Leiloeira São Domingos / Wikimedia Commons
CV NEWS FEED // Ireland will be reconsecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus June 22 in a special Mass celebrated by Archbishop Eamon C. Martin at the International Eucharistic and Marian Shrine in Knock, County Mayo.
Ireland’s bishops consecrated the country to the Sacred Heart for the first time in June 1873. The Church celebrates June as the Month of the Sacred Heart, and the feast day occurs annually on the Friday following the second Sunday after Pentecost. This year, it falls on June 27.
According to the Jesuits in Ireland, the countrywide spread of devotion to the Sacred Heart was first initiated by Jesuit Father James Cullen’s 1887 appointment as director for Ireland’s branch of the Apostleship of Prayer. A 1937 study estimated that about a million faithful were consecrated to the Sacred Heart in connection with the nation’s Apostleship of Prayer.
Consecrating the family to the Sacred Heart was a common practice in Ireland until the 1960s. Families displayed a picture of the Sacred Heart in a central place in their home and kept a lamp burning in front of it.
All-Ireland Sacred Heart Crusade aims to promote devotion to the Sacred Heart throughout the nation in preparation for the June reconsecration, CatholicNews.ie reported Feb. 5. Irish musician Dana Scallon launched the Crusade Feb. 2 during a Sacred Heart Concert in Abbeyleix, County Laois. The event drew attendees from across Ireland and featured four Sacred Heart statues blessed by Pope Francis. These statues will journey throughout the country accompanied by several priests, including Father Shane Gallagher and Father John Mockler.
“The Sacred Heart has brought us all together in His love,” Fr. Mockler said at the event. “My prayer is that the flames of love of the Sacred Heart will penetrate our country and the heart of every person.”
During the annual retreat of the Bishops of Ireland at the shrine, Archbishop Martin, the Primate of All Ireland, introduced an initiative to promote the Sacred Heart Devotion across Ireland as part of the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope.
>> Pope Francis calls for devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus to renew the Church <<
