Friday To the Sacred Heart of Jesus

The first Friday is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus to know, cherish, and correspond to his great gifts: the Gospel, the Holy Eucharist, the Church, the priesthood, the religious state, Mary Most Holy, and his own life.

O Jesus, our Master, I, an unworthy sinner, prostrate before you, adore your Heart, which has so greatly loved everyone and has not spared anything for us. I believe in your infinite love for us. I thank you for the great gifts that out of love you gave us: especially the Gospel, the Holy Eucharist, the Church, the priesthood, the religious state, Mary as Mother, and your very life.

1. Jesus, Divine Master, I thank and bless your most generous Heart for the great gift of the Gospel. You said: “I was sent to evangelize the poor.” Your words bring eternal life. In the Gospel, you revealed divine mysteries, taught the way of God in truth,

offered the means of salvation. Grant me the grace to preserve your Gospel with veneration, listen to it, and read it according to the spirit of the Church, and promote it with the love with which you preached it. May it be known, honored, and received by all! May the world conform its life, laws, morals, and teachings to it. May the fire brought by you upon the earth inflame, enlighten, and warm everyone.

Sweet Heart of my Jesus, make me love you more and more.

2. Jesus, Divine Master, I thank and bless your most lovable Heart for the great gift of the Holy Eucharist. Your love makes you dwell in the holy tabernacle, renew your passion in the Mass, and give yourself as food for our souls in Holy Communion. May I know you, O hidden God! May I draw salutary waters from the font of your Heart. Grant me the grace to visit you every day in this sacrament, to understand and actively participate in Holy Mass, to receive Holy Communion often with faith and love.

Sweet Heart of my Jesus . . .

3. Jesus, Divine Master, I bless and thank your most sweet Heart for the great gift of the Church. She is the Mother who instructs us in the truth, guides us

on the way to heaven, and communicates supernatural life to us. She continues your own saving mission here on earth as your Mystical Body. She is the ark of salvation; she is infallible, indefectible, catholic. Grant me the grace to love her as you loved and sanctified her in your blood. May the world know her, may all sheep enter your fold, may everyone humbly cooperate in your kingdom.

Sweet Heart of my Jesus . . .

4. Jesus, Divine Master, I bless and thank your most loving Heart for the institution of the priesthood. Priests are sent by you as you were sent by the Father. To them you entrusted the treasures of your doctrine, of your law, of your grace, and souls themselves. Grant me the grace to love them, listen to them, and let myself be guided by them in your ways. O Jesus, send good laborers into your harvest. May priests be the salt that purifies and preserves, may they be the light of the world, may they be the city placed on the mountain. May they all be formed according to your Heart. And one day in heaven, may they have around themselves, as a crown of joy, a multitude of conquered souls.

Sweet Heart of my Jesus . . .

5. Jesus, Divine Master, I thank and bless your most holy Heart for the call to consecration in the religious life. As in heaven, so also on earth the mansions are many. You have chosen your favored children. You have called them to evangelical perfection. You made yourself their model, their help, and their reward. Divine Heart, multiply religious vocations. Sustain them in the faithful observance of the evangelical counsels. May they be the most fragrant flowerbeds in the Church. May they be souls who console you, who pray, and who work for your glory in every apostolate.

Sweet Heart of my Jesus . . .

6. Jesus, Divine Master, I thank and bless your most merciful Heart for having given us Mary Most Holy as our Mother, Teacher, and Queen. From the cross, you placed us all in her hands. You gave her a great heart, much wisdom, and immense power. May all humanity know her, love her, pray to her! May all permit themselves to be led by her to you, Savior of the world! I place myself in her hands, as you placed yourself. With this Mother, I want to live now, in the hour of my death, and for all eternity.

Sweet Heart of my Jesus . . .

7. Jesus, Divine Master, I thank and bless your most meek Heart, which led you to give your life for me. Your blood, your wounds, the scourges, the thorns, the cross, your bowed head tell my heart: “No one loves more than he who gives his life for the loved one.” The Shepherd died to give life to the sheep. I too want to spend my life for you. Grant that you may always, everywhere, and in all things dispose of me for your greater glory, and that I may always repeat: “Your will be done.” Inflame my heart with holy love for you and for souls.

Sweet Heart of my Jesus . . .

Before or after meditation, or during the Hour of Adoration to the Blessed Sacrament, the following is said or sung:

My son, give me all of your heart and may your eyes be ever fixed on my ways.

Fili, praebe mihi cor tuum, et óculi tui custódiant vias meas.

(Magnificat, p. 303)