Virgo Potens

Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ~ June 5th ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ ~ 8.— Thursday after the Ascension V.—The Gift of Piety 1. The gift of piety implants in the soul a loyal, tender, filial affection towards God as our Father. "You have received," says St. Paul (Rom. viii. 15), "the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba (Father)." This loyalty makes us forget self; it loves to serve God, not as a master, or even as a benefactor, but because it is a joy to us to obey our Father in heaven. (continued)

St. Anthony of Padua, pray for us. NOVENA to ST. ANTHONY of PADUA Feast Day - June 13th Begins today at Christus Regnat ~ https://t.me/RexUniversi

The Sacred Heart formed in Mary's Womb 2. But God had long looked down with pity on the earth's darkness. The Word was made flesh, and in taking to Himself flesh He necessarily took a human heart glowing with love for every child of Adam, sorrowing with their sorrows, moved by their distress, rejoicing in their happiness, craving for their love, wounded by their unkindness. It was from the first moment of the Incarnation, when Mary conceived of the Holy Ghost, that the Sacred Heart of Jesus first began to throb with unspeakable love for fallen man. 3. In that first instant of its existence the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in virtue of the Divine personality to which it was inseparably united, embraced in its Divine compassion all the sorrows of men as long as the world should last. My troubles and sorrows were not overlooked. From that time until the end the Sacred Heart has been sympathizing, and will continue to sympathize with all that gives me joy or sorrow. O wondrous love of God made man! ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ~ June 4th ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ The Sacred Heart formed in Mary's Womb 1. Time was when there was no Heart of Jesus burning with love for men. God loved men, pitied them, perfectly understood human treachery and human misery, but not from personal experience of it. Before Jesus came mankind were hurrying down to hell. Reflect on the hopeless condition of the heathen world, and thank God from your heart that you did not live then. Would you not have been among the worst? (continued)

2 of 2 ~ 7.— Wednesday after the Ascension 2. Sometimes the gift of counsel does more than this. It shows us that it is God's will that we should run counter to what the world considers prudent. So Abraham did when he left his home at God's command. So David did when he went out with sling and stone to fight Goliath. So Judith did when she went to the camp of Holofernes. Some such occasions occur to all. When I know God's will, do I generously set all else aside? 3. The disciples of Our Lord do not seem to have had much of the gift of counsel during His life. St. Peter tried to dissuade Him from His sacred Passion. St. James and St. John wanted Him to call down fire upon the city which would not receive Him. The disciples in general stopped one who was working miracles in Christ's name. They rebuked those who brought their children to be blessed by Him. They wanted Our Lord to absent Himself from Judaea to avoid the dangers to which He was there exposed. All these were the result of trusting to human prudence instead of the supernatural gift of counsel. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ~ June 4th ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ ~ 7.— Wednesday after the Ascension IV.—The Gift of Counsel 1. The gift of counsel contains all that is good in human prudence, but goes beyond it. It depends simply and solely on the will of God, so far as we can ascertain it. It leads us always to pause and turn our thoughts to God before we act. Thus it enables us to avoid precipitation, rashness, inconsiderate impulse. It makes us calm and deliberate, and teaches us never to act in any important matter without seeking guidance from God. (continued)

2 of 2 The Characteristics of the Love of the Sacred Heart 2. It is a sensible love. Just as we see through our eyes, and hear through our ears, so we love through our hearts. The heart is the organ of love. It feels affection and is physically influenced by it. It has strong emotions and now rejoices, now sorrows. He is touched with the feelings of our poor infirmities. Human joy and sorrow thrilled through His Sacred Heart while He was on earth. HisHeart still rejoices over His children, and still mystically sorrows for their sins. 3. It is a love of sympathy. The Sacred Heart has itself experienced all that we suffer. Each misery has its echo there. Jesus not only understands all our troubles, but each has been felt by Him in His own person. What a relief to have one who always has for us unlimited sympathy! ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

June 3rd ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ The Characteristics of the Love ofthe Sacred Heart How does the love ofthe Sacred Heart differ from the love God bears us? Does it add anything to the Divine love entertained for us by our Father in heaven? Yes, it has certain characteristics impossible to the uncreated nature of the Infinite God. 1. It is a human love. It is the Heart of One who is really and truly man. Hence the love of His Heart is that of a heart that beats with pulsations like ours. It has all that belongs to human love raised to an almost impossible intensity by reason of the Divinity to which it is joined. What confidence ought we to have in Christ our Brother, whose love for us is human as well as Divine! (continued)

2 of 2 ~ 6.— Tuesday after the Ascension 2. The possession of this gift of knowledge is necessary for the salvation of my soul. Those who rest in creatures and fail to pass from them to the Creator, can never hope to enjoy the vision in which the Creator is all in all. I must try and recognize God in all around me more than I do. I must pray for a knowledge of His perfections through the means which He has provided, the beauties of the physical world, the many virtues of the saints and holy people, from whom I can learn so much. 3. Those who were the companions of Our Lord could scarcely fail to be continually reminded of God while they were the associates of God Incarnate. Yet they did not fully recognize Jesus Christ as God, else they would never have doubted of His Resurrection. Their love for Him was rather a personal and natural one than the devotion due to Him as their Lord and their God. They did not judge rightly of the meaning of what He said and did. How often we are narrow in our views, impatient of what God ordains or permits, for want of this divine gift of knowledge! ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ~ June 3rd ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ ~ 6.— Tuesday after the Ascension III.—The Gift of Knowledge 1. The gift of knowledge differs from the preceding gifts in that its province is to raise the soul from creatures to the Creator. It enables us to think of God in our daily life, and to make the things around occasions of recalling His presence. It teaches that all the beauty we see in earthly things is but a reflection of the divine beauty. It was in virtue of this that St. Ignatius declared that all the world around recalled God to him. Am I careful to refer all things to Him? (continued)

2 of 2 The Love of the Sacred Heart for Man 2. There never was a love so patient, so much-enduring as the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It puts up with neglect, coldness, nay, even outrage and insult. Any earthly friend or lover, nay, even the fond mother, would long ago have been repelled by such treatment as He receives from ungrateful man. But not so Jesus. Can a woman forget her infant, He asks, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? Even if she should forget, yet will I not forget thee. 3. The love of Jesus is a love which shows itself in deeds. He delights to pour out the treasures of His mercy on men, even on the ungrateful and on His enemies, and how much more on those who return Him love for love? For them there is no end to His gifts of love. Every day, every hour, some fresh favor and benefit, and all these only preliminary to the eternal reward He has prepared for them in heaven. How generous He has been to me, and what have I been in return ? ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

My sweet Jesus, I give Thee my heart. Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ~ June 2nd ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ The Love of the Sacred Heart for Man 1. The world has never witnessed such love as the love of the Sacred Heart for fallen man. The tenderest, fondest earthly love fades away and becomes as nothing in comparison with the love of Jesus. It combines in itself the love of the most devoted friend, of the most affectionate brother, of the lover for his beloved, of the mother for her darling son. Every form of love is united in the yearning love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. (continued)

2 of 2 ~ 5.— Monday after the Ascension 2. This gift of wisdom is exactly proportioned to our charity. In the saints it produces an utter indifference to all worldly things, to all the pleasures of sense and to all earthly honors; nay, it makes them love mortification and the cross, because their burning charity makes them appreciate the true value of suffering. My God, how little have I of this heavenly wisdom! How little taste for prayer and spiritual things! The reason is my selfishness, my want of charity. 3. In the gospels we notice how the apostles, in spite of Our Lord's example and teaching, took to the very end of His sacred ministry a low and earthly view of the kingdom He was come to establish, and of their own privileges in it. They thought that it was to be merely a temporal kingdom, that they were to be held in high honor in it, and actually quarreled among themselves who should be first in it. All their tastes and aspirations were after this world's honor. This was because they had not yet that gift of wisdom which would teach them to relish most the things of God, but which they were to receive at Pentecost. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ~ June 2nd ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ ~ 5.— Monday after the Ascension II.—The Gift of Wisdom 1. What is the gift of wisdom? It follows on the gift of understanding, and gives men a real taste and relish for all that is connected with God and divine things. It directs their thoughts straight to God, and teaches them to look at everything in the light of God. It makes them love prayer and spiritual reading, and holy Mass. It is the most perfect of all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and rules and directs the rest as charity does the other virtues. (continued)

MEMORARE to the SACRED HEART of JESUS REMEMBER, O most sweet Jesus, that no one who has had recourse to Thy Sacred Heart, implored its help, or sought its mercy was ever abandoned. Encouraged with confidence, O tenderest of hearts, we present ourselves before Thee, crushed beneath the weight of our sins. In our misery, O Sacred Heart of Jesus, despise not our simple prayers, but mercifully grant our requests. Amen. Fr. Charles Callan O.P. and Fr. John McHugh, O.P., Blessed Be God (1925)

2 of 2 The Claims of the Sacred Heart of Jesus 2. The Sacred Heart of Jesus, though a true human heart, is nevertheless, at the same time, the Heart of God. As such it calls for that supreme homage that is due to God alone. This is true of every part of Our Lord's Body, and of His Heart, if it were possible, even more than of the rest, inasmuch as it is the organ of that love which is the central attribute of God. To the Sacred Heart of Jesus I will cry: "My God and my Lord! Behold how He loved me!" 3. It has been sometimes said that Our Lord died of a broken heart, and in one sense it is true. It was the yearning love of His Heart over sinners, and the anguish at the thought of how many would reject that love which caused Him to shed His Heart's Blood for those whom He thus loved. St. Francis used to say: "My love was crucified!" and in imitation of Him we will say: "My Love had His Heart pierced with love of me." ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ~ June 1st ✧✿✿✧❁❁✧✿✿✧ The Claims of the Sacred Heart of Jesus 1. The Sacred Heart of Jesus calls for our devotion more than all other symbols of His love. It is not only the symbol of His love, it is the very source of that love. It is itself an unfathomable ocean of love which can never be exhausted. When the spear had drawn forth from it the mingled blood and water, there still remained the love with which it loved us and will love us to the end. (continued)

2 of 2 ~ 4.— Sunday after the Ascension The Gifts sought 2. This gift of understanding extends also to practical matters. It gives the power of perceiving the wisdom of what is done by those in authority, and in general of appreciating what is good in the actions of others. This is the reason why good men always judge so leniently and kindly of the actions of those around, and approve the decisions of authority where others condemn them. It is because they have so large a share of the gift of understanding. 3. Even after Our Lord's Resurrection, His disciples had shown a strange want of understanding of the meaning of His teaching. He Himself had reason to upbraid the eleven apostles with their incredulity and hardness of heart. He reproached the disciples on the road to Emmaus with their folly and slowness to believe the Scriptures. They needed the gift of understanding before they could see their true meaning. Without the teaching of the Holy Ghost, Scripture is a sealed book. Heretics may scratch at the surface, but they cannot make its treasures their own. For this the gift of understanding is necessary. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ~ June 1st ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ ~ 4.— Sunday after the Ascension The Gifts sought I.—The Gift of Understanding 1. What is the gift of understanding? It is the gift that enables him who receives it to appreciate the truth and beauty of all revealed truths, and to comprehend their drift and meaning. It is not like faith, a simple intellectual assent. It furnishes reasons for making the assent. It enables the intellect to perceive the consistency and the beauty of supernatural truth. I must pray for this gift if I am to be firm in my faith. (continued)

✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯ 2025 June ~ Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus There will be two sets of meditations posted here this month: Veni Sancte Spiritus ~ Short Meditations from the Ascension to the Octave of Corpus Christi The Sacred Heart of Jesus ~ Short Meditations for June ✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯