ENTHRONEMENT OF THE SACRED HEART

The Twelve Promises

( 1) I will give them all the graces necessary for their state in life.

( 2) I will establish peace in their families.

( 3) I will bless every house in which the picture of My Heart shall be exposed and honored.

( 4) I will console them in all their difficulties.

( 5) I will be their refuge during life and especially at the hour of death.

( 6) I will shed abundant blessings upon their undertakings.

( 7) Sinners shall find in My Heart a fountain and boundless ocean of mercy.

( 8) Tepid souls shall become fervent.

( 9) Fervent souls shall rise speedily to great perfection.

(10) I will give to priests the power of touching the hardest hearts.

(11) Those who propagate this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart,never to be blotted out.

(12) I promise you, in the excessive mercy of My Heart, that My all-powerful love willgrant to all who receive communion on the first Friday of the month, for nineconsecutive months, the grace of final penitence, they shall not die in my displeasurenor without the sacraments. My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in thi slast moment.

Some of us may already have an image of the Sacred Heart in our home. That's quite different from consecrating our families to the Sacred Heart. Our consecration begins a whole new way of life, with Christ as our King and the leader of our household. This consecration is a natural extension of the Eucharist. We return to our homes with the Body of Christ within us, and then live as the Body of Christ. Christ's presence is continually reflected in our homes and is visible to all those we encounter.

The image of the Sacred Heart in our homes can become a place of prayer and a reminder to pray. We can pour out our hearts to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and receive the help we need. We can express true love for one another as well, as we treat one another with love and respect. If Jesus is King of our homes, then our homes will be transformed. If we are the slave of something, then we do what the one who enslaves us tells us to do. If we are disciples of Jesus, we follow Jesus' way.

2. The Enthronement is: A.) an apostolate. The aim of any apostolate, and so with this, is to win souls for Christ. B.) It is a crusade - a crusade to conquer the whole world to the Heart of Jesus. C.) It is an act of solemn homage that is offered to Christ, the King of kings, Lord of the world. At the same time it is: a SOLEMN SOCIAL RECOGNITION of the Kingship of Jesus over the home, and all of society; and, an ACT OF SOCIAL REPARATION for all who refuse to accept His Kingship, namely, the flaunting of godless legislation, godless schools, godless families. In opposition to such acts of "dethronement" we freely choose to "enthrone" our King.

3. The core, the heart, the essence of the Enthronement is bound up in one word - LOVE. It strives to bring into the hearts of men full realization of the love of the Sacred Heart for them, and to enkindle the spark, to fan the flame of an ardent blazing love for the Sacred Heart in return.

4. In order to accomplish all this, the Enthronement calls for an active spiritual program of three points: EUCHARIST, PRAYER, PENANCE; the Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh in our lives. The precise field in which this program is to be carried out is the HOME, the social cell. The crusade to conquer the world is to be done in home after home, family after family. The royal homage that is to be offered to Christ the King is to be offered not merely by the individual but by the entire family, in the home.

5. To initiate and stimulate the program, a certain religious ceremony is imparted to it. There are definite acts if what may be called devotion. These are helps. They are good, even in themselves. They are important. But in themselves they are not the Enthronement. To explain more fully:

The formal ceremony which initiates the Enthronement is simple. In the most central place in the home (usually the living room) a shrine is prepared with lights, flowers, and suitable decoration. An image of the Sacred Heart (picture or statue) is placed on a table nearby. Guests have been invited. The entire family is present (if possible). The pastor, or other priest has been invited to preside and to bless the image. (In this we seen that it is a very special kind of homage. This is a family devotion. The clergy do not usually preside at an ordinary family devotion. Therefore this is something out of the ordinary.)

The Enthronement seeks to make the home a Eucharistic Tabernacle. It calls for frequent, if possible, daily assistance at Mass and reception of Holy Communion. The home thus becomes Eucharistic, a genuine Christian sanctuary filled with the presence of Our Lord, by the members of the family living the Mass in their daily lives and bringing the Fount of grace which they received in Holy Communion immediately into the home to remain there by their living in sanctifying grace. Thus the two tabernacles are united by the common bond of the Heart of Jesus. The enthroned image is a striking and permanent reminder of the abiding presence of Jesus - In a different way of course - in the tabernacle of the church and the tabernacle of the home, its extension.

1. Prayer is absolutely necessary for salvation. It is a natural requisite in the Christian way of life. "Pray always," said our Savior. "Always" means at all times, in all places. Our life should be a prayer. The Enthronement stresses the leading of a life of love, which will make prayer easy and familiar. We pray as we love. And prayer is nothing else but "an exchange of love." We are accustomed to various forms of private prayer, morning and evening prayer, the rosary, other private devotions. But the special form of prayer of the Enthronement is FAMILY PRAYER, and at home. The prayers recited by the family together at the initial ceremony of the Enthronement sound the keynote. In like manner they should continue to pray. There was a time when family prayer was common. The Enthronement strives to make it so again. And so we urge: the family Rosary and evening prayers in common. The renewal of the act of Consecration on occasions of joy and sorrow, celebrations and commemorations, and the short form every night, all before the enthroned image of the Sacred Heart. By this frequent gathering together of the family in common prayer, the King of Love becomes not merely an honorable visitor in the home, but as at Bethany, a living member of the family. He shares in all the joyful and sorrowful events of the home, and by His constant presence there with His friends produces that peace which is the source of Christian happiness.

The third part of the program of the Enthronement - Penance - is perhaps the most difficult, calling for a higher type of Christian action. This is the doctrine of the Cross. Before Our Lord chose the cross as the instrument of the redemption. It was universally held as an abomination. It was shunned, despised, hated, the object of intense shame, infamy. But Jesus, in dying on the cross, sanctified it, ennobled it, and raised it to the sublime heights of eternal glory.

Now the Christian doctrine is this, that men share in the Passion, the Cross of Christ, by their own individual sufferings, misfortunes, sorrows, and mortifications "Share," that is to say, if they accept the ills in the proper spirit and offer them as a sacrifice, then they share with Christ on the Cross. The Enthronement calls for just this spirit of sacrifice and for a very definite motive, the conversion of souls. This is what we call "paying the ransom."

All of us have some sorrow, some bit of the Cross, offered us by Christ. This must be put to use - not merely to be endured, and not merely to be suffered for one's own sake but to be suffered as a sacrifice for the conversion of some soul. Is there a sinner to be converted, a fallen-away Catholic to be returned to the fold, an unbeliever to be made a Christian? The conversion is guaranteed, if only sufficient ransom is paid. If it is necessary to work a miracle to perform this, the miracle shall be performed, a miracle of grace.

But always these "miracles of conversions" must be paid for. How? First by Holy Mass; by living the Mass in our daily lives; by offering up oneself with Christ in the chalice, thus acting one's part in the Mystical Body. Secondly by the spirit of penance just described; daily crosses accepted in a spirit of sacrifice. Thirdly by a special kind of sacrifice.

From this outline of the Enthronement we see once more its tremendous possibilities for bettering the family and the social order. What are some of its effect? In the home: an increase of love, charity, penance, prayer and Eucharistic spirit; a vivid consciousness of the abiding presence of Jesus. Outside the home: the spirit of the apostolate - sharing blessings with others; conversions; Vocations. We stress this last point: love, penance, prayer and Eucharistic spirit in the home develop vocations and help remove their greatest obstacle - parental opposition. This then is your solid program of social regeneration - the Social Reign of the Sacred Heart.

The Enthronement is not merely the placing of a sacred object in the home. It is not only an act of veneration of the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Enthronement is a way of life, the acceptance of Christ as King of my heart, as my constant Companion, as my Friend, helping me and guiding me in the small and big matters of daily life. As Bishop of La Crosse, I urged very much the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, especially on the occasion of the celebration of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. As families began to enthrone the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus for the first time or to renew the Enthronement which had taken place years ago in the home, I received reports, both directly and by letter, recounting special graces received by the family members. The reports testified to the grace which comes to a home which makes the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus a way of life for every member of the family.