In prayer we come to Him with everything that touches our life,
with the sufferings and hopes of humanity.
(Constitutions, 20)
As apostolic contemplatives, Religious of the Sacred Heart root our lives in prayer. With a mission to discover and reveal the love of God, our spirituality and our mission are based in love. Our contemplative outlook is part of who we are, whether in prayer, in ministry or in our daily lives.
"The contemplative outlook on the world has been a call to be authentic apostles of Christ's love, to help bring to birth a more welcoming world, to make known a God who is great, bountiful and tender. It is a call to educate in such a way that God's plan, God's glory, may become a reality, so that all may grow as brothers and sisters in the inward freedom of the children of God, and have fullness of life." (Superior General Concepcion Camacho, RSCJ)
The pierced Heart of Jesus opens our being to the depths of God and to the anguish of humankind.
(Constitutions, 8)
On these pages, we will share prayers, poems, reflections and artwork that reflect the spirituality of the Society of the Sacred Heart. We hope you will return here periodically for resources appropriate to the liturgical season and our Sacred Heart traditions.
With bare spread arms and fullness of beingI ache for your coming and praise you alreadyin the becoming colors where night awakens the sun with stories and visions and hope.Where day bows to starlight and promises taleswhen next they meet to dance on the edge of Mystery's vastness.
Kimberly M. King, rscj
During this week when the people of the United States celebrate a national holiday of thanksgiving, we are confronted by the reality that all is not well and that the aspiration for a peaceful and prosperous nation held by our foremothers and forefathers are still beyond our grasp. Let us pray together, in thanksgiving for the many gifts that God has given us, and in supplication to reconcile the many struggles that so many of our people endure.
Last July, during a retreat in Halifax with Helen McLaughlin, we spent a day contemplating Mary, Woman of her Race, Religion, Culture, and Time. I thought of Mater - a courageous young Jewish woman who said “Yes” - not fully understanding. She trusted the mystery to unfold and today continues to say “Yes” as she listens deeply to God’s call and response with people. She is still our Mother of the invisible and the essential in life.
O, Mary, Mother who has known deepest sorrow and deepest love,
moved by profound gratitude for the innumerable gifts
you have poured out on this little Society,
we come together today as Province and Society
to acknowledge what we owe to your motherly protection ...
The following is the prayer service used at the provincial offices in St. Louis this morning, August 22, on the Memorial of the Queenship of Mary.
An excerpted reading from Lamentations 2&3:
“My eyes are worn out with weeping, my inmost being is in ferment, my heart plummets at the destruction of my young people, as the children and the babies grow faint in the streets of the city.
By Anne Montgomery, RSCJ (RIP)
In this Kairos time of crisis and challenge, may we, like Mary of Nazareth, be open to the Spirit who calls us to new ways of incarnating the Word of truth and love.
In the face of harsh judgment even by those closest, may we, too, ponder deep in ourhearts a response inspired by the nonviolent Christ who went beyondtraditional teachings to grow to maturity in wisdom and grace.
“Come in!”
Sophie, today is your feast, and I have been looking forward to this promised visit with you. I have so many things I want to ask you and I hope I remember them all!
The first thing I want to ask you is that you would give me – all of us --the true spirit of the Society. I want to live my vocation as you did and become as you dreamed that we all would be.
Catharine A. Henningsen | May. 6, 2014 Soul Seeing
By Maureen Glavin, RSCJ
On May 6th, 1882 Janet Erskine Stuart stood beside a bed of blue hyacinths and, as the story goes, the Word of the Lord came to her and she saw it all. It was a day so important that Mother Stuart “kept” it every year for the remainder of her life.
We are delighted to share some poems from Religious of the Sacred Heart.
Silence
The tree lifts
branches to
The One
Beyond all noise of naming.
Snow drifts down silence,
Melts into earth,
Disappears.
Clouds wrap hushed grey cloaks
Around our clamor;
Stilling even loud ambassadors
Of death.
Silence has the last word—
No word at all, but hum:
spiral galaxies,
chanting
Ommmm….
Beloved child of earth
I AM for you.
Come Home.
