The Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

During the month of June, traditionally devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, what better prayer could we pray daily than the Litany of the Sacred Heart? Pope John Paul II stressed this in his Angelus message of 6/27/82, an excerpt from which appears below. Each day of this month I am focusing on a single line from this beautiful prayer, meditating upon it and letting it form and inform me, making it the cry of my heart as I make my daily rounds and especially when I pray. Happily, this litany can be found all over the Web on 62,000+ sights, such as here, here, here, here, and here.

Thanks to my beloved parents, I have a great love for and devotion to the Sacred Heart. My most treasured material possession, which I wear constantly, is a very small but lovely scapular medal that Daddy gave Mummie when he was courting her. It has the Sacred Heart on one side and Our Lady of Mount Carmel on the other. During their long courtship, they used to meet each other and take the bus together to morning Mass on the First Friday of the month. Daddy liked to tell me the story about Mummie finally saying to him, after about eight years, "Richard, don't you think it's about time that we got married?" And, thankfully, they did! Daddy used to carry a well-worn cartoon in his wallet of a woman dressed in her wedding gown and bridal veil, talking on the phone and exclaiming, "Ready? I've been ready for eight years!" Ah, what a patient woman my mother was!

Blessed be the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus!!

The month of June is especially dedicated to the veneration of the Divine Heart. Not just one day, the liturgical feast that usually falls in June, but every day. Connected with it is the devout practice of daily reciting or singing the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

It is a marvelous prayer, totally concentrated on the interior mystery of Christ, the God-Man. The Litany to the Heart of Jesus craws abundantly from biblical sources, and at the same time reflects the deepest experiences of human hearts. It is also a prayer of veneration and authentic dialogue.

In it we speak of the Heart, and we also allow our hearts to speak with this unique Heart that is the "fountain of life and holiness" and the "desire of the everlasting hills," with the Heart that is "patient and most merciful," enriching all who call upon him.

This prayer, recited and meditated, becomes a true school of the interior life, the school of the Christian.... Reciting the litany -- and in general venerating the Divine Heart -- we learn the mystery of redemption in all its divine and human depth.

At the same time we become sensitive to the need for reparation. Christ opens his Heart to us that we may join him in his reparation for the salvation of the world. The language of the pierced Heart speaks the whole truth about his gospel and about Easter.

Let us try to understand this language even better.

~Pope John Paul II, Angelus message of June 27, 1982