Enthronement of the Sacred Heart

When I was in high school, my parents decided to Enthrone the Sacred Heart of Jesus in our home. I had never heard of it being done before, though the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has been around since the eleventh century. Authorship of the devotion is generally ascribed to St. Bernard (my Grandpa Mahoney's middle name). St. Gertrude (1256-1302), on the Feast of St. John the Evangelist, laid her head near the wound in Our Lord's side and heard the beating of the Sacred Heart. She asked St. John if he had experienced this on the night of the Last Supper, and why had he never shared the experience? He responded, and said that the revelation had been reserved for later generations who, having grown cold, would need it to rekindle their love. Gertrude Mahoney was my great grandmother. What greater devotion for this age, when so many worship only themselves?!

Devotion to the Sacred Heart for more modern times was greatly propagated by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. She was a holy nun who Christ appeared to several times in the 1670's, revealing to her His desires, specifically for devotion to His Sacred Heart to be spread. Our Lord also revealed to her Twelve Promises (listed below) which He would bestow upon all who honored His Sacred Heart. The Feast of the Sacred Heart was first celebrated in 1856.

We had the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts enthroned in our home today. Father James Peek (SSPX) came to do this for us. It's very fitting that he was the one to bless our home; Fr. Peek blessed our first home about 11 years ago.

The Enthronement is a crusade to establish the Social Reign of the Sacred Heart in society through the family, the social cell. It's based on Our Lord's statement to St. Margaret Mary: "I will reign through My Heart!" It is an organized campaign to restore Christ to the family and the family to Christ. Our home was blessed by Fr. Peek at the beginning of the Enthronement. In the ceremony of the Enthronement, presided over by Father, our family publicly and solemnly acknowledged that Christ is the King and loving Master of our home, recognizing the sovereign rights of Christ the King over the family. Eli, as head of our household, hung the pictures of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts, officially "enthroning" them in our home. Father said a few words on the meaning of having our home enthroned; namely, that we were creating another "Bethany" in which Our Lord could rest. Bethany was a place Our Lord loved to visit, because there lived His great friends: Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. It was a peaceful home where everyone loved Him. We then consecrated ourselves to the Sacred Heart, pledging to live as though Christ were actually living among us as He did at Nazareth, Friend and Brother. It is putting Our Lord and His interests first.

While there are nice framed pictures of the Sacred Heart with the enthronement certificate built into them, we already had large pictures of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts of Jesus and Mary. The "home altar" I set up soon after we moved in. All we needed was the certificate of Enthronement. I planned on buying one until I found this lovely one online from Catholictradition.com. I printed it out on our printer and saved the cost of buying one. It will be framed and hung by our altar, in front of which we say our daily prayers.

¡Viva Cristo Rey!