June is regarded as the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus because it is the month in which the Sacred Heart’s solemnity is commemorated.
The solemnity falls on June 24 this year. Because it is observed on the Friday following the octave of Corpus Christi, or the Friday following the second Sunday after Pentecost, the date changes each year.
There are, however, additional reasons why June is devoted to the Sacred Heart.
The feast dates from 1673, when a nun from the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary (Visitandines) in eastern France began to have visions of the Sacred Heart.
Sister Margaret Mary Alacoque saw Jesus, who appeared with his heart visible outside his chest, on fire, and surrounded by a crown of thorns, and described how to worship his Sacred Heart and the enormous love he had for humanity.
Participating in a holy hour on Thursdays and receiving the Eucharist on the first Friday of each month are two examples of these diverse approaches.
Jesus told Sister Margaret Mary, “My Sacred Heart is so intense in its love for men, and for you in particular, that not being able to contain within it the flames of its ardent charity, they must be transmitted through all means.”
These visions persisted for 18 months.
Jesus told Sister Margaret Mary on June 16, 1675, to create a feast honoring his Sacred Heart. He also delivered Sister Margaret Mary 12 promises that he had made to all those who venerated and promoted the Sacred Heart devotion.
He said, “I ask of you that the Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christi be set apart for a special feast to honor my heart, by communicating on that day, and making reparation to it by a solemn act, in order to make amends for the indignities which it has received during the time it has been exposed on the altars.
“I promise you that my heart shall expand itself to shed in abundance the influence of its divine love upon those who shall thus honor it, and cause it to be honored.”
Sister Margaret Mary died in 1690 and was canonized on May 13, 1920 by Pope Benedict XV.
The Vatican was hesitant to declare a feast to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but as devotion grew in France, the Vatican awarded France the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1765.
Pope Pius IX declared the Feast of the Sacred Heart for the entire Church on the Friday after the Feast of Corpus Christi in 1856.
Since then, the month of June has been dedicated to Jesus’ Sacred Heart and his tremendous love for all of us.
The feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a solemnity, the highest-ranking feast in the liturgical calendar, but it is not a holy day of obligation, according to the present calendar.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus made the following promises to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque:
- I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
- I will give peace in their families.
- I will console them in all their troubles.
- I will be their refuge in life and especially in death.
- I will abundantly bless all their undertakings.
- Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
- Tepid souls shall become fervent.
- Fervent souls shall rise speedily to great perfection.
- I will bless those places wherein the image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and venerated.
- I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.
- Persons who propagate this devotion shall have their names eternally written in my Heart.
- In the excess of the mercy of my Heart, I promise you that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and my Heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour.