True Catholic News

TCW highly recommends to its readers the following excellent and encouraging book, "The Sacred Heart: Anecdotes and Examples to Assist in Promoting the Devotion to the Sacred Heart", by Fr. Joseph Keller, Imp., 1899. 

Here are some excerpts from pp. 73-76:

"It may be interesting to some of our
readers to know how the Sacred Heart
was honored by the Fathers of the
Church in the first ages. I believe
they confined their devotion to it to
these three points. They saw in the
Sacred Heart:

1. The origin of the Church.

2. The source of the sacraments.

3. They discovered in it a refuge in
danger, temptation and salvation after
the fall.

St. Augustine calls our attention to the fact

that it is not said in the Gospel 'that a
soldier wounded the side of Jesus., but
that he opened it,' in order that the
gates of life may remain open for us,
for there is the source of those sacra-
ments, without which life cannot be
given to us. That blood which was
shed has flowed for the forgiveness of
sin, and that water is at -the same time
a bath and a beverage for us.

Then follows one of his most beautiful
comparisons: 'Just in the same manner
as there was an opening in the ark of
Noe, through which all who entered
were saved, so also should we go
through the wounded side of Jesus
into His Sacred Heart. In the same
way as the first woman was formed
from the side of the first Adam, and
called life and mother of all the living,
so also did the second Adam sleep
in the sleep of death on the tree of
the cross, in order to form a spouse,
who came from the side of the Sleeper.' 

The following lines are from Pope 

Innocent VI: 'Among the many

mysteries of the Passion of Our Lord,

we ought especially to turn our eyes to
the wound made by the spear in His
sacred side after His death, whence
flowed that blessed water and blood,
which formed our virgin Mother, the
Church, His spotless spouse.'

In another place he says: 'The spear
which has wounded a dead Heart cured
our wounds and has given us life.'"

To read, *"The Sacred Heart" CLICK HERE.

*(Book is in a pdf file and may take time to download. -ED)

Overview