Library
The books and texts from which this site has been drawn — and where to read further.
The foundational text
Fr. John Croiset, S.J. — The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1691). The book around which this site is built. Croiset was the spiritual director of St. Claude de la Colombière, who in turn had been the director of St. Margaret Mary. He wrote the book at her own request, having been entrusted with the practices Christ had revealed to her. It is still in print today, available from TAN Books and other publishers of Catholic devotional classics.
The primary sources
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque — Autobiography. The first-person account by the visitandine nun to whom Christ revealed His Sacred Heart between 1673 and 1675 at the convent of Paray-le-Monial. Indispensable for the origin of the modern devotion.
St. Claude de la Colombière, S.J. — Spiritual Writings. The Jesuit priest who served as confessor to St. Margaret Mary, who recognized the truth of her revelations when others did not, and who first spread the devotion publicly.
The major papal documents
Pope Pius XI — Miserentissimus Redemptor (1928). The encyclical on reparation to the Sacred Heart. Pius XI prescribed the annual Act of Reparation now recited on the Feast of the Sacred Heart in churches throughout the world.
Pope Pius XII — Haurietis Aquas (1956). The fullest magisterial treatment of the devotion. "You shall draw waters with joy out of the Saviour's fountains" (Isaiah 12:3) is its opening; the encyclical traces the devotion through Scripture, the Fathers, and the medieval mystics to the seventeenth-century revelations.
Pope John Paul II — addresses and letters on the Sacred Heart. The pope who beatified Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey wrote and spoke many times on the devotion, particularly in connection with the social kingship of Christ.
The home enthronement movement
Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey, SS.CC. — Jesus, King of Love. The Sacred Heart of Picpus father who founded the home enthronement movement in the early twentieth century. His writings remain the classic guide to enthroning the Sacred Heart in the family home as the social reign of Christ.
Related classics of the spiritual life
St. Alphonsus Liguori — The Holy Eucharist and Visits to the Blessed Sacrament. The two great manuals of Eucharistic devotion. Alphonsus's emphasis on frequent Communion and on visits to the tabernacle is at the heart of the devotion's Eucharistic dimension.
Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade, S.J. — Abandonment to Divine Providence. A French Jesuit a generation after Croiset. The classic text on the disposition of receiving every moment as coming from the Heart of God.
Br. Lawrence of the Resurrection — The Practice of the Presence of God. A short, gentle Carmelite text on the disposition that crowns the inmost ring of the devotion: the unceasing awareness that one lives in the presence of God.
Online resources
The Apostleship of Prayer / Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network — popesprayer.va. The worldwide network of Catholics praying together for the Pope's monthly intentions through the Sacred Heart.
Mass Times — masstimes.org. A directory of Mass times at parishes across the world; useful for finding First Friday Masses and Adoration schedules.