Have you ever wondered why people are proud of their flags?

A flag is physically just a piece of cloth. But it represents something profound: your country. Flags represent something we belong to, owe a debt of gratitude to, and – in the case of heroic soldiers – will even die for.

This is exactly what happened with the Sacred Heart during the French Revolution.

When people first heard about St. Margaret Mary Alacoque’s visions, not everyone believed them. Some dismissed and even mocked them. But over the next two centuries, the devotion took root and spread first through religious orders, then into parishes, and finally all over Europe.

In the 1780s, the French Revolution persecuted the Church, killing priests and trying to eradicate religion. Faithful Catholics sewed patches with the Sacred Heart image onto their clothing as a sign of resistance against the anti-Catholic government. Sacred Heart images hung as a quiet declaration of faith when churches were closed and priests were scarce.

And in 1856, Pope Pius IX officially placed the Feast of the Sacred Heart on the universal Church calendar. In 1899, Pope Leo XIII consecrated the entire world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus!

In times of turmoil, trouble, doubt, war, and revolution, the Church has clung to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Maybe your family is going through a storm or you feel distant from the Lord. The Sacred Heart is not a decoration. It’s our anchor to the love of Jesus, to the Heart that burns with love for you.

PRAY WITH US AT 7 PM CT

Don’t forget to join us tonight for the Family Rosary Across America at 7pm CT. Let’s thank Jesus for the generations who kept this fire burning and ask Him to help us pass on this devotion to the next generation.

And now, you can also join our Family Rosary Across America text group by texting “PRAY” to 914914 for updates and reminders to pray with us during this novena.

See you at the Rosary!