The Novena to the Sacred Heart
Nine days of prayer leading to the Feast of the Sacred Heart — prayed this year alongside the whole U.S. Church.
Pray with the whole Church
From June 3 to 11, Catholics across the United States are praying a novena to the Sacred Heart, leading to a historic moment: on June 11 the U.S. bishops will consecrate the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, on the vigil of the Feast celebrated June 12. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has published the official daily prayers, reflections, and actions.
We warmly encourage you to pray along with them.
Open the official USCCB novena →Get a daily reminder
We’ll send a gentle note each morning of the novena with the day’s theme and prayer. Nine days, then it stops.
Or pray it here, day by day
Each day offers a way to pray, to learn (with a word from Fr. Croiset, whose writings shape this whole site), and to act — a practice from the devotion paired with an intention to carry. The daily themes follow the Litany of the Sacred Heart.
The prayer for each day
This is the Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart, attributed to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque — the same prayer Padre Pio prayed daily. Pray it each of the nine days, naming your intention.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
O my Jesus, You have said: “Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you.” Behold, I knock, I seek, and I ask for the grace of… (your request).
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be… Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.
O my Jesus, You have said: “If you ask anything of the Father in My name, He will give it to you.” Behold, in Your name I ask the Father for the grace of… (your request).
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be… Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.
O my Jesus, You have said: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” Encouraged by Your infallible words, I now ask for the grace of… (your request).
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be… Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted, have pity on us miserable sinners and grant us the grace which we ask of You, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Your tender Mother and ours. Hail, Holy Queen… St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray for us.
Pray the Efficacious Novena for your intention. See the prayer ↑
“This Divine Heart is… burning with love for men, always open to pour out on them every sort of grace and blessing.”
— Fr. John Croiset, S.J., The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1863)
The devotion begins not with what we do, but with what He has already done: a Heart on fire for us, holding nothing back. Croiset says the whole devotion is simply an ardent love of Jesus Christ in return.
Make a Morning Offering — and today, pray especially for all people, that they may encounter His love.
Pray the Efficacious Novena for your intention. See the prayer ↑
“Our best response to the love of Christ’s Heart is to love one another.”
— Fr. John Croiset, S.J., The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1863)
Love received becomes love given. Croiset teaches that true devotion overflows into charity — the Heart that loves us sends us to love our neighbor.
Perform a work of mercy — and today, pray especially for priests and religious, who bring us the sacraments.
Pray the Efficacious Novena for your intention. See the prayer ↑
“What riches dost Thou enclose in Thy Heart, and how easy is it for us to enrich ourselves.”
— Fr. John Croiset, S.J., The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1863)
The Heart of Jesus is, in Croiset’s words, the treasury of all graces. To praise Him is to recognize the wealth of love hidden in this Sacrament.
Make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament — and today, pray especially for devout and faithful souls, that they persevere.
Pray the Efficacious Novena for your intention. See the prayer ↑
“We cannot possibly have a friend more grateful than He is… He bears with incredible goodness all the miseries of those He loves.”
— Fr. John Croiset, S.J., The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1863)
Christ’s patience is astonishing — He forgets our faults and consoles those troubled by them. His mercy is the model for our own.
Pray a Holy Hour (He asked us to watch one hour) — and today, pray especially for those who do not yet know Christ.
Pray the Efficacious Novena for your intention. See the prayer ↑
“From the plenitude of that Divine Heart issue all the graces which God pours continually upon men.”
— Fr. John Croiset, S.J., The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1863)
Holiness is not our achievement but His gift, flowing from the wellspring of His Heart in the Eucharist — the source Croiset returns to again and again.
Resolve to receive Communion frequently — and today, pray especially for Christians separated from the unity of the Church.
Pray the Efficacious Novena for your intention. See the prayer ↑
“These practices of devotion… have no other aim but to repair, as far as possible, the outrages He endures.”
— Fr. John Croiset, S.J., The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1863)
At the center of the devotion is reparation — making amends in love for the coldness shown to His love. Croiset frames the whole devotion as a return of grateful love for ingratitude.
Make an Act of Reparation — and today, pray especially for the meek and humble of heart.
Pray the Efficacious Novena for your intention. See the prayer ↑
“It is a good thing, it is a sweet thing, to dwell in this Sacred Heart!”
— Fr. John Croiset, S.J., The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1863)
The Heart of Jesus is a refuge. Croiset gathers the saints who called it their place of shelter — where the soul finds peace no trouble can disturb.
Pray for a priest by name — and today, pray especially for those devoted to His mercy, and the suffering.
Pray the Efficacious Novena for your intention. See the prayer ↑
“Look at Him continually, if we wish to keep ourselves in interior recollection and to advance in His love.”
— Fr. John Croiset, S.J., The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1863)
To become gentle and humble is to keep our eyes on Him. Croiset’s fourth disposition — interior recollection — is simply the habit of turning back, again and again, to His Heart.
Make a Daily Examen, asking for a humble heart — and today, pray especially for the souls in purgatory.
Pray the Efficacious Novena for your intention. See the prayer ↑
“This Sacred Heart shall be the altar on which the same flames of divine love… shall consume mine.”
— Fr. John Croiset, S.J., The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1863)
The novena ends where the saints ended — giving themselves entirely. Today the U.S. bishops consecrate the nation; we join them by consecrating our own hearts to His.
Enthrone His image in your home — and today, pray especially for the lukewarm and indifferent, that His love rekindle them.
Pray the Efficacious Novena for your intention. See the prayer ↑
“Jesus is mine, since He is my head… let us enter this loving Heart, never again to depart from It.”
— Fr. John Croiset, S.J., The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1863)
The Solemnity itself — the joy the whole novena prepared for. Today we rest in the Heart we have sought, and resolve to keep returning to it.
Take up the First Fridays going forward — and today, pray especially for your own heart, that it be conformed to His.
Drawn to Divine Mercy?
The daily intentions above echo the Divine Mercy Novena that Jesus entrusted to St. Faustina — for it is the same Heart, the same love, revealed across the centuries. If you would like to pray the Divine Mercy Novena in full, you can find it here.
Pray the Divine Mercy Novena →The Efficacious Novena prayer and the writings of Fr. John Croiset (1863 edition) are in the public domain. The official national-novena reflections are published by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the Divine Mercy Novena by the Marian Fathers; this page links to both rather than reproducing their texts.