Novena to the Sacred Heart (Nine Days' Prayers)

All who are impressed with an affectionate love for the adorable Heart of Jesus, and share in its afflictions on account of the ingratitude of mankind, are invited to perform these nine days’ devotion, to make some atonement; 1st, for sins committed by their parents, relations and families; 2d, for sins committed by the congregation of which they are members; 3d, for their own particular sins, and the faults of those whom Providence has placed over them, in order to teach and conduct them in the way of salvation. It is also recommended to pious Christians to make this Novena frequently during the year, in order to make some atonement for the great ingratitude done to Jesus Christ in the blessed Eucharist.

Kneeling before the blessed Sacrament, or a picture of the sacred Heart of Jesus, endeavor to divest your soul of all worldly concerns; let your attention be fixed on his inflamed heart, and making the sign of the cross, say the following prayer:

O SACRED Heart of my dear Redeemer! I adore thee with all the powers of my soul; I consecrate them for ever to thee, with each of my thoughts, words, actions, and my whole being. I offer to thee, O divine Heart! all those acts of adoration, love and glory, which thou didst render to thy eternal Father, whilst in this mortal life. Be thou the repairer of my deficiencies, the protector of my life, my refuge and security at the hour of my death. Grant me, through the merits of that anguish and bitterness, which for me thou hast suffered through the whole course of thy mortal life, a perfect contrition for my sins; grant me a constant disgust of all worldly allurements, an ardent desire of eternal glory, and a lively hope of partaking of thy infinite merits.

O most loving Heart of Jesus! I present to thee, these my humble supplications, not for myself only, but for all those whom I earnestly recommend to thee in this Novena.

It is my ardent wish, O my dearest Lord, that all may join me in spirit to serve and obey thee. Accept these my humble petitions, and graciously grant my request through thy infinite mercy. Impress us, O Lord, with due sentiments of gratitude for the beneficent tenderness of thy divine heart to us forlorn sinners; receive us in the yet gaping wound of that loving Heart, that in it we may admire thy divine attributes, practise thy heavenly virtues, find the effect of thy sacred passion, and our poor afflicted souls be thereby encouraged to shelter themselves within thy sacred wounds.

AN ACT OF REPARATION OF HONOR.

O HEART of Jesus, infinitely merciful, ever desirous to communicate thy divine love to our cold hearts! thy delight is to remain for ever with the children of men: for this reason, O amiable Redeemer! thou hast instituted a peculiar sacrament of love, in which we might find the treasure and source of all heavenly blessings, through which we might enter into the sanctuary of thy inflamed Heart, and there meet with secure repose in life, and sweet comfort in death. With these most bountiful dispositions, thou hast vouchsafed to reside in this very house, in which I dwell, to repose on our altars, to be our constant sacrifice, in order to avert the anger of thy eternal Father, excited by our repeated sins: hither thou continually invitest us to come, and partake of this heavenly food, which none but an infinite love could have prepared. What is there thou couldst have done to gain the heart of thy people, and hast not done? But how insensible, O bountiful Redeemer, have we been of those great blessings and favors! We have showed irreverence, disrespect, and even contempt before thy divine Majesty, in whose presence the Saints and Angels bend with awe, and the heavens themselves tremble. Whilst offered on our altars, the same offences, the same indignity and ingratitude are committed by those very people, who have often been fed at thy sacred table, nourished with thy own substance, and on whom thou hast placed the love of thy Heart.

O amiable Heart of my dearest Saviour, who can express thy affliction at the sight of such ingratitude! But how long, sweet Jesus, will thy adorable Heart be thus despised and contemned by wicked man! How long wilt thou permit thyself to be betrayed into the hands of thy mortal enemies! How long wilt thou suffer their scorn and contempt of thy Majesty, in the adorable sacrament of the altar! Sorely afflicted at the thought of these injustices and sacrileges, I cast myself, with all humility, at the throne of thy mercy: graciously hear, sweet Jesus, the worst of thy servants, who, in behalf of the Community and of the whole Church, here presents to thee, thy own adorable Heart, inflamed with love for these thy persecutors, and praying for thy enemies: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Most merciful Heart of Jesus! propitiously hear the uninterrupted supplications of thy Saints and Angels, of thy holy martyrs and confessors, in atonement for these repeated insults and injuries; while in satisfaction for the same, I offer the following tribute of reparation on my own and their part.

Here say any five acts you please, of the four and twenty, beginning page 357.

AN OBLATION

Of the sacred Heart and sufferings of Jesus Christ to his Eternal Father, in satisfaction for offences committed.

ALMIGHTY and eternal Father! permit me to offer thee the sacred Heart of thy dearest Son, inflamed with the love of thee, and wounded with the love of us. Receive, O merciful Father, this divine heart pleading for us, through that ready obedience to thy holy will, by which he subjected himself on earth to all our miseries, pains and afflictions. Receive, in satisfaction for our sins, that love of his sacred Heart, which caused him to undergo for us that cruel flagellation at the pillory, that tormenting crown of thorns. Receive that divine Heart, which, through love of us, embraced the heavy cross, and bore its weight to Mount Calvary. Receive, O eternal Father, that most inflamed and humble Heart of Jesus, which, through love of us, laid itself on the hard wood of the cross, and offered its sacred hands and feet to cruel executioners, to be transpierced with iron nails. Behold, O heavenly Father, this sacrifice of love, offered to thee for us poor sinners, in the Heart of thy dear Son: it is wounded, it bleeds, it expires through the infinite love it has for us. My God, if we have offended thee, will not the sight of this Heart suffice to appease thy anger? Receive it, O merciful Father, in atonement for our many offences; it is most worthy of thy love and everlasting complacency. Amen.

Then conclude the Novena by the following prayer:

MOST amiable Heart of Jesus, beloved object of our most tender affections, may all honor, glory, love and benediction, be ever given to thee! Be thou our comfort in adversity, our guide in prosperity, our safety in dangers, and protection against all our enemies, visible and invisible. Amen.