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While St. John Henry Newman is often known for his many intellectual sermons and expansive theological knowledge, he also had a profound spiritual life.
This can be seen in his devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which Pope Francis highlighted in his latest encyclical, Dilexit nos.
Heart speaks unto heart
One of the most clear signs of St. John Henry Newman’s devotion to the Sacred Heart is his motto. Pope Francis comments on this aspect of Newman’s spirituality, reflecting on the meaning behind it:
[T]he knowledge that Christ died for us does not remain knowledge, but necessarily becomes affection, love.” Along the same lines, Saint John Henry Newman took as his motto the phrase Cor ad cor loquitur [Heart speaks unto heart], since, beyond all our thoughts and ideas, the Lord saves us by speaking to our hearts from his Sacred Heart. This realization led him, the distinguished intellectual, to recognize that his deepest encounter with himself and with the Lord came not from his reading or reflection, but from his prayerful dialogue, heart to heart, with Christ, alive and present.
Furthermore, this love of Jesus’ Sacred Heart led Newman to compose a beautiful prayer that Pope Francis chose to include in his encyclical:
It was in the Eucharist that Newman encountered the living heart of Jesus, capable of setting us free, giving meaning to each moment of our lives, and bestowing true peace:
“O most Sacred, most loving Heart of Jesus, Thou art concealed in the Holy Eucharist, and Thou beatest for us still… I worship Thee then with all my best love and awe, with my fervent affection, with my most subdued, most resolved will.
O my God, when Thou dost condescend to suffer me to receive Thee, to eat and drink Thee, and Thou for a while takest up Thy abode within me, O make my heart beat with Thy Heart.
Purify it of all that is earthly, all that is proud and sensual, all that is hard and cruel, of all perversity, of all disorder, of all deadness. So fill it with Thee, that neither the events of the day nor the circumstances of the time may have power to ruffle it, but that in Thy love and Thy fear it may have peace.”
St. John Henry Newman’s example remind us of the need we all have of entering into a personal dialogue with Jesus, letting his Heart speak to our hearts.
And today we celebrate...