It is likely that the desire to console the Heart
of Jesus will continue
to find expression in the life of the Church.

Consoling the Heart of Jesus

By Robert A. Stackpole

n In his encyclical on reparation to the Sacred Heart Miserentissimus Redemptor (1928), Pope Pius XI encouraged the Church to bear in mind a secondary aspect of this devotion:

Now if, because of our sins also which were as yet in the future, but were foreseen, the soul of Christ became sorrowful unto death, it cannot be doubted that then, too, already He derived somewhat of solace from our reparation, which was likewise foreseen, when "there appeared to Him an angel from heaven" (Luke XXII, 43), in order that His Heart, oppressed with weariness and anguish, might find consolation. And so even now, in a wondrous yet true manner, we can and ought to console that most Sacred Heart which is continually wounded by the sins of thankless men . . . .1

That we can and should seek to console the Heart of Jesus in his agony and passion for us is therefore a teaching of the ordinary papal magisterium. As anyone familiar with post-conciliar forms of Sacred Heart spirituality will testify, however, the desire to give solace to the Heart of the suffering Savior has almost completely vanished from the devotion, at least in "first-world" nations.

Catholic theologians are not at liberty to ignore the fullness of the theological foundations of this devotion firmly established for us by the papal magisterium, especially in the encyclicals of Leo XIII, Pius XI, Pius XII, and the apostolic letter of Pope Paul VI Investigabiles Divitias Christi (1965). This corpus of teaching includes the exhortations of Pope Pius XI about consoling the Heart of Christ. Moreover, as we shall see, a closer look at trends in contemporary Catholicism reveals that this aspect of Heart spirituality is far from dead. Forgotten in some areas of the world, it is emerging again elsewhere, in a new form and with increasing popularity. For this reason also it merits careful reconsideration.

First of all, we need to be clear about what we mean when we refer to the "Heart" of Jesus. Probably the most clear and succinct definition is found in the writings of Cardinal Luigi Ciappi, O.P.: "Devotion to the Sacred Heart is nothing other than veneration for the person of Jesus Christ because of His love for sinful humanity, symbolized by the physical Heart of the Redeemer."2 Much scholarly blood has been spilled since the eighteenth century over the role of the physical heart and its proper connection with the love it symbolizes. These debates were largely laid to rest by Pope Pius XII in his encyclical Haurietis Aquas (1956). The Pope taught that the living, corporeal Heart of the Redeemer is the most "natural" symbol of the threefold love of Christ: most directly of his sensible (affective) love, but also of his infused charity, and his eternal divine love.3 Of course, these three forms of love do not exist in Christ in three separate compartments. As inhering in the one person of Christ, they are intimately related, such that his infused human charity, with its accompanying affections, is always an expression of his eternal, divine love for us and for his heavenly Father. All that he is and does, therefore, is an expression of his love, symbolized by his Heart.4 The human heart must be held to be a mystery: the mystery of the personal center of every human being, the center of decision, and the center of encounter with God.5 But the mystery of the Heart of Jesus has been disclosed to us as love, a threefold love that includes the human affections of love. This is what gave devotion to the Heart of Christ such power to counter the grim Calvinism of the Jansenist heresy in the eighteenth century, and insures for it an enduring place in Catholic spirituality. Moreover, if one of the forms of love properly symbolized by Christ's Heart is his sensible or affective love, then it is meaningful to speak, as Pope Pius XI did, of consoling Christ's Heart, whose affections have been "continually wounded by the sins of thankless men."

Can we give solace to the Heart of Jesus in his agony and passion for us? The teaching of Pope Pius XI gives us at least a strong presumption that we can. This presumption strengthens, however, when we realize that his teaching does not stand in isolation; rather, it sums up a stream of Catholic tradition seven centuries old, a tradition consonant with Sacred Scripture, and manifest in the spiritual writings of several great saints and blesseds.

Holy Scripture does not explicitly treat of this matter, any more than it explicitly calls for a cult of the Heart of Jesus in general. On the other hand, the Bible does offer us various themes and strands of thought which will be taken up later in the works of Catholic spiritual writers in this regard. For example, Old Testament prophecy speaks of the sorrow of the Heart of the Messiah in his passion (Ps. 22:15, Isa. 53:3-5) and of his human desire for comfort and compassion (Ps. 69:21). A group of New Testament texts also points to the holy affectivity of Christ as a manifestation of his love, for example, his grief over the death of Lazarus (John 11:33-36), his weeping over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-42), his great desire to share the passover with his disciples (Luke 22:14-15), and his "sorrow, even unto death" in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:37-38; Luke 22:41-44). The New Testament also leads us to deeper reflection on the affectivity and knowledge of the Savior. For example, it naturally leads us to ask such questions as: what precisely was our Lord "sorrowful, even unto death" about in the garden, and how did the angel console him? If, as St. Paul wrote, "the Son of God . . . loved me and delivered himself for me" (Gal. 2:20), how can this really be true unless the Son of God also, somehow, knew and loved each one of us in the midst of his agony and passion? Furthermore, if the incarnate Word was truly "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14), and in him were hidden "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:3), would that supreme knowledge include a prevision, in the depths of his soul, of the sins, and works of reparation of all future generations? And if so, is it possible that through this prevision, we can console his Heart in his agony and passion by a return of love to him today?

The ancient Church Fathers do not explicitly treat of consoling the Heart of Christ, although, here again, one often finds acknowledgement of the holy affectivity of the "man of sorrows."6 Some of the early Christians seem to have connected this sorrow with a prevision of the sins of future generations. For example, a fourth century Syrian manuscript tells us:

His heart has been filled with sorrow because of our sins, an effect of love for his creatures who are exposing themselves to doom. He grieves as well for those who are putting Him to death.7

In the medieval period we find an increasing emphasis on devotion to the pierced Heart of Jesus as the best symbol for the contemplation of his love. St. Bonaventure summed up this spiritual insight in his famous words: "(Thy Heart) has been so wounded that through the visible wound we may behold the wound of love."8 Our sins, foreseen by Christ in his agony and passion, are often held to be a main cause of these sorrows. We find this theme especially in the preaching of the Franciscans,9 who are also credited with being the first to develop the explicit idea of consoling Christ's Heart through their preaching on the Saviour's cry from the cross, "I thirst."10

The 13th century German mystics of Helfta, St. Mechtilde of Hackeborne and St. Gertrude the Great, further developed the notion of consolation. St. Gertrude in particular treats of this subject often, claiming that Christ revealed to her that we can console him by praying for the conversion of sinners, by bearing the cross patiently with him, and by works of piety performed with love.11

As with so many other aspects of devotion to the Heart of Jesus, however, it was the revelations given to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque that propelled the idea of consolation out of the cloister and into the main stream of popular spirituality. In her own account of Christ's third apparition to her (1674), we read that in his grief over the sins of men Jesus came to her and said:

Do thou at least console me by supplying for their ingratitude as far as thou art able . . . . Every night between Thursday and Friday . . . thou shalt rise between eleven o'clock and midnight, and remain prostrate with Me for an hour, not only to appease the divine anger by begging mercy for sinners, but also to mitigate in some way the bitterness which I felt at that time on finding myself abandoned by my apostles . . . .12

After the example set by St. Margaret Mary, numerous associations would be established with the approval of the Holy See for the keeping of the "holy hour" before the tabernacle, often with the explicit intention to console the Heart of Jesus.13 St. Alphonsus Liguori also developed the theme of consolation in his book Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1758), a copy of which he sent directly to Pope Clement XIII in support of an (ultimately successful) petition to obtain approval for the liturgical feast.14 By the twentieth century, therefore, the consolation of the Heart of Christ was a well-established, although secondary aspect of the devotion, with full papal approval clearly reflected in the teaching of Pope Pius XI.

In the twentieth century we find certain elements first evident in the writings of St. Gertrude finally coming to fruition. Some Catholic spiritual writers begin to form a spirituality largely centered on the desire to console the Heart of Jesus-and not just by keeping the "holy hour," but by offering all their works, sufferings and prayers for the conversion of sinners. Sister Josefa Menendez (d. 1923), for example, whose cause for beatification is presently open before the Holy See, summed up her whole spiritual life in these words: "I had quite made up my mind to accept all to glorify the Heart of Jesus, to console Him, and to win souls for Him."15 More importantly, the devotion to the Divine Mercy, as revealed to and promoted by Blessed Faustina Kowalska-a devotion which has received the approval of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,16 and which has spread from Poland to many other parts of the world, especially the Philippines-is replete with the intention to console Christ's Heart. For example, this theme occurs over and over again in the "Novena to the Divine Mercy" written by Blessed Faustina herself, at the alleged dictation of Christ:

Today bring to me all devout and faithful souls and immerse them in the ocean of my mercy. These souls brought me consolation on the way of the cross. They were that drop of consolation in the midst of an ocean of bitterness.17

Hence, far from dying out, the practice of consoling the Heart of Jesus seems to be spreading in a new form. It is moving away from the confines of individual, reparative acts of piety before the tabernacle, now to include more intercessory and missionary dimensions.

The main problem with this movement, from a scholarly point of view, is that it flies in the face of the dominant trends in Catholic Christology since Vatican II. Many leading scholars today question the doctrine of universal knowledge in Christ's human soul, given that the New Testament speaks of his growth in wisdom as a youth (Luke 2:52), and his ignorance of the day of the parousia (Mark 13:32). Doubt is also expressed that it is meaningful to say that Christ truly suffered temptation during his earthly life, or true dereliction on the cross, if he possessed the beatific vision and universal knowledge at that time. In general, the trend is to argue that for Christ to be fully human, like us in all things except sin, his human nature must be exactly like ours save for our moral imperfections and possibly, his consciousness of his unique divine sonship.18

The theological defense of the spirituality of consolation depends upon affirming all the mysteries of the human nature and consciousness of Christ as taught by the magisterium, and it does, clearly, depend upon the notion that Jesus Christ possessed universal knowledge of all hearts during his earthly life such that at some level of his soul, and especially during his agony and passion, he had a prevision of all those who would betray his love, and all those who would accept and return his love and thereby console him. By our love we can certainly add "accidental" joy to his glorified Heart in heaven (Luke 15:7, 10), but in heaven he needs no solace. It is only in the past that we can console him.

Several arguments can be developed in defense of Christ's universal knowledge. First, there seems to be a general reluctance today to admit the possibility that the hypostatic union could elevate human nature to a perfection of its capacities beyond what we see manifested in the lives of the prophets and saints. In other words, if, as the Church traditionally teaches, one of the effects of original sin is the clouding of the human mind, then, as a result of the hypostatic union from the moment of conception, the perfection of Christ's human nature should include the perfection of his human mind in the fullness of truth, and not just the perfection of his human will in charity. Second, if we read and interpret the scriptural mysteries of Christ in the light of Catholic tradition, we shall find that the overwhelming majority of the ancient fathers argued for such universal knowledge, and some, such as St. Augustine, St. John Damascene and Pope St. Gregory the Great, make the issue a test of orthodoxy.19 Third, the papal magisterium in the 20th century has clearly, consistently, and repeatedly insisted upon universal knowledge in the human soul of Christ: that as a result of the hypostatic union, Christ enjoyed the beatific vision from the first moment of his conception, and in that vision saw all things "past, present, and future," and knew and loved all men with "infallible," "perfect," and "universal" knowledge, a knowledge greater in "extent" and "clarity" than the vision enjoyed by the blessed in heaven.20 That there are unresolved problems with regard to how the different types of knowledge possessed by Christ (beatific, infused, and acquired) co-exist and inter-relate, and at what levels of his mind this occurs (conscious, subconscious, or supra-conscious) is of the nature of the case. The Incarnation, after all, is a holy mystery. But that these problems are logically unresolvable certainly has never been proven. In fact, some recent Catholic theologians have gone a long way towards shedding light on these difficult matters, while remaining largely faithful to the guidance of the consensus of the Fathers and the papal magisterium.21

Suffice it to say, for our purposes, that it is certainly not inconceivable that "Jesus knew and loved us each and all during his life, his agony and Passion, and gave himself up for each one of us."22 This is all that the practice of the consolation of the Heart of Jesus requires to be theologically coherent and permissible.

Acceptance of the prospect of consoling the Heart of Jesus can have significant implications for the spiritual life and active life of Catholic Christians.

An authentic Catholic spiritual life must certainly include an element of "reparation": the intention to compensate God for human failure to correspond to his love. "Reparation is basically a return of love making up for the denial of love implied by our sins"23-always bearing in mind, of course, that our acts of reparation have compensatory value only on the basis of the merits of Jesus Christ. The consolation of the Heart of Jesus is an aspect of this reparative dimension of the spiritual life. In short, as our sins have grieved the Heart of perfect love of the incarnate Word, we have the opportunity and the duty to console him. In fact, such consolation will be the effect of our acts of reparative love, whether we perform those acts with the conscious intention to console his Heart or not. The explicit knowledge that we can give him solace, however, is not unimportant, for if we know that we can console him by our acts of reparation-for example, by works of penance undertaken with contrition and love, or by bearing in union with Christ all the sufferings of this mortal life with faith, love, and obedience-then we are likely to tread the way of the cross with greater devotion. The example of Blessed Faustina Kowalska is helpful in this respect.

The practice of consolation also involves a periodic focus of attention on the affective love of Christ. An over-emphasis here can lead to an image of Christ as grossly self-pitying and effeminate, an error all too prevalent in those literary and artistic forms of the devotion, largely stemming from the 19th century, which sought to console "the prisoner of the tabernacle." In proper perspective, however, periodic attention to the wounded, affective love of Christ emphasizes a neglected dimension of the spiritual life. As St. Augustine once wrote, it is permissible for Christians, at times and with legitimate reason, to be "sorrowful even unto death," as Jesus was, and to seek human consolation. This is not necessarily a sign of a weak faith; it may be simple conformity to the one who was "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" (Isa. 53:3-5).24

Furthermore, the idea of consolation adds a dimension to our understanding of human love for God. If it is true that we can console his human Heart, then love for God not only involves seeking to respond to his love with love, and not only the surrender of the human will to an infinitely wise and loving divine will, with the intention to glorify him thereby. As Pope John Paul II wrote in Dives in Misericordia (no. 8), love for God also includes, the desire "to have mercy on His only Son the crucified one . . . not only an act of solidarity with the suffering Son of man, but also a kind of 'mercy' shown by each one of us to the Son of the Eternal Father."

Devotion to the Sacred Heart is traditionally linked to the active life through the practice of "consecration": the offering of our lives and labors, families and whole societies to the social reign of his Heart of love. According to Pope John Paul II, however, it is linked by the practice of "reparation" as well.25 Yet this link has yet to be worked out in detail by Catholic theologians. One could argue that to make such a connection, the notion of consolation could be expanded to include the works of mercy, evangelism, and social justice. Given that the knowledge and compassionate love of Jesus, even during his earthly life, embraced all those he came to save, then mercy shown to any human being is also a form of mercy and love shown to his Heart: "Assuredly I say to you, in as much as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me" (Matt. 25:40). This fact would emphasize compassionate love as a central social principle, although we must not confuse compassion with shallow sentimentalism. Christ's compassionate Heart, after all, includes his knowledge and wisdom.

In conclusion, we must surely reject Karl Rahner's effort to demote the notion of consolation to an inessential aspect of devotion to the Heart of Jesus.26 Rahner argued that the whole idea was too metaphysically complex for the average believer. Yet uneducated believers have often promoted and practiced it (e.g., Blessed Faustina) and it is hard to see how it is more complex than, say, devotion to the Holy Trinity, or prayers to the divine Infant. Just as those with a devotion to the divine infancy often use the image of the Infant of Prague, which mixes symbols of the glorified Christ with the image of the Christ-child, so devotees of the Heart of Jesus blend imagery suggestive of the present, glorified state of Christ with symbols of his past agony and passion. This may reveal an intuitive grasp amongst the faithful of the mysteries of devotion to Christ's sacred humanity, without prior dependence upon rational articulation of all the metaphysical details!

Rahner also expressed concern that the notion of consoling the Lord should not be limited to the conscious intention to console Christ through acts of reparative piety:

If anything really "comforted" our Lord in his Passion, then it was obviously all the actions and intentions marked by his grace and love . . . not only those which were accompanied by a conscious intention of comforting the suffering Christ.27

True as Rahner's insight certainly is, it hardly amounts to a good argument for shelving the notion of consolation as inessential to the devotion. On the contrary, if it is true that we can comfort the Heart of Jesus-and we have the witness of a number of popes, saints and blesseds that we can-then knowledge of that fact cannot but help to spur us on to do all those acts of reparation, love and mercy which will truly console him. Blessed Faustina Kowalska has opened a way forward in these respects, and it is likely that the desire to console the Heart of Jesus will continue to find expression in the life of the Church through the spread of the devotion to the Divine Mercy in the years to come. n

1 Pope Pius XI, Miserentissimus Redemptor, Claudia Carlen, ed., The Papal Encyclicals: 1903-1939 (Raleigh: Pierian Press, 1990), 325.

2 Luigi Ciappi, O.P. The Heart of Christ: The Centre of the Mystery of Salvation (Rome: CdC Publishers, 1983), 65.

3 Pope Pius XII, Haurietis Aquas (Orlando: Sacred Heart Publications, 1974), 23-24.

4 Ibid., 24, 39.

5 Catechism of the Catholic Church (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1994), no. 2563, p. 614.

6 Augustine, Enarr. In Ps. 87:3 (PL 37, 1111); see also Justin Martyr, Dialogus cum Tryphone Judae, (PG 6, 718-719).

7 R. Graffin, ed., Patrologia Syriaca, vol. 1 (Paris: Firmin-Didat et socii, 1894), 562, quoted in Timothy T. O'Donnell, Heart of the Redeemer (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1989), 90.

8 Bonaventure, Vitis Mystica, c. III, n. 5, quoted in Pope Pius XII, op. cit., 32.

9 Jesus Solano, S.J. The Historical Development of Reparation in Devotion to the Heart of Jesus: From the 1st Century to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (Rome: CdC Publishers, 1980), 36, 95.

10 C.P. Beck, Le Coeur du Christ dans la Mystique Rhénane (Strasbourg: Alsatia, 1978), 50-51.

11 André Prévot, Love, Peace and Joy: Devotion to the Sacred Heart According to St. Gertrude, 3rd ed. (London: R. and T. Washbourne, 1911; repr., Rockford, ILL.: Tan Books, 1984), 6, 26, 126-128, 145, 166.

12 St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, The Autobiography of St. Margaret Mary (Roselands, Walmer, Kent: Sisters of the Visitation, 1930; repr., Rockford, ILL.: Tan Books, 1986), 70-71.

13 Louis Verheylezoon, S.J., Devotion to the Sacred Heart (Enfield, Middlesex: Sands and Co., 1955; repr., Rockford, ILL.: Tan Books, 1978), 259-260, 268-269.

14 St. Alphonsus Liguori, "Novena to the Sacred Heart," Eugene Grimm, ed., The Holy Eucharist (Brooklyn: Redemptorist Fathers, 1934), 240-244, 251-253.

15 Sister Josefa Menendez, The Way of Divine Love (Enfield, Middlesex: Sands and Co., 1955; repr., Rockford, ILL.: Tan Books, 1981), 40.

16 Official "Notification," April 15, 1978, and letter of the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to the Superior General of the Congregation of Marians of the Immaculate Conception, July 12, 1979.

17 Blessed Faustina Kowalska, "Novena to the Divine Mercy," Seraphim Michalenko, MIC and Vinny Flynn, eds. The Divine Mercy: Message and Devotion (Stockbridge: Marian Helpers, 1993) 48.

18 See the survey of modern "Theological Speculation" on the issue in William G. Most, The Consciousness of Christ (Front Royal: Christendom Press, 1980), 148-173.

19 Ibid., 118-119, 123-126.

20 Ibid., 140-142; see also J. Neuner, S.J. and J. Dupuis, S.J., The Christian Faith: Doctrinal Documents of the Catholic Church, 5th ed. (New York: Alba House, 1990), 193-194, 197-198.

21 See Jacques Maritain, On the Grace and Humanity of Jesus (New York: Herder, 1969); F. Oscariz, L.F. Mateo Seco, J.A. Riestra, The Mystery of Jesus Christ (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1994); Bertrand De Margerie, S.J., The Human Knowledge of Christ (Boston: Daughters of St. Paul, 1980).

22 Catechism op. cit., no. 478, p. 121.

23 Bruno Ramazotti, The Spirituality of the Pierced Heart of Jesus the Good Shepherd (Nairobi: St. Paul Publications, 1992) 137.

24 Augustine, op. cit.

25 Pope John Paul II, letter from Paray-le-Monial to the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, quoted in Jan G. Bovenmars, MSC, A Biblical Spirituality of the Heart (New York: Alba House, 1991), 191.

26 Karl Rahner, S.J., "Some Theses on the Theology of the Devotion," Josef Stierli, ed. The Heart of the Savior (New York: Herder and Herder, 1957) 150-154.

27 Ibid., 152.