Sunday, December 7, 2008

A book commanded to be written by JESUS Himself

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of JESUS: (scanned; 1863 translation):

A review about the book: "The Bishop of Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, discovered this tremendous treasure after it had disappeared for almost two centuries, thus fulfilling a prophecy made by St. Margaret Mary. She foretold that this inspired writing would be forgotten for a time, but then would come to light again. The author (Fr. Croiset) was the spiritual director of St. Margaret Mary and therefore was intimately familiar with every aspect of the revelations given by Our Lord to this famous saint; thus, the book is actually the "key" to understanding the importance and the centrality of the Sacred Heart devotion for our lives as true Catholics. This great work was actually commissioned by Our Lord Himself through St. Margaret Mary, and as Father Croiset neared completion of it, St. Margaret told him that Our Lord said it was so completely in accord with His wishes that it would never be necessary to make any change in it. Later she revealed that it was Our Lord Himself who had inspired him with the ideas in this book and that it was so pleasing to Him that "none other but Himself could have arranged everything so much to His wishes." This magnificent work is a revelation to all just why so few of us become great saints and why so few, despite going frequently to the Sacraments, fail really to grow in the life of grace and make great progress in the spiritual order. The best there is on this important devotion!"

WikiSource Version of the Book

Special efficacy of the image of the Sacred Heart in converting souls:

"Even at the hour of death, incredulous, indifferent, hardened souls have been converted by simply
showing them a picture of the Sacred Heart, which sufficed to restore these sinners to the life of hope
and love, in a word, to touch the most hardened. It would, indeed, be a great misfortune to any
apostolic man to neglect so powerful a means of conversion
, and in proof of this I will mention a
single fact which will need no comment. A religious of the Company of Jesus had been requested
by the Blessed Margaret Mary to make a careful engraving of the Sacred Heart. Being often hindered
by other occupations, there was much delay in preparing this plate. ' This good father,'
writes the saint, 'is so much occupied by Monsignor d'Autun in the conversion of heretics, that
he has neither time nor leisure to give to the work so ardently desired by the Heart of our Divine
Master. You cannot imagine, my much-loved mother, how greatly this delay afflicts and pains
me. I must avow confidently to you my belief that it is the cause of his converting so few infidels
in this town. I seem constantly to hear these words : ' That if this good father had acquitted
himself at once of his promise to the Sacred Heart, Jesus would have changed and converted the
hearts of these infidels, on account of the joy He would have felt at seeing Himself honoured in the
picture He so much wishes for.
As, however, he prefers other work, even though to the glory of
God, to that of giving Him this satisfaction, He will harden the hearts of these infidels, and the
labours of this mission will not be crowned with much fruit.'
From: Month of the Sacred heart by Alexis Lefebvre

Passages from the book which shows that this book deals with the True Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament (Jesus):
...This devotion wholly consists, properly speaking, in an ardent love of Jesus Christ, constantly residing amongst us in the adorable Eucharist, and in testifying this ardent love by our grief at seeing Him so little loved and so little honoured, and by the means we take to repair this contempt and this want of love.
...
It is necessary, then, to have a lively faith, in order to have this ardent love for Jesus Christ in the most Blessed Sacrament, and to be touched by a sense of the insults to which the excess of His love for us exposes Him; and to acquire, in fine, a true devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ.

From a similar book, A Treatise on the True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin (both this book and the Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was lost for about 200 years before it was resurrected around the same time and both treats on true devotion)::
The devil, like a false coiner and a subtle and experienced sharper, has already deceived and destroyed so many souls by a false devotion to the Blessed Virgin, that he makes a daily use of his diabolical experience to plunge many others by this same way into everlasting perdition; amusing them, lulling them to sleep in sin, under the pretext of some prayers badly said, or of some outward practices which he inspires. As a false coiner does not ordinarily counterfeit any thing but gold and silver, or very rarely the other metals, because they are not worth the trouble, so the evil spirit does not for the most part counterfeit the other devotions, but only those to Jesus and Mary, the devotion to Holy Communion, and to our Blessed Lady, because they are, among other devotions, what gold and silver are amongst metals.


True devotion to the Blessed Sacrament (which is essentially same as the Devotion to the Sacred Heart*) and True devotion to the Blessed Virgin is like Gold and Silver of devotions. The former teaches true devotion of the most important devotion (Gold); the latter teaches true devotion of the second most important devotion (Silver).

* "The devotion to the Blessed Eucharist and the devotion to the Sacred Heart are not only two sister devotions, in reality they are only one and the same devotion. They complete each other and develop each other; they blend so perfectly together that one cannot go on without the other and their union is absolute. Not only can one of these devotions not be prejudicial to the other, but because they complete each other and perfect each other, they also reciprocally increase each other." --Footnote in the 1959 version of the book

Some excerpts from the book:

Sacred and Immaculate Hearts

Sacred and Immaculate Hearts

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Pillar of Scourging of Our Lord JESUS

Pillar of Scourging of Our Lord JESUS

Shroud of Turin

Shroud of Turin