THE FEAST OF THE SACRED HEART

Father Doyle wrote out the following consecration to the Sacred Heart during one of his midnight vigils, lit only by the glimmer of the red tabernacle light, on 29 September 1910.

“Most loving Jesus, kneeling before You in the Blessed Sacrament, I solemnly consecrate myself to Your Sacred Heart by vow. I vow always to be Your faithful lover and to strive every day to grow in Your love. In imitation of the oblation which B. Margaret Mary made of herself, I now wish to give myself up absolutely and entirely, without any reserve whatever, to Your most Sacred Heart, that You may be free to do with me, to treat me, as You wish, to send me whatever suffering or humiliation You wish. I desire to put no obstacle to the action of grace upon my soul, to be a perfect instrument in Your divine hands, to be Your victim should You so desire. I want to make this oblation and immolation of myself to Your Sacred Heart as completely as possible, and in the manner which You wish me to make it, O my Jesus. Therefore, again, by this vow, I make a complete surrender of myself and all I have to You. Do with me as You will, for from this hour I am wholly Yours”.

Amen.

COMMENT: Fr Doyle’s devotion to the Sacred Heart mirrored the prevailing devotional culture of the early 1900’s. While this devotion remains strong today, it has to some extent been superseded by devotion to the Divine Mercy. Fr Doyle abandoned himself to the Sacred Heart, and he lived this abandonment completely, even to the extent of shedding his own blood for his “poor brave lads” in the trenches.