How do you consecrate yourself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus?

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is ancient, finding its inspiration in various passages in the Bible. However, a more focused devotion wasn’t fully established until St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the 17th century, which included a specific act of “consecration”

The consecration promoted by St. Margaret Mary was intended to unite the Christian faithful more closely to Jesus, looking to the example of St. John the apostle, who “reclined upon [Jesus’] chest during the supper” (John 21:20).

Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

The Directory on Popular Piety explains the spiritual requirements this devotion entails, specifically the act of consecrating oneself to the Heart of Jesus:

𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩’𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥: 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦, 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬.

To consecrate oneself to Jesus Christ is to pledge your life to Jesus Christ, making an intentional promise to reform your life and act with love.

The act of consecration is not meant to be a merely outward event, but a manifestation of a deep interior openness to receive the love of God.

St. John Paul II affirmed this essential ingredient to the devotion, highlighting it in his letter On the 100th Anniversary of the Consecration of the Human Race to the Divine Heart of Jesus:

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨 “𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴”, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘥 “𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮” … 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘮𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺, 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘣𝘰𝘳.

For this reason, it is often suggested that Catholics go to confession before performing a formal act of consecration, renouncing sin and embracing the new life of virtue.

Choosing to consecrate yourself to the Sacred Heart means that you want to be united to Jesus more intimately and not that you simply want to do a pious devotion that other people have done before.

Besides these more abstract recommendations, there exists several different consecration prayers that put to words your desire to live united to Jesus. Often this prayer is recited while kneeling before an image or icon of the Sacred Heart, helping you to visualize what you are about to do.

Here is a prayer of consecration written by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque that summarizes these basic elements of the devotion, placing your entire self into the Heart of Jesus:

𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵.

𝘖 𝘚𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘐 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘖 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩, 𝘮𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩.

𝘖 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘐 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘠𝘰𝘶. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘠𝘰𝘶, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘠𝘰𝘶.

𝘖 𝘚𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘣𝘺 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘐 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘠𝘰𝘶, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘠𝘰𝘶, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘦.

Above all, consecrating yourself to the Sacred Heart should not be simply a recitation of a prayer, but a life-long commitment to let Jesus’ Heart reign in your heart.

Source: Fear Not