Meditations on the Sacred Heart

THE following pages may naturally be divided into four parts: two novenas of meditations on the Sacred Heart, with special reference to the devotion of the First Fridays; a novena of meditations on the kindred subject of the Apostleship of Prayer; and a brief account of the devotional exercise of the Holy Hour, with accompanying meditations. This latter exercise is very intimately associated with the Apostleship of Prayer. These constituent portions of the book were not all written at the same time, nor was it my original intention to combine them into one. This was an afterthought, suggested by some persons who considered that the gathering together of these meditations in a single book would prove of use to many fervent clients of the Sacred Heart. I hope this explanation may suffice for those who discover any want of unity or continuity of treatment in the meditations. Indeed, the division into three novenas is not without its own advantages. Furthermore, these twenty-seven meditations, together with the four devoted to the Holy Hour, making thirty-one in all, supply sufficient matter for an entire Month of Meditations on the Sacred Heart. The book may thus be used as a book of Meditations for the Month of June. The Points for Self-Examination given in connection with the first nine meditations, as well as some of the matter of these meditations of the first series, are taken largely, at least in substance, from the very excellent Latin work Sacerdos, written many years ago by Father Petit, S.J., a well-known Belgian Jesuit. May our Lord Himself vouchsafe to bless this effort, however small and unworthy, to promote devotion to His most Sacred Heart.