was a leading Preacher regarding social behavior of his day. He has been 

declared a Saint by The Catholic Church.

Español: San Juan de Sahagún. Retablo cerámico 

del siglo XVII, del convento de Santa María del Pópulo 

de Sevilla, hoy en el Museo de Bellas Artes.

Source: www.retabloceramico.net/ articulo055.htm

Author: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint John was born at San Facondo, Spain, and his youth was spent in a Benedictine Monastery. Favoured by The Holy Ghost with a marvellous gift for Peace-Making (Collect), from childhood he exhorted other children to concord. 

During the Civil War, he preached Peace in Salamanca and succeeded in putting an end to factions there.

He distributed his rich revenues among the Poor (Epistle) and devoted his time to Works of Charity, to Prayer, and to the Contemplation of Divine Wisdom (Introit).

Saint John of San Facondo.

Confessor.

Available on YouTube

HERE

In order to be ready when The Master came to fetch him (Gospel), he entered The Order of Saint Augustine, where he was distinguished for his extraordinary devotion during Holy Mass. He died in 1479, crying out: “Lord, I place all my confidence in Thee at this last hour, and into Thy hands I commit my Soul.”

Let us ask The Holy Ghost, author of Peace and source of Divine Charity, to fill us with the love and spirit of Reconciliation, of which Saint John gave us the example, so that we may never be separated from Jesus (Collect).

Mass: Os Justi.
Commemoration: Saint Basilides and Companions.

Feast Of The Sacred Heart Of Jesus. The Friday After The Octave Of Corpus Christi. White Vestments.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
   or, where indicated, from
   Abbot Guéranger's “The Liturgical Year”.

Feast of The Sacred Heart of Jesus.
   Friday after The Octave of Corpus Christi.

Double of The First Class
   with Privileged Octave of The Third Order.

White Vestments.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus

with Saint Ignatius of Loyola 

and Saint Louis Gonzaga (circa 1770).

Artist: José de Páez, Mexico, 1727-1790.

Source: http://arttattler.com/

archivelatinamerica.html

(Wikimedia Commons)

Annum Sacrum.

“Annum Sacrum” (meaning “Holy Year”) is an Encyclical by Pope Leo XIII on The Consecration of the entire World to The Sacred Heart of Jesus. It was delivered in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome on 25 May 1899, the twenty-second year of his Pontificate.

The Consecration in the Encyclical entered new Theological territory by Consecrating non-Christians. The Encyclical, and the Consecration, were influenced by two Letters written to the Pope by Sister Mary of The Divine Heart, who stated that, in visions of Jesus Christ, she had been told to request the Consecration.

The Encyclical includes the Prayer of Consecration to The Sacred Heart, composed by Pope Leo XIII.

English: Coat-of-Arms of Pope Leo XIII.

Français: Armoiries du pape Léon XIII : D'azur au cyprès de sinople planté sur une plaine de même accompagné au francs quartier d'une comête d'or et en pointe de deux flaurs de lys d'argent, à la fasce d'argent brochant sur le tout.

Date: 11 August 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Odejea

(Wikimedia Commons)

Protestantism, in the 16th-Century, and Jansenism, in the 17th-Century, had attempted to spoil one of the essential Dogmas of Christianity, namely, the love of God for all men.

It became necessary that the Spirit of Love, which directs The Church, should, by some new means, counteract the spreading heresy, in order that The Spouse of Christ, far from seeing her love for Jesus diminish, should feel it always increasing.

This was made manifest in Catholic Worship, which is the sure rule of our Faith, by the institution of The Feast of The Sacred Heart.

Yet, in Early-Middle-Ages, The Doctors of The Church, and The Saints, used to see, in The Wound of Jesus's Side, The Source of All Graces. Saint Bonaventure invites us "to enter this Wound and to dwell in the quiet of this Heart" (Third Nocturn).

English: Saint John Eudes, 1673.

Nederlands: Portret Jean Eudes ca. 1673 - 

publiek domein, ouderdom.

Source: Transferred from nl.wikipedia

Author: Original uploader was 

Besednjak at nl.wikipedia

(Wikimedia Commons)

Jean Eudes (14 November 1601 - 19 August 1680) was a French Missionary, Founder of The Congregation of Jesus and Mary and of The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of The Refuge, and author of The Propers for Mass and The Divine Office of The Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

The two Benedictine Virgins, Saint Gertrude and Saint Mechtilde, in the 13th-Century, had a clear vision of the grandeur of the devotion to The Sacred Heart. Saint John the Evangelist, appearing to Saint Gertrude, announced to her that "the meaning of the blessed beating of The Heart of Jesus, which he had heard whilst his head rested on His breast, was reserved for the latter times, when the World, grown old and cold in Divine Love, would require to have its fervour renewed by means of this Mystery of Burning Love".

English: Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

contemplating The Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Italiano: Santa Margherita Maria Alacoque 

Contempla il Sacro Cuore di Gesù.

Polski: Św. Małgorzata Maria Alacoque 

adoruje Najświętsze Serce Jezusa.

Artist: Giaquito Corrado.

Date: 1765.

Source: Lib-Art.com

(Wikimedia Commons)

This Heart, say these two Saints, is an Altar on which Christ offers Himself to The Father as a perfect and most acceptable victim. It is a golden censer from which rise, towards The Father, as many clouds of incense as there are kinds of men for whom Christ suffered.

In this Heart, the praise and thanks we give to God and all our good works are ennobled and become acceptable to The Father.

But, in order to make this Worship public and recognised, Providence first raised up Saint John Eudes, who, in 1670, composed an Office and a Mass of The Sacred Heart for the so-called Congregation of The Eudists.

Providence then chose one of the spiritual daughters of Saint Francis of Sales, Saint Margaret-Mary Alacoque, to whom Jesus showed His Heart at Paray-le-Monial, on 16 June 1675, The Sunday after Corpus Christi, and asked her to institute a Feast of The Sacred Heart on The Friday following The Octave of Corpus Christi.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus, (Sacro cuore di Jesu), 

painting on the Altar in the Northern Side Chapel of 

Il Gesu, in Rome, circa 1767, by Pompeo Batoni.

Source: http://www.enid.uib.no/texts/achen_l.htm

(Wikimedia Commons)

Lastly, God employed, for the propagation of this Devotion, Blessed Claude de la Colombiere. He belonged to The Company of Jesus, "the whole of which inherited his zeal in the propagation of the Devotion to The Sacred Heart" [the quoted portion is from Dom Guéranger's "The Liturgical Year, Volume 10, Book 1: The Feast of The Sacred Heart"].

[Dom Guéranger writes, in the above tome, on The Feast of The Sacred Heart of Jesus: “A new ray of light shines today in the Heaven of Holy Church, and its light brings warmth. The Divine Master given to us by our Redeemer, that is, the Paraclete Spirit, who has come into this world, continues His teachings to us in the Sacred Liturgy. The earliest of these, His Divine Teachings, was the Mystery of the Trinity; and we have worshipped the Blessed Three: We have been taught Whom God is, we know Him in His own nature, we have been admitted, by Faith, into the sanctuary of the infinite Essence.

Image of Prosper Guéranger 

by Claude-Ferdinand Gaillard (1874).

Date: 2007-05-07 (original upload date).

Source: Transferred from en.wikipedia

Author: Original uploader was 

Ikanreed at en.wikipedia

(Wikimedia Commons)

“Then, this Spirit, the mighty wind of Pentecost, opened to our Souls new aspects of the truth, which it is His mission to make the World remember; and His revelation left us prostrate before The Sacred Host, The Memorial which God, Himself, has left us of all His wonderful works.

“Today, It is The Sacred Heart of The Word Made Flesh that this Holy Spirit puts before us, that we may know and love and adore It.”]

In 1765, Pope Clement XIII, gave his approbation to The Feast and The Office of The Sacred Heart, and, in 1856, Blessed Pope Pius IX (Pio Nono), extended it to The Universal Church. In 1929, Pope Pius XI composed a new Mass and Office for this Feast and gave it a Privileged Octave of The Third Order.

The Solemnity of The Sacred Heart sums up all the phases of The Life of Jesus, recalled in The Liturgy from Advent to The Feast of Corpus Christi.

It constitutes an admirable Triptych, giving us, in abridgement, all The Mysteries (Joyous, Sorrowful and Glorious) of The Saviour's Life devoted to The Love of God and Men. This Feast is, indeed, placed on a height from which may be contemplated the redeeming labours of The Saviour on Earth and The Glorious Victories He will, by the working of The Holy Ghost, achieve in Souls until the end of the World.

Pope Leo XIII in 1880.

Source: 1880 book on Pope Leo XIII.

Author: Karl Benzinger.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Pope Leo XIII wrote the Encyclical “Annum Sacrum” on the Consecration of the entire World to The Sacred Heart of Jesus. It was delivered in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome on 25 May 1899.

Coming after the Feasts of Christ, this Feast completes them, concentrating them in one object, which is materially Jesus’s Heart of Flesh, and formally the unbounded charity symbolised by this Heart. This Solemnity, therefore, does not relate to a particular Mystery of The Saviour’s Life, but embraces them all; indeed, the Devotion to The Sacred Heart Celebrates all the favours we have received from Divine Charity during the year (Collect), and all the marvellous things that Jesus has done for us (Introit, Tract, Alleluia).

It is the Feast of the Love of God for Men, a love which has made Jesus come down on Earth for all by His Incarnation (Epistle), which has raised Him on The Cross for the Redemption of all and which brings Him down every day on our Altars by Transubstantiation, in order to make us benefit by the merits of His Death on Calvary.

English: Mary of The Divine Heart.

Deutsch: Schwester Maria Droste zu Vischering.

Español: Beata María del Divino Corazón.

Portrait of Blessed Sister Mary of The Divine Heart, 

Countess of Droste zu Vischering, 

Mother Superior, The Good Shepherd Convent,

Porto, Portugal.

Date: Circa 1890.

Source: KIRCHENSITE.DE

Author: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Blessed Mary of The Divine Heart (1863 - 1899).

Born Maria Droste zu Vischering, she was a German Roman Catholic Nun, who was best known for influencing Pope Leo XIII’s Consecration of the World to The Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Pope Leo XIII called this Consecration “the greatest act of my Pontificate”.

These three Mysteries, which manifest to us The Divine Charity in a more special way, sum up the spirit of the Feast of The Sacred Heart. It is “His love which forced Him to put on a mortal body” (Hymn at Matins).

It is His love which willed that The Sacred Heart should be pierced on The Cross (Gospel and Communion), in order that, from the wound, should flow a spring (Preface) we might draw from, joyfully (Versicle at Second Vespers), Whose Water cleanses us from our sins in Baptism and Whose Blood nourishes our Souls in The Eucharist.

And, as The Eucharist is the continuation of The Incarnation and The Sacrifice of Calvary, Jesus asked that the Feast should be placed immediately after the Octave of Corpus Christi.

As these manifestations of Christ’s Love only show the more the ingratitude of men, who only answer by coldness and indifference (Offertory), this Solemnity has a character of reparation (Collect) demanded of us by the Wounded Heart of Jesus and by His Immolation in the Crib, on The Cross and on the Altar.

Let us learn from the Heart of Jesus, Whose gentle and humble Love turns no-one away, and in it we shall find rest for our Souls (Alleluia).

The King Of Love Made Himself 

The Victim of His Own Sacrifice.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is arrayed in 

Sacerdotal Vestments because, in The Mystery of The Incarnation, He was anointed Priest by the anointing of The Divinity, Itself. He is, therefore, The Pontiff, The Mediator, between God and man, The King of All Hearts. 

Of this, the Centurion bears witness, who exclaims: "He is really The Son of God." The Sacred Heart of Jesus is represented on His Cross, for it is out of love for us that He made Himself The Victim of His Sacrifice.

He is, thereby, our Deliverer, our King of Love by right of conquest. Of this, Mary Magdalen and Longinus bear witness, holding in their hands The Nails, which attached Christ to The Cross, The Chalice of The Blood, which He shed, and The Spear, with which His Heart was pierced.

Therefore, raised as on a Throne, covered with The Purple of His Blood, He is Crowned as Pontiff, as well as Victim, with a Diadem of The Royalty of Love, by which He reigns over all men and He holds out His Arms to draw them to Him, and to offer them to God in union with His Sacrifice. 

Illustration: CATHOLICISM PURE AND SIMPLE