Reaffirming the long-standing and intimate bond of the Jesuits with the devotion to the Sacred Heart, Fr. Arturo Sosa, General Superior of the Jesuits, has visited the sanctuary of Paray-le-Monial to renew the Society’s consecration to the Heart of Jesus.
During the visit to Paray-Le-Monial, Fr. Jean-Luc Favre SJ, National Director of the Prayer Network in France, and Fr. Cristóbal Fones SJ, International Vice Director, were also present.
As part of his trip to Brussels and France, Fr. Arturo Sosa SJ was determined to visit the town where, 350 years ago, the Lord appeared to the young Visitation nun, Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, and communicated His love for all humankind, sharing the feelings of His Sacred Heart.
He wished to reconsecrate the entire universal Society to this same Heart of Jesus, as he did two years ago in Loyola, as General Pedro Arrupe SJ, and General Peter Jan Beckx SJ did in 1972 and a hundred years earlier respectively. In 1915, the 26th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus would entrust the promotion of the spirituality of the Heart of Jesus in a special way to the Apostleship of Prayer, now known as the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.
“The Fathers of the XXVI General Congregation, recalling the solemn declaration of the XXII Congregation, where it was professed devoutly that ‘the Society of Jesus, with the greatest pleasure and the deepest gratitude, accepts and assumes this most pleasant task entrusted to it by our Lord Jesus Christ, to practice, develop and disseminate devotion to His divine Heart, and knowing from experience that the Apostleship of Prayer is an excellent means to grow this devotion, they have ratified once again, on the eve of the centenary of the restoration of the Society, the Society’s great willingness in everything that concerns the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and they have expressed the fervent desire that all its members, in particular the Superiors, consider themselves personally and strongly recommended to develop and disseminate this pious Association of the Sacred Heart by all the means available to them” Decret 21
A Eucharist was celebrated in the chapel where the Jesuit Saint Claude de La Colombière SJ rests. As Margaret Mary’s spiritual companion, he helped her to discern the depth of these visions and consecrated himself alongside her to embrace and spread this devotion.
The most significant moments included: meeting with the nuns of the convent, the spiritual pilgrimage through the shrine’s sites, engaging with the leaders of the Emmanuel community who manage the Shrine’s service, and the Eucharist where the Consecration took place.
This consecration is part of the Jubilee of the Sacred Heart of Jesus celebrated by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the apparitions of the Heart of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary in Paray-le-Monial.
Read more about the visit here
Learn more about the Jubilee here
