Day 6: Novena to the Sacred Heart

Let us pray to the Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, full of love and mercy

O Lord, our Shepherd, keep us kindly in your kindness and wisdom, and lead our lives. Your Heart has but one desire: to lead us to your Father. May we always listen to your voice and follow you closer and closer each day of our lives.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Ezekiel 34: 15-16

I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

Meditation

Our Father does not want to see any of his children lose themselves. Maybe we are not exactly like lost sheep, but we may put little effort in following the shepherd. We all have weaknesses, and we can stray from the path of righteousness. Jesus teaches us to go to others, to help them out of the spiritual and human dryness separating them from God. Maybe our attitude can influence other sheep, and help them return to Jesus? Let us attract them with a generous welcome - God will rejoice immensely if we return to Him with a renewed heart.

Pray the Sacred Heart Chaplet. Here's how to proceed:

Begin with the following prayer on the Crucifix (written by St. Ignatius of Loyola, or St. Thomas of Aquinas):

'Soul of Christ, sanctify me/Body of Christ, save me/Blood of Christ, inebriate me/Water from the side of Christ, wash me/Passion of Christ, strengthen me/O Good Jesus, hear me/Within your wounds, hide me/Permit me not to be separated from you/From the wicked foe, defend me/At the hour of my death, call me and bid me come to you/That with your saints I may praise you forever and ever. Amen.

On the large beads say:

'O sweetest Heart of Jesus, I implore that I may ever love you more and more.'

On the small beads say:

'Sweet Heart of Jesus, be my love.'

At the end of each decade, say:

'Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation'.

Upon completing the chaplet, say:

'May the Heart of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament, be blessed, adored and praised with grateful affection, at every moment in all the tabernacles of the world, even to the end of time.'

Community prayer

Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690)

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, To you I consecrate and offer up My person and my life, My actions, trials, and sufferings, That my entire being may henceforth only be employed In loving, honoring and glorifying you. This is my irrevocable will, To belong entirely to you, And to do all for your love, Renouncing with my whole heart all that can displease you. I take you, O Sacred Heart, For the sole object of my love, The protection of my life, The pledge of my salvation, The remedy of my frailty and inconstancy, The reparation for all the defects of my life, And my secure refuge at the hour of my death. Be you, O Most Merciful Heart, My justification before God your Father, And screen me from His anger which I have so justly merited. I fear all from my own weakness and malice, But placing my entire confidence in you, O Heart of Love, I hope all from your infinite goodness. Annihilate in me all that can displease or resist you. Imprint your pure love so deeply in my heart That I may never forget you or be separated from you. I beseech you, through your infinite goodness, Grand that my name be engraved upon your Heart, For in this place all my happiness and all my glory, To live and die as one of your devoted servants. Amen.

Thank you! 41 people prayed

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone. Col 4:6