An
Act of Reparation to the
Sacred Heart 1
Most adorable and amiable Jesus, always filled with love for us, always touched by our miseries, always urged by the desire to make us share in Thy treasures and to give Thyself entirely to us; Jesus, my Savior and my God, who by an excess of the most ardent and the most prodigious of all loves, hast placed Thyself in the state of Victim in the adorable Sacrament of the Eucharist, in which Thou dost offer Thyself in sacrifice each day from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof, what must be Thy sentiments in this state, when in return for all that Thou hast done, Thou dost find in the hearts of the greater part of men only unkindness, neglect, ingratitude and contempt! Was it not enough, O my Savior, to have chosen the most painful way to save us, although Thou couldst have shown us excessive love at the expense of much less suffering? Was it not enough to abandon Thyself once to the cruel agony and the mortal languor, which the horrible vision of our sins with which Thou wert laden was to cause Thee? Why dost Thou wish to expose Thyself again daily to all the indignities of which the most fiendish and malicious of men and demons are capable? Ah! my God and my most loving Redeemer, what have been the sentiments of Thy Sacred Heart at the sight of all these acts of ingratitude and all those sins? How great has been the bitterness into which so many sacrileges and outrages have plunged Thy Sacred Heart!
Filled with the deepest regret for all these indignities, behold me prostrate and annihilated before Thee in the presence of Heaven and earth, to make an act of reparation for all the indignities and outrages which Thou hast received on our altars since the institution of this adorable Sacrament. With a heart humbled and broken with sorrow, I ask Thy pardon a thousand times for all these indignities. Would that I could, O my God, water with my tears and wash with my blood all the places where Thy Sacred Heart has been so horribly outraged and where the marks of Thy love have been received with such strange contempt! Would that I could, Sovereign Lord, my Savior and my Judge, whom I believe to be really present in the adorable Sacrament of the Eucharist. I resolve for the future, by the respect which I shall show in His Presence and by my zeal in doing Him honor, to prove that I believe firmly in the Real Presence. And as I make profession to honoring His Sacred Heart in a special manner, I wish to pass the rest of my life in this Divine Heart. Grant me, O my Jesus, the grace which I ask of Thee to breathe forth my last sigh at the hour of my death in Thy Sacred Heart. Amen.
O Divine Heart of Jesus, inexhaustible Source of love and goodness, ah! how I regret that I have forgotten Thee so much and loved Thee so little! O Sacred Heart, Thou dost merit the reverence and love of all hearts which Thou hast cherished so much and laid under infinite obligations. And yet Thou dost receive from the greater number nothing but ingratitude and coldness, and especially from my own heart which merits Thy just indignation. But Thy Heart is all full of goodness and mercy, and of this I wish to avail myself to obtain reconciliation and pardon. O Divine Heart, I grieve intensely when I see myself guilty of such cowardice and when I consider the ungrateful conduct of my wicked heart, which has so unjustly stolen the love that it owes to Thee and bestowed it on myself or on vain amusements.
O Heart most meek, if the sorrow and shame of a heart that recognizes its error can satisfy Thee, pardon this heart of mine for it is sorry for its infidelity and ashamed of the little care which it has taken to please Thee by its love. O Sacred Heart of my Savior, what could I expect from all this but Thy displeasure and condign punishment if I did not hope in Thy mercy. O, Heart of my God, Heart most holy, Heart to which alone belongs to pardon sinners, do Thou in Thy mercy pardon this poor miserable heart of mine. All its powers unite in a supreme effort to make reparation to Thee for its wanderings from Thee and the disordered application of its love.
Ah! how have I been able hitherto to refuse Thee my heart, I who have so many obligations to make Thee its sole possessor, nevertheless I have done so. But now how I regret that I have wandered away from Thee, from the love of Thee who art the Source of all goodness, in a word, from the Heart of my Jesus, who although needing me not, hast sought me out and lavished Thy favors on me. O adorable Heart of Jesus, is it possible that my heart can have treated Thee thus, my heart which depends entirely on Thy love and Thy benefits and which, if Thou shouldst take them from it, would fall into the utmost extremes of misery or be reduced to nothingness? Ah! how I am beholden to Thy goodness, O indulgent Heart of my Savior, for having borne with me so long in my ingratitude! Oh! how timely Thy mercies come to pardon my poor, inconstant heart!
O Heart of my Jesus, I now consecrate to Thee and give Thee all my love and the source of my love, which is my heart; I give Thee both irrevocably, although with great confusion for having so long refused Thee Thine own possessions. O Divine Heart, my very capability of bestowing my poor heart on Thee is a proof of Thy great love for me, but alas! I have availed myself badly of such a favorable opportunity to merit Thy love and grace. Oh! how great is my confusion at the thought of this! O Heart of my Jesus, reform my faithless heart, grant that henceforth it may bind itself to Thy love by its own, and that it may approach Thee as much in the future as it has wandered away from Thee in the past, and as Thou art the Creator of my heart, may Thou, I beseech Thee, one day give it the crown of immortality.
O most Sacred and adorable Heart of Jesus, behold me humbly prostrate before Thee with a heart contrite and penetrated with lively sorrow for having loved Thee so little and for having offered Thee so many insults by my wandering from Thee, by my ingratitude, my perfidy and my other acts of infidelity, by which I have rendered myself unworthy of Thy mercies and of all the graces and favors of Thy pure love.
The shame and regret which I feel leave me no other words to express myself except to say: I have sinned against Thee. Have pity on me who am unworthy of all mercy. Do not condemn me, however, O Divine Heart, full of charity. I implore Thee to manifest the excess of Thy goodness by showing favor to this poor criminal who appears before Thee annihilated in the abyss of her nothingness and misery. Alas! O Sacred Heart, I have sinned against Thee, do not abandon me to the rigor of Thy justice which would infallibly punish any want of love towards Thee by the eternal privation of Thy love. Oh! rather let all torments, pains and miseries come and overwhelm me, than that I should be deprived for a moment of loving Thee! And since it is Thou, O Divine Heart of Jesus, the Source of love, who hast received the insults of all my infidelities and of my want of love, do Thou take care to be avenged upon me. If Thou wishest to condemn me to burn eternally, I consent, provided it be in the devouring fire of Thy pure love. O compassionate Heart, save me by the excess of Thy mercy. Do not allow me to perish in the deluge of my iniquities. O Heart of love, I cry to Thee from the abyss of my misery; save me by Thy ardent charity. Save me, I implore Thee, by all that is in Thee most capable of moving Thee to do me this great mercy. Have pity, then, on this poor criminal who expects her salvation from Thee.
Oh! save me, O merciful Heart, at whatever price it may cost. Save me and do not deprive me of loving Thee eternally. Rather let all the moments of life that remain to me be filled with bitterness, sorrow and affliction.
Am I not sufficiently punished for having loved so late a Heart so full of love! But because I love Thee, I have such regret for having so ungratefully offended Thee, my Sovereign Good, that rather than having committed so many sins, I would wish from the moment I commenced to sin to have endured as a preservative all the pains of Hell, although I hope that in Thy love Thou wilt exempt me from them. This is what I pray Thee, while crying to Thee with all my heart for mercy. Pardon, then, in Thy mercy, this afflicted heart which has put all its confidence and all its hope in Thee.
O Heart of Jesus, my Savior, exercise over me this office which has cost Thee so dear and do not lose the fruit of so many sufferings and of so painful a death, but honor it by saving me in order that my heart may adore, praise and glorify Thee eternally. Be then, O Sacred Heart, our refuge and our hope, now and at the hour of our death!
Take my cause in hand, justify me and turn away the rigors which my sins have merited. Thou art my true friend, do Thou answer and satisfy for me. Draw me from the abyss into which my sins have precipitated me. Hearken to the groans of my afflicted heart which hopes for everything from Thy goodness. But if Thy justice condemns it as unworthy of pardon, it will appeal to the tribunal of Thy love, being ready to suffer all its rigors rather than be for a single moment deprived of loving Thee. Cut, burn, amputate; provided only I love Thee, it is sufficient for me. Spare neither my body nor my life, whenever there is question of Thy glory. I belong to Thee, O Divine and Adorable Heart, work out, then, my salvation, I implore Thee. In punishing my sins, do not abandon me to myself, allowing me to relapse into the same sins. Ah! rather a thousand deaths than offend Thee whom I love a hundred times more than my life!
What glory will the loss of a wretched grain of dust give Thee? And Thou shalt have great glory in saving such a miserable sinner. Save me, then, O pure Love, for I wish to love Thee eternally whatever price it may cost me. Yes, I wish to love Thee whatever it may cost me, I wish to love Thee with my whole heart. Amen.
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