Haurietis Aquas
Fervent
devotional practice towards the Heart of Jesus will beyond all doubt foster and
advance devotion to the Holy Cross in particular, and love for the Most Holy
Sacrament of the Altar.
Fifty-eight
years ago, Pope Pius XII wrote an encyclical entitled Haurietis Aquas (On
Devotion to the Sacred Heart). The Holy Father traces both the Old and New
Testament roots that have such tender words about the human heart, and how
these verses inspired saints in the patristic and subsequent ages to reflect on
the divine love and life that Jesus came to share with us.
In
words that have been reiterated by his successors, Pope Pius XII summarizes how
devotion to the Sacred Heart fosters Eucharistic reverence. He urges all to
"consider the practice of devotion to the Heart of Jesus as the source and
symbol of unity, salvation and peace. Let no one think, however, that by such a
practice anything is taken from the other forms of piety with which Christian people,
under the guidance of the Church, have honored the divine Redeemer. Quite the
opposite. Fervent devotional practice towards the Heart of Jesus will beyond
all doubt foster and advance devotion to the Holy Cross in particular, and love
for the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. We can even assert - as the
revelations made by Jesus Christ to St. Gertrude and to St. Margaret Mary
clearly show - that no one really ever has a proper understanding of Christ
crucified to whom the inner mysteries of His Heart have not been made known.
Nor will it be easy to understand the strength of the love which moved Christ
to give Himself to us as our spiritual food save by fostering in a special way
the devotion to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, the purpose of which is - to
use the words of Our predecessor of happy memory, Leo XIII - 'to call to mind
the act of supreme love whereby our Redeemer, pouring forth all the treasures
of His Heart in order to remain with us till the end of time, instituted the
adorable Sacrament of the Eucharist.' For 'not the least part of the revelation
of that Heart is the Eucharist, which He gave to us out of the great charity of
His own Heart'" (Haurietis Aquas 122).
The
document, a beautiful meditation on this feastday and the history of devotion
to the Sacred Heart, can be downloaded in its entirety: