Devotion to the Sacred Heart

“During this conversation Mark and Frances discuss the unique Devotion that Carmelites have to the Sacred Heart. They begin by reading and discussing comments made by the Holy Father, Francis, regarding the role of the heart in our journey to Christ. Pope Francis speaks about the need to conform our heart to the heart of Christ, and to be transformed by that very act. Mark and Frances then go on to explore St. Therese of Lisieux’s perspective on devotion to the Sacred Heart. For St. Therese, Christ’s heart is always a heart of love. She does not focus, as so many others do, on the suffering of the piercing thorns which wounded our Lord, for St. Therese the central idea of Christ’s heart is an all-purifying love. She understands that suffering is part of the process, but she emphasizes that this is not an end in itself. The only reason for this devotion, in the mind of Therese, is to help us conform our own hearts to the buring heart of love, which is the heart of Jesus.”