The Month of the Sacred Heart Practical:
Practical Meditations for every Day of the Month of June
Abbe Berlioux
Laetitia Selwyn Oliver (Translator)
ISBN 9781957066257
ISBN 9781957066295
I do not even recall how I stumbled upon The Month of Mary: Practical Meditations for every Day of the Month of May. But I picked it up towards the end of Lent, and then read it during the month of May. When prepping that review I found out it is one of 4 volumes available in English by Abbe Berlioux, a couple of them have a number of editions, and Mediatrix press has all 4 available but currently only 2 of the 4 are available as eBooks. Because of a dual form of dyslexia I greatly prefer eBooks so I can change the font, and the colour of font and page to make reading easier. I Hope Mediatrix will release the other 2 in English. For the day I finished that volume on Mary volume I started this volume. The description of this edition of this book states:
“After the devotions of May to His Blessed Mother Mary, we turn now to June, the month of His love. It is not a coincidence that western culture has chosen June for the month of weddings, nor that Our lord chose to elevate the month to turn the mind toward love, union, and the promises of the human heart and Divine Love. To increase this necessary fervor, The Month of the Sacred Heart, by the Abbé Berlioux, contains a valuable trove of practices and sentiments toward sanctifying the month of June. Excellent as a daily reader for the month, but also very useful for the monthly First Friday devotions and home enthronement preparations and ceremonies, as well as matrimonial devotions, anniversaries and vow renewals.
Each chapter contains the whole day’s reading, prayer, and a fitting example for the reading, usually taken from the author’s personal knowledge or some other historical example. Much of the life of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque is included, as well as incredible inspiration and pearls of hope from the tumultuous nineteenth century – a century that echoes our own in social and spiritual unrest. This is what gives the book a unique atmosphere, and timeless appropriateness. As each of the thirty days of June progress, the subjects cover every possible facet of the Sacred Heart devotion, solidifying for the devotee a rich theological truth and piety.
The subjects range from the origins of the devotion and life of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, the incredible promises of the Sacred Heart devotion, the material and spiritual objects of the devotion, a description of, and ways to devote oneself to each symbol within the Image itself, the various desires of our Lord’s Heart, the terrible “thorns”, or sorrows, with which His people wound His Heart, the means of honoring His Heart, beautiful ways to execute the practice of this devotion in our everyday lives, the hearts of the Holy Family, and more. The readings are short and easy for modern man to complete for a morning meditation, between the labors of a busy life, and for raising to a higher level one’s entire being to live each moment in honor of His Divine Heart. Let us make impossible the words of St. Francis of Assisi that, “Love is not loved”.
The Month of the Sacred Heart was first published in the French language in Grenoble. The book was soon after translated for the English-speaking world and published in 1885. The Abbé Berlioux was a priest of the diocese of Grenoble and was the Curé, or parish priest, of the church of St. Bruno. In his works he often uses a literary charm of addressing the reader personally. In this work, he calls out to the reader, addressing him by the name, “Christian”, or “Christian”, in nearly each day’s reading as he gets to the point of what the individual could do to utilize and live a Christian life based on a greater devotion to the Sacred Heart, increasing the seriousness of the tone as well as gripping the attention of the reader with it.
Read The Month of the Sacred Heart to increase in the soul the love of Christ’s love! The devotion taught in its pages will take the reader by the hand and lead him to live more fully the life of a brother of Christ. In its pages you will find:
• An organized 30 days of Sacred Heart devotions for the complete month of June
• Daily spiritual reading on the various facets of the devotion to Jesus’ Heart
• Daily prayers to the Sacred Heart
• Daily examples of true-life stories that draw out the truths within each day’s reading.
• A collection of devotions and prayers, including a special means of attending Mass through the Sacred Heart of Jesus.”
The volume has:
Nihil Obstat:
P. J. TYNAN, S.T.D.,
Cens. Theol. Dep.
Imprimatur:
Gulielmus J. Canon Walsh
Vic. Cap. Dublinensis.
Dublini,
A sample day is:
“THIRTEENTH DAY:
THE SECOND DESIRE OF THE HEART OF JESUS—THE HONOR OF HIS MOTHER
WHO can say what the love of the Heart of Jesus was for His Blessed Mother? As God, He loved her as the purest and most perfect of His creatures; He preserved her from all sin, and adorned her with all graces and virtues. As Man He loved her as would the most respectful, the most docile, the most submissive and affectionate of children. What favors, what sanctity must not the Heart of the Son have communicated to the Heart of the Mother during the nine months He reposed in her virginal womb, and during the thirty years of intimacy which He passed with her at Nazareth! During the time of His public ministry, it was frequently at the request of His Mother that Jesus worked His miracles, as He did at Cana in Galilee, so that the women of Israel, envious of such great glory, cried out: “Blessed is the womb that bore thee.” Luke. 11:27. In Heaven, He wills that His Mother should be the dispenser of His treasures, the channel by which His graces descend to earth. He takes pleasure in granting the prayers which are addressed to her, and to confirm by miracles the confidence that is shown by her servants. He wills that the Church should have for her the most profound respect, the most tender love, the most entire confidence; He loves to see her name united to His, and when a temple is raised to His glory, it is necessary in order to please Him, that its vaulted roof should give shelter to the humble altar of Mary. Finally, He wills, that wherever the Son is adored, the other also should be honored. “Invenerunt puerum cum Maria.”
Christians, if we wish to please Jesus, let us love and respect Mary; let us love her as dutiful children love their mother; she has for us all the tenderness and devotedness of a parent; her heart, like that of her Son, is an abyss of love and mercy. In our devotion, let us never separate the honor of Mary from that of Jesus; let us honor and love them both with all fervor; they were always closely united, let us not, in our affections, separate them. Let us address our petitions to God the Father through the Heart of Jesus; let us appeal to Jesus through the heart of Mary; we shall obtain all from the Father through the Heart of Jesus, and all from the Son through the heart of the Mother. Let us delight to repeat frequently the touching invocation:
Jesus, meek and humble of heart, have mercy on us!
Immaculate heart of Mary, heart like to the Heart of Jesus, pray for us!
EXAMPLE
During the fatal war of 1870, between France and Germany, a virtuous and only son, when on the point of starting to join the army, placed himself under the powerful protection of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. His good parents had also placed in this twofold refuge their hopes for the preservation of a child so dear, and whom they looked to as the stay and support of their old age. As it always happens these hopes were not deceived. The young man, a captain in the army of the Loire, encountered the greatest dangers, he was exposed to the fire of the enemy’s cannon, and saw blood flowing on every side, and yet he received no wound. He devoted himself day and night to nursing a soldier ill of smallpox, and he was preserved from the contagion. In a word, under every circumstance, Jesus and His holy Mother watched over this faithful servant with the tenderest care, and he on his side, in the midst of the toils and perils of war, never failed a single day to recite his rosary; and protected by the Sacred Hearts he returned safe and well to his family.
To mark their sense of this favor, the relatives of the man placed a slab of white marble in the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin, bearing in golden letters this inscription: “Gratitude to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, who have preserved and restored a beloved son to his family during the war of 1870.” Under every circumstance, in every danger let us invoke Jesus and Mary, let us take refuge in their Hearts and we shall always be safe.
PRAYER
O Heart of Jesus, grant that I may be always the favored child of the most holy Virgin! Inspire me with the most tender and filial confidence towards her, and give me the grace to invoke her unceasingly. Grant that her blessed name, united to Thine may be always on my lips, that thus living here below with Jesus and Mary, I may one day behold them in heaven. Amen.”
I highlighted a few passages while reading this volume, some of them are:
“This little work is of the kind most useful in the present stage of devotion to the Sacred Heart. Until very recently the important point was to bring home to the faithful that, even as in the old dispensation, when some great sorrow was crushing down the people of God, He was wont to cheer them by a message from on high, so now, in these days of danger for souls, His compassion has been moved to reveal to us a special preservative against the incredulity and selfishness of the age.”
“This work, which appears now for the first time in English, is the outcome of a theological intelligence of the devotion, perfected in prayer. It is, in reality as in name, a manual of practical meditation for the month of June.”
“Each meditation is suggested by some one of the emblems of divine love disclosed to Blessed Margaret Mary, or by the dispositions of the adorable Heart; its affections, its sympathies, its sufferings, its yearnings for our love. Some simple thoughts on such touching subjects lead to a practical conclusion, strengthened by an appropriate example.”
“The Abbé Berlioux’s manuals are well calculated to promote this blessed result, and the translator has a claim on the gratitude of English-speaking Catholics for the admirable manner in which she has presented to them such helps to their devotion.”
“Christians, is not this sacred wound of the Heart of Jesus, and its last outpouring Of blood, the great resource reserved for the fearful evils of our century? Is it not time to appeal to it, to take possession of and employ it for the deliverance of the Church, of our country, of society, and above all of poor sinners?”
“O Lord Jesus! these poor souls belong to Thee; they loved Thee on earth, they still love Thee amidst the flames of Purgatory; by the merits of Thy cross and Thy divine Heart, deliver them from that abode of expiation. Above all, deliver the souls of my relations, my friends and benefactors, so that, united to the choirs of angels, they may praise and bless Thee through all eternity. Amen.”
“Christians, since gratitude is one of the distinctive marks of devotion to the Sacred Heart, you should endeavor never to pass a day without recalling to your mind the blessings you have received from God; the blessings of creation, of preservation, of the call to the true faith, of the sacraments, of the Heart of Jesus, and many other particular graces.”
“Divine Heart of Jesus, I bless and thank Thee for all the favors that Thou hast bestowed on me, notwithstanding my unfaithfulness to grace, I thank Thee also for all that Thou hast granted to my relatives, friends and benefactors. I offer Thee in return the thanksgivings of all fervent souls, those of the Blessed virgin and the saints, and with Thy prophet I will never cease to say: “Give praise to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endureth forever.” Amen”
“Consider that next to hearing Mass, and receiving Holy Communion, there is nothing so acceptable to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, or so beneficial to our souls, as to visit often our divine Lord in the Sacrament of His love.”
“His Heart kept for us one last proof of love, and from the cross He wished to leave us a pledge of His immense and unceasing tenderness. Ah! yes, the love of our good Jesus is, indeed, unceasing and inexhaustible; He knows not how to say: “It is enough.” Yet He had already given us His words to instruct us, His sacraments to purify and strengthen us, His Heart to love us, His body and blood to nourish and quench the thirst of our souls. He was going to give us His last breath when expiring on the cross: what more could He give? Oh! His Mother still remained to Him; she was His dearest and most precious possession; her tenderness was the only earthly joy He had ever known, and it is this sweet Mother whom He bequeaths to us.”
I hope those quotes give you a feel for the book. This was a wonderful volume to work through. It was between 4-6 pages a day through the month of June. It was a wonderful volume to use to spend a month with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Note the eBook can only be purchased direct from the publisher.
I can easily recommend this book, and look forward to others by Abbe Berlioux. This book would be a great read for any Catholic.
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2025 Catholic Reading Plan!
Books by Abbe Berlioux:
The Month of Holy Souls: Practical Meditations for Every Day of the Month of November
The Month of St. Joseph: Practical Meditations for each Day of the Month of March
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