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The nature of this devotion is made manifest from its object and end.
It is the physical heart of Christ, as united hypostatically to the
divine person,[1651] and inasmuch as it is the symbol of
Christ's love for us, which constitutes the object of this cult of
adoration, Christ's love is the love that comes from His most holy
soul and also from the uncreated Word. The motive of this devotion is
the infinite dignity of the Word to whom the heart of Christ is
hypostatically united, and it is simultaneously the manifestation of
both His uncreated and created love for us.
The terminus of this devotion is the very person of Christ inasmuch as
it is by the heart that He manifests His love for us.
The end of this devotion is that our hearts may be inflamed with love
for Christ, and as a consequence the reparation of injuries inflicted
upon Him.
Our love for Christ must be both affective and effective, and it must
manifest itself by imitating those virtues of which the most sacred
heart of Jesus is the symbol, namely, charity, humility, and
meekness, for He said: "Learn of me, because I am meek, and
humble of heart."[1652]
This devotion, repeatedly approved by the Church, whatever the
Jansenists, unbelievers, and rationalists may have said, is most
certainly lawful and holy. Discarding the physiological question,
whether the material heart is the organ of love or not, it is certainly
the organ that manifests emotional love, and hence it is the symbol of
love. Therefore the heart of Christ is the symbol of the love whereby
Christ "loved us and delivered Himself up for us."[1653] All
the graces we receive come from this love.
Thus there is a special reason for the adoration of this part of
Christ's body. Finally, this devotion arose in a most opportune
time, that of Jansenism, for the practical refutation of this
heresy, which denied that Christ died for all men, and which caused
many of the faithful to abstain from frequent Communion.
Devotion to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus is likewise a true,
holy, and opportune cult, for it refers to the Heart of Jesus
inasmuch as this Heart moved Jesus to give us the Eucharist as the
daily sacrifice and the most perfect of all the sacraments. AS Leo
XIII said: "This devotion reminds us of that act of supreme love
by which our Redeemer, lavishing upon us all the riches of His
Heart, so that on leaving this world, He might remain with us until
the end of time, instituted the adorable sacrament of the
Eucharist."[1654] We owe a debt of deep gratitude for the
institution of this devotion.
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