“The designs of His Heart are from age to age, to rescue their souls from death, and to keep them alive in time of famine.”
Entrance antiphon for the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
In France in 1673, Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, revealing to her His great love for mankind and asking for reparation for those who reject His love. “See this Heart that has loved men so much and has spared itself nothing until it has exhausted itself and consumed itself in order to show them its love. I receive in return scarcely anything but ingratitude because of their irreverence and sacrileges, and because of the coldness and disdain they show towards Me in this sacrament of love. But what hurts Me more is that it is hearts who are consecrated to me who treat Me thus. This is why I ask you that on the first Friday after the octave of the Most Holy Sacrament a special feast may be dedicated to the honor of My Heart by receiving Communion on that day and making reparation with some act of atonement” (Jesus to St. Margaret Mary).