Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 7.djvu/202

 HEART

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HEART

imparts to it its meaning and its unity, and this sjin- bolism is admirably completed by the representation of the Heart as wounded. Since the Heart of Jesus appears to us as the sensible sign of His love, the visible wound in the Heart will naturally recall the invisible wound of this love. This sj'mbolism also explains that the devotion, although giving the Heart an essential place, is but little concerned with the anatomy of the heart or with physiologj'. Since, in images of the Sacred Heart, the symbolic expression must dominate all else, anatomical accuracy is not looked for; it would injure the devotion by rendering the sjTnbolism less evident. It is eminently proper that the heart as an emblem be distinguished from the anatomical heart: the suitableness of the image is favourable to the expression of the idea. A visible heart is necessary for an image of the Sacred Heart, but this visible heart must be a symbolic heart. Simi- lar observations are in order for physiology, in which the devotion cannot be totally disinterested, because the Heart of Flesh towards which the worship is directed in order to read therein the love of Jesus, is the Heart of Jesus, the real, living Heart that, in all truth, may be said to have loved and suffered; the Heart that, as we feel ourselves, had such a share in His emotional and moral life; the Heart that, as we know from a knowl- edge, however rudimentary, of the operations of our human life, had such a part in the operations of the Master's life. But the relation of the Heart to the love of Christ is not that of a purely conventional sign, as in the relation of the word to the thing, or of the flag to the idea of one's country; this Heart has been and is still inseparably connected with that life of benefactions and love. However, it is sufficient for our devotion that we know and feel this intimate con- nexion. We have nothing to do with the physiology of the Sacred Heart nor with determining the exact functions of the heart in daily life. We know that the sj'mbolism of the heart is a sj-mbolism founded upon reality and that it constitutes the special object of the devotion to the Sacred Heart, which devotion is in no danger of falling into error.

(iv) The heart is, al)Ove all, the emblem of love, and, by this characteristic, the devotion to the Sacred Heart is naturally defined. However, being directed to the loving Heart of Jesus, it naturally encounters whatever in Jesus is connected with this love. Now, was not this love the motive of all that Christ did and suffered? Was not all His inner, even more than His outward, life dominated by this love? On the other hand, the devotion to the Sacred Heart, being directed to the living Heart of Jesus, thus becomes familiar with the whole inner life of the Master, with all His virtues and sentiments, finally, with Jesus infinitely lo\nng and lovable. Hence, a first extension of the devotion is from the loving Heart to the intimate knowledge of Jesus, to His sentiments and virtues, to His whole emotional and moral life; from the loving Heart to all the manifestations of Its love. There is still another extension which, although hav- ing the same meaning, is made in another way, that is by passing from the Heart to the Person, a transi- tion which, as we have seen, is very naturally made. When speaking of a large heart our allusion is to the person, just as when we mention the Sacred Heart we mean Jesus. This is not, however, liocause the two are sjTionjTnous but when the word heart is used to designate the person, it is because such a person is considered in whatsoever relates to his heart, in his sentiments and virtues, in his emotional and moral life. Thus, when we designate Jesus as the Sacred Heart, we mean Jesus manifesting His Heart, Jesus all lo\'ing and amiable. Jesus entire is thus recapit- ulated in the Sacred Heart as all is recapitulated in Jesus.

(v) In thus devoting oneself to Jesus all loving and lovable, one cannot fail to obser\-e that His love

is rejected. God is constantly lamenting this in Holy Writ, and the saints have always heard within their hearts the plaint of unrequited love. Indeed one of the essential phases of the devotion is that it con- siders the love of Jesus for us as a despised, ignored love. He Himself revealed this when He complained so bitterly to Blessed Margaret Mary.

(vi) This love is everywhere manifest in Jesus and in His life, and it alone can explain Him together with His words and His acts. Nevertheless, it shines forth more resplendently in certain mysteries from which greater good accrues to us, and in which Jesus is more lavish of His loving benefactions and more complete in His gift of self, namely, in the Incarnation, in the Passion, and in the Eucharist. Moreover, these mys- teries have a place apart in the devotion which, everywhere seeking Jesus and the signs of His love and favours, finds them here to an even greater extent than in particular acts.

(vii) We have already seen that devotion to the Sacred Heart, being directed to the Heart of Jesus as the emblem of love, has mainly in view His love for men. This is oljviously not that it excludes His love for God, for this is included in His love for men, but it is above all the devotion to " the Heart that has so loved men", according to the words quoted by Blessed Margaret Marj'.

(viii) Finally, the question arises as to whether the love which we honour in this devotion is that with which Jesus loves us as Man or that with which He loves us as God; whether it is created or uncreated, His human or His Divine love. L'ndoul)tedly it is the love of God made Man, the love of the Incarnate Word. However, it does not seem that devout per- sons think of separating these two loves any more than they .separate the two natures in Jesus. Besides, even though we might wish to settle this part of the question at any cost, we would find that the opinions of authors are at variance. Some, considering that the Heart of Flesh is cormected with human love only, conclude that it does not syml>olize Divine love which, moreover, is not proper to the Person of Jesus, and that, therefore. Divine love is not the (firect object of the devotion. Others, while admitting that Divine love apart from the Incarnate Word is not the object of the devotion, believe it to lie such when considered as the love of the Incarnate \\'ord, and they do not see why this love also could not be sj'm- bolized by the Heart of flesh nor why, in this event, the devotion should be limited to created love only.

(2) Foundations of the devotion. — The que.stion may be considered under three aspects: the historical, the theological, and the scientific.

(i) Historical foundations. — In approving the de- votion to the Sacred Heart, the Church did not trust to the visions of Blessed Margaret Mary; she made abstraction of these and examined the worship in it- self. Margaret Marj''s visions could be false, but the devotion would not, on that account, be any less worthy or .solid. However, the fact is that the de- votion was propagated chiefly under the influence of the movement started at Paray-le-Monial; and prior to her beatification, Margaret Mary's visions were mo.st critically examined by the Church, whose judg- ment in such cases does not involve her infallibility but implies only a human certainty sufficient to war- rant consequent speech and action.

(ii) Theological foundations. — The Heart of Jesus, like all else that belongs to His Person, is worthy of adoration, but this wouUl not be so if It were con- sidered as isolated from this Person and as having no connexion with It. But it is not thus that the Heart is considered, and, in his Bull " Auctorem fidei", 1794, Pius VI authoritatively vindicated the devotion in this respect against the calumnies of the Jansenists. "The worship, although paid to the Heart of Jesus, extends further than the Heart of flesh, being directed