Christian Perspectives

Devotions to the Sacred Heart

June is the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The devotions during this period and the culminating feast are centered on the heart of Jesus as the emblem of ‘Divine Love’. This Feast has been a Solemnity in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar since 1856, and is celebrated 19 days after Pentecost.

Even though there has been the devotion to the Sacred Heart from the early days of the church we have from the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the first unmistakable indications of devotions in the Benedictine or Cistercian monasteries.

The most significant source for the devotion to the Sacred Heart is from the revelation to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690), in the small town of Paray-le-Monial in central France. The nun claimed to have received visions of Jesus Christ. This was a devotion in which the heart symbolised Jesus’ perfect love for mankind. It began to grow in importance in the eleventh and twelfth centuries and was later promoted by St Gertrude and St Bonaventure amongst others.

St. Gertrude (died 1302) is said to have had a vision of St John the Evangelist on his feast day, where he told her that devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was reserved for subsequent ages, when the world would need to be reminded of his infinite love.

This devotion was very much a private affair until about the sixteenth century when it came more into the mainstream of Christian practice, particularly under the influence of writers such as St Francis de Sales and prominent Jesuits such as St Francis Borgia and St Peter Canisius.

It was still essentially a private devotion, though, until St John Eudes worked to establish a feast day, which was first celebrated in 1670. This feast of the Sacred Heart gradually spread to other dioceses in France and eventually coalesced with the devotion that began as a result of the apparitions of Jesus to St Margaret Mary, Earlier in the seventeenth century France had been consecrated to Mary by Louis XIII, an example followed by a number of other nations including Portugal.

The first apparition took place on 27 December, the feast of Saint John the Evangelist, probably in 1673, while Margaret Mary was a nun in the Visitation convent at Paray-le-Monial. There is some uncertainty as to the precise dates of the apparitions, but not their content).

She related what happened to Fr. Claude de la Colombiere, who was in charge of the Jesuit house in the town. She described how she had a vision of Jesus during which she was given some idea of the greatness of his love for mankind. Jesus had explained that He wanted her to tell the people of this love. And a similar theme was expressed during the second apparition, early in 1674, when Margaret Mary saw Jesus’ Sacred Heart on a throne of flames, transparent as crystal, surrounded by a crown of thorns signifying the sins of mankind, with a cross above it.

Again Jesus told her of His infinite love for mankind and his desire that he should be honoured through the display of this image of his heart, with the promise that all who did so would be specially blessed.

The third apparition probably took place on July 2, 1674, while Margaret Mary was praying before the Blessed Sacrament. She saw a vision of Jesus in glory, with his five wounds “shining like suns”. And He then showed her his heart on fire with love for mankind, a love that unfortunately was often ignored or treated with contempt.

He asked her to make up for this coldness and ingratitude by receiving Holy Communion as often as she was allowed, and particularly on the first Friday of each month. This idea of making reparation for the sins of others is also prominent in the messages given by Mary to the children at Fatima in 1917.

The fourth apparition, which probably took place on 16 June 1675, was the most important. Again it happened as Margaret Mary was praying before the Blessed Sacrament. Jesus again showed her a representation of his heart, further complaining of the ingratitude and coldness of mankind towards him.

To make up for this he asked that the first Friday after the feast of Corpus Christi (Latin for the “Body of Christ”), should be dedicated as a feast in honour of his Sacred Heart, when people should receive Holy Communion in reparation.

The “Great promise” associated with this devotion applied to those who went to Communion on nine consecutive First Fridays: “I promise you, in the excess of the mercy of My Heart, that Its all-powerful love will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the first Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under My displeasure nor without receiving the Sacraments, My Divine Heart becoming their assured refuge at that last hour.”

These promises have been endorsed by successive Popes, and were explicitly mentioned during St Margaret Mary’s canonisation authorised by Pope Benedict XV. Obviously this last promise in particular is dependent on people adopting an interior attitude of love towards Jesus, and not abusing his goodness.

This promise is really one of the grace of final repentance, that is of dying in a state of grace, and so there is some similarity here to the promise attached to the brown scapular. If somebody dies in this state then although they may have to spend time in purgatory they will eventually get to heaven.

To qualify for this tremendous grace it is necessary to receive Holy Communion validly and worthily, that is not being in a state of mortal sin, on the nine consecutive first Fridays as stated.

In addition the communicant must have the intention, at least implicitly, of making reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for all the sinfulness and ingratitude of mankind.

This series of apparitions has been approved by the Church, which has vouched for their authenticity as far as is possible. The writings of Margaret Mary, which included these revelations and her letters, were examined during the process of her beatification, and she would not have been canonised, that is declared a saint, if they were not reliable.

Likewise, the popes have expressed their approval of these apparitions, with their essential content being included in the canonisation by Pope Benedict XV in 1920, while the feast of the Sacred Heart has been established in the Church calendar as requested.

Charmaine Fernando

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Feast of Sacred Heart Church, Rajagiriya

Sacred Heart Church, Rajagiriya celebrates the church feast on the 25th and 26th of June. This Parish, which functions independently since 1957 has grown as a popular community of worship and service.

The history of the Sacred Heart Church goes back to 1944 when The grassland called `Tretoria’ was bought over by Rev. Fr. Guegen OMI for a mere Rs. 45,000 only. Today it has turned in to a place of profound worship that performs miracles winning the hearts of many a believer that gathers to evoke blessings.

The building completed in 1950 and in the year 1974, the Benedictine Order took over the parish and since the small church could not accommodate the large number of devotees the parish community and on completion in December 25,1985 the first Christmas Holy Mass was celebrated in the new Church. At present there are over a 1500 families in Rajagiriya and the church is always thronged by outsiders that throng to the church.

Feast of historic Wahakotte church

The annual feast of historic Wahakotte church was held on 18 and 19 June this year. This famous church is situated in Udugoda Pallesiya Pattuwa to the North West of Matale District, close to Galewela town on Matale-Galewela main road. This church was then called Wasala Kotte-Castle in the Fort. It is believed that there was a Palace and a Fort, where the present church is situated.

Wahakotte was once a very prosperous town with a Fort, ramparts a moat and thoroughfares, where some sub-kings ruled this area.

It is also on record that king Elara’s Fort too was built here, before he was defeated by King Dhutugemunu, in 164 BC. From a place called Maligatenna one can see Dambulla Rock temple to the North of it.

The ceylon Alamanac 1834 (page 204) records that there were ruins of Rangalla Nuwara and a Hindu Kovil Pattini Devalaya in the nearby woods.

Yamasinghe, adopted son of Karalliyadda Bandara who later became Don Phillp after embracing Christianity in Goa, India was received by some rebels from kandy in Wahakotte (Queyroz pages 443,447,708).

King Rajasinghe, of Kandy who fought against the Portuguese captured some of these rebels and made them settle down in Wahakotte.

They earned their living by cultivating paddy and other crops, some doing business and trade and women sewing dresses for women and men.

Some engaged themselves running taverns and making liquor (Robert Knox page 248). When the Dutch captured which was under the portuguese rule, confiscated all catholic institutions, churches, schools and religious places, chased away Catholic priests and banned all religions activities, Fr Joseph Vaz who came to Sri Lanka disguised as a labourer had visited Wahakotte.

The peasants of this area had built a little hut on a hillock for the Father and it is still venerated by the Catholics.

King Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe, younger brother of Sri Vijaya Rajasinghe’s queen, who became the King of the Kandyan Kingdom, gave permission to the catholics to perform their religious activities and gave freedom of worship.

The King as a token of goodwill gave back the statue of St Anthony which was plundered from a church in Kandy during the reign of his brother-in-law- Sri Vijaya Rajasinghe to the catholics of Wahakotte.

Once there was a severe drought around Wahakotte during this time and the poor people suffered a lot. The catholics of Wahakotte prayed under the sacred statue of St Anthony and the rain come pouring down to the call of their innocent prayer. The catholics and non-catholics specially Buddhists had organised a procession (Perahera) to mark the wonderful miracle.

There is interesting legend about the sacred statue.

This historic church was completely destroyed by enemies except this holy statue.

It is recorded that the villagers have hidden this statue in a rice-pot and were able to save it from the enemies.

The catholics of Wahakotte faced innumerable harassments from the Dutch during this period.

The catholics of Wahakotte have erected a place of worship in a secret place during the time of Fr Joseph Vaz and it looked like a cattle-shed during the daytime but in the night it was a prayer-room.

The statue of St Anthony is taken in procession to this sacred place where Fr Joseph Vaz is venerated during Wahakotte celebrations.

This historic festival portrays the story of catholics, who without any support from any organized clergy had maintained the catholic faith for over 200 years in a purely non-catholic surrounding.

Wahakotte which was once a Royal city holds a unique place in the history of Catholics in Sri Lanka.

Fr. Yohan, is the parish priest of Wahakotte church and the chief guest for this year’s celebrations was Bishop of Kandy, most Rev. Viannny Fernando.

Richard Basnayake

Inter Church Pentecost rally for unity

Louis Benedict

Sri Lanka’s first ever Inter Denominational Pentecost rally for unity will be held on June 25 from 9 am to 1pm at the Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour in Colombo.

The rally is being organised by the Inter Church Fellowship (ICF) which believes that this is the time when the prophetic prayer of Jesus is coming to fulfillment. In this prayer Jesus said, “May they all be one as You Father are in Me and I am in You. May they be one in Us; so that the world may believe that You have sent me.” (John 17:21).

An ICF release states: “There is clear evidence that this prophetic prayer of the Lord Jesus is

being fulfilled in this era and we all need to co-operate with the Lord in doing His will to bring about Christian unity in diversity through the power of the Holy Spirit as a prelude to lasting peace, unity and justice in the world.”

The Colombo rally will include inter-denominational praise and worship with the participation of singing groups from different churches. The united Christian service will include messages from representatives of the churches who will gather together in the spirit of inter-church fellowship. In June 2009 the International Ecumenical Fraternity comprising more than sixty thousand members representing about ten Christian denominations in some fifty countries held a Pentecost rally for Christian unity at the Sacred Heart Basilica in Paris. It was presided over by Cardinal Walter Casper, the then President of the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for Christian Unity.

The cardinal said Pope Benedict the XVI and the Vatican were giving top priority to the mission or pilgrimage for Christian unity in a spirit of accommodation, forgiveness and understanding for conflict resolution. He said the Vatican was continuing a dialogue with various Christian churches because it believed that until there was unity in diversity among different Christian denominations, there would be no lasting peace, unity and justice in the world.

DVD films on the International Inter-denominational Rally in Paris and talks on the need for Christian unity will be available at the Colombo rally. The International Ecumenical Fraternity was formed by the Chemin Neuf Community in France. The community was founded in 1973 by a Jesuit Priest Fr. Laurent Faber. It now comprises some thousand four hundred fully committed members representing about ten Christian denominations.

They all have sold their houses, property and possessions and share all their resources in a common bond while working towards their committed mission to serve the needy. This is an example of how the early church operated. During the first five hundred years of Christianity, there was only one church, the Church of Jesus Christ. The first splits emerged around 500 AD with the oriental churches going their own way. Then around 1,000 AD the first major split took place with the Greek Orthodox Church formally separating itself from the Roman Catholic Church.

About 500 years later, the Pope excommunicated Rev. Martin Luther who rejected the Pope’s order and formed the Lutheran Church after which several other denominations were formed. Now the church has split into hundreds or possibly thousands of denominations.

The release continues: “But significantly some five hundred years after the major rifts the Holy Spirit is moving in a mighty and powerful way to bring the church back to unity in diversity.”

The ICF calls on all Christians to co-operate with this mission of bringing about Christian unity in diversity. It emphasizes that the June 25 rally in Colombo will be the first, important step in this direction. It deplores the fact that in human terms the divisions today are so deep and complex that it would seem that unity in this sphere would appear impossible.

But the ICF reminds all Christians to cling to the hope the Bible proclaims. The Good Book categorically states that nothing is impossible with God if we cooperate with him in doing His will in fulfilling the prophetic prayer of Jesus that all will be one just as He and the Father are one.

All are welcome to attend the rally

Weekly Devotions:

Decisions: Let the Lord point the way

Every person has to make some sort of decision in their lives. Life is full of choices. Usually, we take the pathway that makes us feel good and comfortable.When we read God’s word, we discover that God waits for us to come to Him - specially when making decisions, as some of these choices can either make or break our lives.

Just like our earthly father expects us to confide in him our heavenly Father too waits for us to enter into His presence with all our decision making. When our heavenly Father possesses all knowledge of our lives and what is best for us, if we do not approach Him, surely it will hurt his feelings immensely. It is almost like disrespecting Him and not acknowledging His all-knowing attributes.

We read in the Bible that sometimes people cast lots to discover God’s direction, the last time we hear of such a method being used is when the disciples prayed for guidance as to who will take the place of Judas Iscariot, after he commits suicide as a result of betraying Christ.

The Kings of Israel were blessed when they made their decision in the light of God’s direction. This was usually done by asking God’s Prophets for a word from the Lord. King David always did this before he went to war. The one time he did not was when he took his life into his own hands as he gave into his own desires in wanting Bathsheba, a beautiful married woman whom he desired,and ended up in adultery and schemed in murdering her husband Uriah.

Although he did not ask for God’s direction in this matter, God sends His Prophet Nathan to speak to him and punishment followed David’s bad decision of taking matters into his own hands. God sees everything and knows everything. This is one of His characteristics. He is Omniscient. Nothing can escape His eye.As a child of God, you are required to take everything to God in prayer.

Even your temptations and weaknesses. David should have cried to the Lord regarding this temptation and God would have certainly directed David in this matter too.In my own experiences, I have found that Jesus draws very close to you when you cry out to Him.

Even when we do this, the pathway shown can be difficult - but as long as His guidance is followed, we know the end result will be God’s plan fulfilled in our lives. Jeremiah 29:11-13: “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me , and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Sunitha Sahayam

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Prayer

Lord, Jesus Christ, I bring to you this whole matter of making choices. Be thou my wisdom and direction. I know and understand that your way is the best way, as you can see the end from the beginning. Let not my common sense be the deciding factor of my decisions my Lord, but let it be you who decides for me. Help me to put my trust in you and receive what you have planned for my life as this is the best thing that can happen to me. Yes Lord, be thou my guiding light - may your words be a lamp unto my feet and life unto my pathway. I present my petitions in Jesus’ precious name, Amen.