Dilexit Nos §220

²²⁰ I ask our Lord Jesus Christ to grant that his Sacred Heart may continue to pour forth the streams of living water that can heal the hurt we have caused, strengthen our ability to love and serve others, and inspire us to journey together towards a just, solidary and fraternal world. Until that day when we will rejoice in celebrating together the banquet of the heavenly kingdom in the presence of the risen Lord, who harmonizes all our differences in the light that radiates perpetually from his open heart. May he be blessed forever. Given in Rome, at Saint Peter’s, on 24 October of the year 2024, the twelfth of my Pontificate. __________________________________ Many of the reflections in this first chapter were inspired by the unpublished writings of the late Father Diego Fares, S.J. May the Lord grant him eternal rest. Cf. HOMER, Iliad , XXI, 441. Cf. Iliad , X, 244. Cf. PLATO, Timaeus , 65 c-d; 70. Homily at Morning Mass in Domus Sanctae Marthae , 14 October 2016: L’Osservatore Romano , 15 October 2016, p. 8. SAINT JOHN PAUL II, Angelus , 2 July 2000: L’Osservatore Romano , 3-4 July 2000, p. 4. ID., Catechesis , 8 June 1994: L’Osservatore Romano , 9 June 1994, p. 5. The Demons (1873). ROMANO GUARDINI, Religiöse Gestalten in Dostojewskijs Werk , Mainz/Paderborn, 1989, pp. 236ff. KARL RAHNER, “Some Theses for a Theology of Devotion to the Sacred Heart” , in Theological Investigations , vol. III, Baltimore-London, 1967, p. 332. Ibid., p. 333. BYUNG-CHUL HAN, Heideggers Herz. Zum Begriff der Stimmung bei Martin Heidegger , München, 1996, p. 39. Ibid., p. 60; cf. p. 176. Cf. ID., Agonie des Eros , Berlin, 2012. Cf. MARTIN HEIDEGGER, Erläuterungen zu Hölderlins Dichtung , Frankfürt a. M., 1981, p. 120. Cf. MICHEL DE CERTEAU, L’espace du désir ou le «fondement» des Exercises Spirituels: Christus 77 (1973), pp. 118-128. Itinerarium Mentis in Deum , VII, 6. ID., Proemium in I Sent ., q. 3. SAINT JOHN HENRY NEWMAN, Meditations and Devotions , London, 1912, Part III [XVI], par. 3, pp. 573-574. Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes , 82. Ibid ., 10. Ibid ., 14. Cf. DICASTERY FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, Declaration Dignitas Infinita (2 April 2024), 8. Cf. L’Osservatore Romano , 8 April 2024. Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes , 26. SAINT JOHN PAUL II, Angelus , 28 June 1998: L’Osservatore Romano , 30 June-1 July 1998, p. 7. Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ (24 May 2015), 83: AAS 107 (2015), 880. Homily at Morning Mass in Domus Sanctae Marthae , 7 June 2013: L’Osservatore Romano , 8 June 2013, p. 8. PIUS XII, Encyclical Letter Haurietis Aquas (15 May 1956), I: AAS 48 (1956), 316. PIUS VI, Constitution Auctorem Fidei (28 August 1794), 63: DH 2663. LEO XIII, Encyclical Letter Annum Sacrum (25 May 1899): ASS 31 (1898-1899), 649. Ibid : “Inest in Sacro Corde symbolum et expressa imago infinitæ Iesu Christi caritatis” . Angelus , 9 June 2013: L’Osservatore Romano , 10-11 June 2013, p. 8. We can thus understand why the Church has forbidden placing on the altar representations of the heart of Jesus or Mary alone (cf. Response of the Congregation of Sacred Rites to the Reverend Charles Lecoq, P.S.S., 5 April 1879: Decreta Authentica Congregationis Sacrorum Rituum ex Actis ejusdem Collecta , vol. III, 107-108, n. 3492). Outside the liturgy, “for private devotion” (ibid.), the symbolism of a heart can be used as a teaching aid, an aesthetic figure or an emblem that invites one to meditate on the love of Christ, but this risks taking the heart as an object of adoration or spiritual dialogue apart from the Person of Christ. On 31 March 1887, the Congregation gave another, similar response (ibid., 187, n. 3673). ECUMENICAL COUNCIL OF TRENT, Session XXV, Decree Mandat Sancta Synodus (3 December 1563): DH 1823. FIFTH GENERAL CONFERENCE OF THE LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN BISHOPS, Aparecida Document (29 June 2007), n. 259. Encyclical Letter Haurietis Aquas (15 May 1956), I: AAS 48 (1956), 323-324. Ep . 261, 3: PG 32, 972. In Io. homil. 63, 2: PG 59, 350. De fide ad Gratianum , II, 7, 56: PL 16, 594 (ed. 1880). Enarr. in Ps . 87, 3: PL 37, 1111. Cf. De fide orth . 3, 6, 20: PG 94, 1006, 1081. OLEGARIO GONZÁLEZ DE CARDEDAL, La entraña del cristianismo , Salamanca, 2010, 70-71. Angelus , 1 June 2008: L’Osservatore Romano , 2-3 June 2008, p. 1. PIUS XII, Encyclical Letter Haurietis Aquas (15 May 1956), II: AAS 48 (1956), 327-328. Ibid .: AAS 48 (1956), 343-344. BENEDICT XVI, Angelus , 1 June 2008: L’Osservatore Romano , 2-3 June 2008, p. 1. VIGILIUS, Constitution Inter Innumeras Sollicitudines (14 May 553): DH 420. ECUMENICAL COUNCIL OF EPHESUS, Anathemas of Cyril of Alexandria , 8: DH 259. SECOND ECUMENICAL COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE, Session VIII (2 June 553), Canon 9: DH 431. SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS, Spiritual Canticle , red. A, Stanza 22, 4. Ibid., Stanza 12, 8. Ibid., Stanza 12, 1. “There is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist” ( 1 Cor 8:6). “To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen” ( Phil 4:20). “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation” ( 2 Cor 1:3). Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente (10 November 1994), 49: AAS 87 (1995), 35. Ad Rom. , 7: PG 5, 694. “That the world may know that I love the Father” ( Jn 14:31); “The Father and I are one” ( Jn 10:30); “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” ( Jn 14:10). “I am going to the Father” ( pros ton Patéra : Jn 16:28). “I am coming to you” ( pros se : Jn 17:11). “ eis ton kolpon tou Patrós ”. Adv. Haer. , III, 18, 1: PG 7, 932. In Joh. II, 2: PG 14, 110. Angelus , 23 June 2002: L’Osservatore Romano , 24-25 June 2002, p. 1. SAINT JOHN PAUL II, Message on the Hundredth Anniversary of the Consecration of the Human Race to the Divine Heart of Jesus , Warsaw, 11 June 1999, Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 3: L’Osservatore Romano , 12 June 1999, p. 5. ID., Angelus , 8 June 1986: L’Osservatore Romano , 9-10 June 1986, p. 5 Homily , Visit to the Gemelli Hospital and to the Faculty of Medicine of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 27 June 2014: L’Osservatore Romano , 29 June 2014, p. 7. Eph 1:5, 7; 2:18; 3:12. Eph 2:5, 6; 4:15. Eph 1:3, 4, 6, 7, 11, 13, 15; 2:10, 13, 21, 22; 3:6, 11, 21. Message on the Hundredth Anniversary of the Consecration of the Human Race to the Divine Heart of Jesus , Warsaw, 11 June 1999, Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 2: L’Osservatore Romano , 12 June 1999, p. 5. “Since there is in the Sacred Heart a symbol and the express image of the infinite love of Jesus Christ that moves us to love one another, it is fit and proper that we should consecrate ourselves to his most Sacred Heart – an act that is nothing else than an offering and a binding of oneself to Jesus Christ, for whatever honour, veneration and love is given to this divine Heart is really and truly given to Christ himself…And now, today, behold another blessed and heavenly token is offered to our sight – the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, with a cross rising from it and shining forth with dazzling splendour amidst flames of love. In that Sacred Heart all our hopes should be placed, and from it the salvation of men is to be confidently besought” (Encyclical Letter Annum Sacrum [25 May 1899]: ASS 31 [1898-1899], 649, 651). “For is not the sum of all religion and therefore the pattern of more perfect life, contained in that most auspicious sign and in the form of piety that follows from it inasmuch as it more readily leads the minds of men to an intimate knowledge of Christ our Lord, and more efficaciously moves their hearts to love him more vehemently and to imitate him more closely?” (Encyclical Letter Miserentissimus Redemptor [8 May 1928]: AAS 20 , 167). “For it is perfectly clear that this devotion, if we examine its proper nature, is a most excellent act of religion, inasmuch as it demands the full and absolute determination of surrendering and consecrating oneself to the love of the divine Redeemer whose wounded heart is the living sign and symbol of that love… In it, we can contemplate not only the symbol, but also, as it were, the synthesis of the whole mystery of our redemption… Christ expressly and repeatedly pointed to his heart as the symbol by which men are drawn to recognize and acknowledge his love, and at the same time constituted it as the sign and pledge of his mercy and his grace for the needs of the Church in our time” (Encyclical Letter Haurietis Aquas [15 May 1956], Proemium, III, IV: AAS 48 , 311, 336, 340). Catechesis , 8 June 1994, 2: L’Osservatore Romano , 9 June 1994, p. 5. Angelus , 1 June 2008: L’Osservatore Romano , 2-3 June 2008, p. 1. Encyclical Letter Haurietis Aquas (15 May 1956), IV: AAS 48 (1956), 344. Cf. ibid .: AAS 48 (1956), 336. “The value of private revelations is essentially different from that of the one public revelation: the latter demands faith… A private revelation… is a help which is proffered, but its use is not obligatory” (BENEDICT XVI, Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini [30 September 2010], 14: AAS 102 ), 696). Encyclical Letter Haurietis Aquas (15 May 1956), IV: AAS 48 (1956), 340. Ibid .: AAS 48 (1956), 344. Ibid . Apostolic Exhortation C’est la Confiance (15 October 2023), 20: L’Osservatore Romano , 16 October 2023. SAINT THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS, Autobiography , Ms A, 83v°. SAINT MARIA FAUSTINA KOWALSKA, Diary , 47 (22 February 1931) , Marian Press, Stockbridge, 2011, p. 46. Mishnah Sukkah, IV, 5, 9. Letter to the Superior General of the Society of Jesus , Paray-le-Monial (France), 5 October 1986: L’Osservatore Romano , 7 October 1986, p. IX. Acta Martyrum Lugdunensium , in EUSEBIUS OF CAESARIA, Historia Ecclesiastica , V, 1: PG 20, 418. RUFINUS, V, 1, 22, in GCS, Eusebius II, 1, p. 411, 13ff. SAINT JUSTIN, Dial. 135,3: PG 6, 787 NOVATIAN, De Trinitate , 29: PL 3, 994; cf. SAINT GREGORY OF ELVIRA, Tractatus Origenis de libris Sanctarum Scripturarum , XX, 12: CSSL 69, 144. Expl. Ps. 1:33: PL 14, 983-984. Cf. Tract. in Ioannem 61, 6: PL 35, 1801. Ep. ad Rufinum , 3, 4.3: PL 22, 334. Sermones in Cant. 61, 4: PL 183, 1072. Expositio altera super Cantica Canticorum , c. 1: PL 180, 487. WILLIAM OF SAINT-THIERRY, De natura et dignitate amoris , 1: PL 184, 379. ID., Meditivae Orationes , 8, 6: PL 180, 230. SAINT BONAVENTURE, Lignum Vitae. De mysterio passionis , 30. Ibid., 47. Legatus divinae pietatis , IV, 4, 4: SCh 255, 66. LÉON DEHON, Directoire spirituel des prêtres su Sacré Cœur de Jésus , Turnhout, 1936, II, ch. VII, n. 141. Dialogue on Divine Providence , LXXV: FIORILLI M.-CARAMELLA S., eds., Bari, 1928, 144. Cf., for example, ANGELUS WALZ, De veneratione divini cordis Iesu in Ordine Praedicatorum , Pontificium Institutum Angelicum, Rome, 1937. RAFAEL GARCÍA HERREROS , Vida de San Juan Eudes , Bogotá, 1943, 42. SAINT FRANCIS DE SALES, Letter to Jane Frances de Chantal , 24 April 1610. Sermon for the Second Sunday of Lent , 20 February 1622. Letter to Jane Frances de Chantal , Solemnity of the Ascension, 1612. Letter to Marie Aimée de Blonay , 18 February 1618. Letter to Jane Frances de Chantal , late November 1609. Letter to Jane Frances de Chantal , ca. 25 February 1610. Entretien XIV , on religious simplicity and prudence. Letter to Jane Frances de Chantal, 10 June 1611. SAINT MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE, Autobiography , n. 53. Ibid. Ibid., n. 55. Cf. DICASTERY FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, Norms for Proceeding in the Discernment of Alleged Supernatural Phenomena , 17 May 2024, I, A, 12. SAINT MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE, Autobiography , n. 92. Letter to Sœur de la Barge , 22 October 1689. Autobiography , n. 53. Ibid., n. 55. Sermon on Trust in God , in Œuvres du R.P de La Colombière , t. 5, Perisse, Lyon, 1854, p. 100. Spiritual Exercises in London , 1-8 February 1677, in Œuvres du R.P de La Colombière , t. 7, Seguin, Avignon, 1832, p. 93. Spiritual Exercises in Lyon , October-November 1674, ibid., p. 45. SAINT CHARLES DE FOUCAULD, Letter to Madame de Bondy , 27 April 1897. Letter to Madame de Bondy , 28 April 1901. Cf. Letter to Madame de Bondy , 5 April 1909: “Through you I came to know the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the benedictions and the Sacred Heart”. Letter to Madame de Bondy , 7 April 1890. Letter to l’Abbé Huvelin , 27 June 1892. SAINT CHARLES DE FOUCAULD, Méditations sur l’Ancien Testament (1896-1897) , XXX, 1-21. ID., Letter to l’Abbé Huvelin ,16 May 1900. ID., Diary , 17 May 1906. Letter 67 to Mme. Guérin , 18 November 1888. Letter 122 to Céline , 14 October 1890. Poem 23, “To the Sacred Heart of Jesus” , June or October 1895. Letter 247 to l’Abbé Maurice Bellière , 21 June 1897. Last Conversations. Yellow Notebook , 11 July 1897, 6. Letter 197 to Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart , 17 September 1896. This does not mean that Therese did not offer sacrifices, sorrows and troubles as a way of associating herself with the suffering of Christ, but that, in the end, she was concerned not to give these offerings an importance they did not have. Letter 142 to Céline , 6 July 1893. Letter 191 to Léonie , 12 July 1896. Letter 226 to Father Roulland , 9 May 1897. Letter 258 to l’Abbé Maurice Bellière , 18 July 1897. Cf. SAINT IGNATIUS LOYOLA, Spiritual Exercises , 104. Ibid., 297. Cf. Letter to Ignatius Loyola , 23 January 1541. De Vita P. Ignatii et Societatis Iesu initiis , ch. 8. 96. Spiritual Exercises , 54. Ibid., 230ff. THIRTY-THIRD GENERAL CONGREGATION OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS, Decree 46, 1: Institutum Societatis Iesu , 2, Florence, 1893, 511. In Him Alone is Our Hope. Texts on the Heart of Christ , St. Louis, 1984. Letter to the Superior General of the Society of Jesus , Paray-le-Monial, 5 October 1986: L’Osservatore Romano , 6 October 1986, p. 7. Conference to Priests, “Poverty”, 13 August 1655. Conference to the Daughters of Charity, “Mortification, Correspondence, Meals and Journeys (Common Rules , art. 24-27), 9 December 1657. SAINT DANIELE COMBONI, Gli scritti , Bologna, 1991, 998 (n. 3324). Homily at the Mass of Canonization , 18 May 2003: L’Osservatore Romano , 19-20 May 2003, p. 6. SAINT JOHN PAUL II, Encyclical Letter Dives in Misericordia (30 November 1980), 1: AAS 72 (1980), 1219. ID., Catechesis , 20 June 1979: L’Osservatore Romano , 22 June 1979, 1. COMBONIAN MISSIONARIES OF THE HEART OF JESUS, Rule of Life , 3. SOCIETY OF THE SACRED HEART, Constitutions of 1982 , 7. Encyclical Letter Miserentissimus Redemptor (8 May 1928): AAS 20 (1928), 174. The believer’s act of faith has as its object not simply the doctrine proposed, but also union with Christ himself in the reality of his divine life (cf. SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS, Summa Theologiae , II-II, q. 1, a. 2, ad 2; q. 4, a. 1). PIUS XI, Encyclical Letter Miserentissimus Redemptor (8 May 1928): AAS 20 (1928), 174. Homily at the Chrism Mass , 28 March 2024: L’Osservatore Romano , 28 March 2024, p. 2. SAINT IGNATIUS LOYOLA, Spiritual Exercises , 203. Homily at the Chrism Mass , 28 March 2024: L’Osservatore Romano , 28 March 2024, p. 2. SAINT MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE, Autobiography , n. 55. Letter 133 to Father Croiset . Autobiography , n. 92. Encyclical Letter Annum Sacrum (25 May 1899): ASS 31 (1898-1899), 649. IULIANUS IMP., Ep. XLIX ad Arsacium Pontificem Galatiae , Mainz, 1828, 90-91. Ibid. DICASTERY FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, Declaration Dignitas Infinita (2 April 2024), 19: L’Osservatore Romano , 8 April 2024. Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Letter to the Superior General of the Society of Jesus on the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Encyclical “Haurietis Aquas” (15 May 2006): AAS 98 (2006), 461. In Num. homil. 12, 1: PG 12, 657. Epist . 29, 24: PL 16, 1060. Adv. Arium 1, 8: PL 8, 1044. Tract. in Joannem 32, 4: PL 35, 1643. Expos. in Ev. S. Joannis , cap. VII, lectio 5. PIUS XII, Encyclical Letter Haurietis Aquas , 15 May 1956: AAS 48 (1956), 321. SAINT JOHN PAUL II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Mater (25 March 1987), 38: AAS 79 (1987), 411. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium , 62. Ibid. , 60. Sermones super Cant., XX, 4: PL 183, 869. Introduction to the Devout Life , Part III, xxxv. Sermon for the XVII Sunday after Pentecost . Écrits spirituels , Paris 1947, 67. After 19 March 1902, all his letters begin with the words Jesus Caritas separated by a heart surmounted by the cross. Letter to l’Abbé Huvelin , 15 July 1904. Letter to Dom Martin , 25 January 1903. Cited in RENÉ VOILLAUME , Les fraternités du Père de Foucauld , Paris, 1946, 173. Méditations des saints Évangiles sur les passages relatifs à quinze vertus , Nazareth, 1897-1898, Charité ( Mt 13:3), 60. Ibid., Charité ( Mt 22:1), 90. H. HUVELIN, Quelques directeurs d’âmes au XVII siècle , Paris, 1911, 97. Conference, “Service of the Sick and Care of One’s own Health”, 11 November 1657. Common Rules of the Congregation of the Mission , 17 May 1658, c. 2, 6. Letter to the Superior General of the Society of Jesus , Paray-le-Monial, 5 October 1986: L’Osservatore Romano , 6 October 1986, p. 7. SAINT JOHN PAUL II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Reconciliatio et Paenitentia (2 December 1984), 16: AAS 77 (1985), 215. Cf. Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (30 December 1987), 36: AAS 80 (1988), 561-562. Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus (1 May 1991), 41: AAS 83 (1991), 844-845. Catechism of the Catholic Church , 1888. Catechesis , 8 June 1994, 2: L’Osservatore Romano , 4 May 1994, p. 5. Address to the Participants in the International Colloquium “Réparer L’Irréparable” , on the 350 Anniversary of the Apparitions of Jesus in Paray-le-Monial, 4 May 2024: L’Osservatore Romano , 4 May 2024, p. 12. Ibid . Homily at Morning Mass in Domus Sanctae Marthae , 6 March 2018: L’Osservatore Romano , 5-6 March 2018, p. 8. Address to the Participants in the International Colloquium “Réparer L’Irréparable”, on the 350 Anniversary of the Apparitions of Jesus in Paray-le-Monial, 4 May 2024: L’Osservatore Romano , 4 May 2024, p. 12. Homily at the Chrism Mass , 28 March 2024: L’Osservatore Romano , 28 March 2024, p. 2. Ibid. Ibid. Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ (24 May 2015), 80: AAS 107 (2015), 879. Catechism of the Catholic Church , No. 1085. Ibid ., No. 268. Autobiography , n. 53. Ms A, 84r. Ibid. Ibid. Ms A, 83v.; cf. Letter 226 to Father Roulland , 9 May 1897. Act of Oblation to Merciful Love , 9 June 1895, 2r-2v. Ms B, 3v. Letter 186 to Léonie, 11 April 1896. Letter 258 to l’Abbé Bellière , 18 July 1897. Cf. PIUS XI, Encyclical Letter Miserentissimus Redemptor , 8 May 1928: AAS 20 (1928), 169. Ibid.: AAS 20 (1928), 172. SAINT JOHN PAUL II , Catechesis, 20 June 1979 : L’Osservatore Romano , 22 June 1979, p. 1. Homily at Mass in Domus Sanctae Marthae , 27 June 2014: L’Osservatore Romano , 28 June 2014, p. 8. Message for the Centenary of the Consecration of the Human Race to the Divine Heart of Jesus, Warsaw , 11 June 1999, Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. L’Osservatore Romano , 12 June 1999, p. 5. Ibid. Letter to the Archbishop of Lyon on the occasion of the Pilgrimage of Paray-le-Monial for the Centenary of the Consecration of the Human Race to the Divine Heart of Jesus , 4 June 1999: L’Osservatore Romano , 12 June 1999, p. 4. Conference, “Repetition of Prayer”, 22 August 1655. Letter Diserti interpretes (25 May 1965), 4: Enchiridion della Vita Consacrata , Bologna-Milano, 2001, n. 3809. Vita Nuova XIX, 5-6: “I declare that, in thinking of its worth, love so sweet makes me feel that, if my courage did not fail me, I would speak out and make everyone else fall in love”. Ms A, 45v. Copyright © Dicastery for Communication