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FOREWORD TO THE FIRST EDITION
This book was composed during the lifetime of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and published in 1691, the year after her death..the book remained only thirteen years in circulation, during which time it was translated into nearly all the European languages....The following are the circumstances under which the book made its first appearance: St. Margaret Mary Alacoque wrote many times to her director, Father Croiset, at the behest of her Divine Master, asking him to write a book to make the devotion to the Sacred Heart (which hitherto had been practiced by chosen souls as a private devotion) known to the general body of the faithful. In her letter to him of April 14, 1689, she said: "If you knew the ardent desire which urges me to make the Sacred Heart of my Sovereign known and glorified, you would not refuse to undertake this work. If I am not mistaken, He wishes you to do so." And on September 15 of the same year she wrote to him: "Since you wish me to tell you what I think about your plans for honoring the Divine Heart of Jesus, I believe (if I am not mistaken) that they are most pleasing to him...And I tell you that you are happy to be among the number of those whom He will employ for the execution of His designs, as I can have no doubt but that He has chosen you for the execution of it. With regard to all that you propose to me in your letter both about meditations and the indulgences, it seems to me that I see clearly, and in a way which leaves no doubt, that it is He who has inspired you in this manner with these ideas. He has given me to understand that this manner is so pleasing to Him, that none other but Himself could have aranged everything so much to His wishes, and I believe that He will be very much glorified by it."
When she was aware that Father Croiset had undertaken the work she said to one of the sisters in confidence: "I shall certainly die this year in order not to be an obstacle to the great fruit which my Saviour intends to draw from a book on devotion to His Sacred Heart which Father X. will get printed as soon as possible."
In two letters during the last year of her life, while assuring Father Croiset of specal divine assistance for his work, she warned him of how much he would have to suffer on account of the publication of his book. On January 17, 1690, she wrote to him: "If I am not mistaken, our amiable Saviour seems to promise me that He will furnish you with all the graces and helps necessary, and even that He will supply on His part for all that may be wanting on ours. But all that will not be accomplished without much pain and suffering, which you are to receive as the strongest proofs of His will." On August 21 of the same year, she wrote to him: "You are surprised at that (some trial he had to endure), but that is nothing; more is to come, for you must be purified like gold in the crucible for the execution fo the designs of God. Those designs are truly great; therefore you will have much to suffer from the devil, from creatures and from yourself. But what will appear to you hardest to bear, will be when God will seem to take a share in making you suffer, but you have nothing to fear, for this is the way to show that He loves you...
"But to return to the question of your work on the adorable Heart of my Jesus, I have no doubt that He has assisted you, since the whole work, if I be not mistaken, is so perfectly in accordance with His wishes, that I do not think that it will necessary to change anything in it...Once again I pray you not to be downcast on account of all the contradictions, troubles and obstacles which this work which you have undertaken will encounter. Consider that He for whom you are doing it, being all-powerful, will not allow you to lack any of the helps necessary to accomplish it perfectly according to his desire."
Everything happened as St. Margaret Mary had foretold: she died before the end of the year; her death removed an obstacle to speaking freely about the revelations which she had received, and permitted Father Croiset to include an account of her life and the favors which she had received; the book was published as soon as possible during the year after her death; God was very much glorified by it, for in a short time it was the means of spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart to the ends of the earth; and finally it was a cause of great trouble and suffering to Father Croiset himself, for after being translated into most of the continental languages and enjoying an immense circulation for thirteen years, it was put on the Index by a Decree of the Congregation of the Index of March 11, 1704, because the author, though in good faith, had omitted certain formalities required for a book dealing with such an important subject.
During these thirteen years, other books on the devotion apeared... in the course of time several papal encyclicals explaining and advocating the devotion were issued, and Father Croiset's book became forgotten for the space of nearly two hundred years. However, when Divine Providence deemed the time opportune, the book was restored to circulation by the same Congregation that had ordered it to be withdrawn. The letters of St. Margaret Mary make it clear that the book was completely in accordance with the wishes of Our Divine Saviour and was published according to His desires, and that the withdrawal from circulation was foretold and permitted for His own wise purpose: we are, therefore, justified in concluding that the reappearance of this book by the permission of the Church in modern times is also providential, and that reappearing at a time when Our Saviour has issued a new appeal from His Sacred Heart to a world that is turning away from God, it is given to the Church to aid in restoring the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesusu to its original fervor.
The following are the circumstances under which this book made its reappearance: when the hierarchy was reestablished in the former Turkish provinces of Bosnia and Hetzegovinia, Monsignor Stadler, Professor of Theology at the University of Agram, was appointed to be the first Archxishop of Sarajevo. Immediately after his appointment, he announced his intention of consecrating his anchdiocese to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and of putting all his trust in the Sacred Heart to reestablish the Catholic religion in these provinces. No book on devotion to the Sacred Heart existed in the language of his archdiocese. He selected Father Croiset's book as what he considered to be the most suitable book to explain the theory and practice of this devotion to the priests and laity of his diocese; he translated it, had his translation printed and was about to circulate it when he was informed that this book was on the Index. He wrote to the Sacred Congregation of the Index asking for permission to publish his translation. When the Sacred Congregation suggested to him that he should select some other of the numerous books on this devotion, he replied that he could find none other so suitable for his purpose, and requested the Congregation to have the book examined and to make any changes deemed necesary. The Sacred Congregation acceded to his request, and had the book submitted to a rigorous examination in the light of the papal encyclicals and decrees fo the two centuries that had elapsed sinnce the book had been written. The result of this examination was that no error whatever could be found in the book and no change necessary; the book was removed from the Index, and permission given to publish it in all the languages of the world, as the author had written it. Thus was fulfilled the prophecy of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque that no change would have to be made in Father Croiset's book, as it was perfectly in accordance with the wishes of Our Lord. In recent years Our Saviour appeared to another member of the Visitation Order, Mother Louise Margaret, with a new message from His Sacred Heart for His priests to be conveyed by them to the world. The message is, in brief, that He wishes His bishops and priests to unite in a new association for the purpose of promoting devotion to His Sacred Heart. The Holy See, while not pronouncing on the supernatural origin of this message of Mother Louise Margaret, has sanctioned the establishment of the Priets' Universal Union and three allied societies for religious and laity of both sexes for the purpose of promoting devotion to the Sacred Heart as Mother Louise Margaret had asked. Mother Louise Margaret in The Book of Infinite Love urges the clergy not to be content with a mere superficial knowledge of this great devotion, but to make a deep study of it so as to be able to explain it to the faithful who do not all fet understand the treasures of grace and regeneration which are found in the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
To help towards acquiring a knowledge of both the theory and the practice of this devotion, what book could be more suitable than the one which was written at the command of Our Lord Himself, under the direction of His chosen apostle of the devotion, St. Margaret Mary, by her director, Father Croiset, specially selected and assisted for the accomplishment of this work! ... Patrick O'Connell March 17, 1948
[edit] Sacred Heart
The book commanded to be written by JESUS Himself via St. Margaret Mary--Devotion to the Sacred Heart of JESUS: http://books.google.com/books?id=XIcEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PR1&dq=croiset+1863#PPA265,M1
A review about the book: "The Bishop of Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, discovered this tremendous treasure after it had disappeared for almost two centuries, thus fulfilling a prophecy made by St. Margaret Mary. She foretold that this inspired writing would be forgotten for a time, but then would come to light again. The author (Fr. Croiset) was the spiritual director of St. Margaret Mary and therefore was intimately familiar with every aspect of the revelations given by Our Lord to this famous saint; thus, the book is actually the "key" to understanding the importance and the centrality of the Sacred Heart devotion for our lives as true Catholics. This great work was actually commissioned by Our Lord Himself through St. Margaret Mary, and as Father Croiset neared completion of it, St. Margaret told him that Our Lord said it was so completely in accord with His wishes that it would never be necessary to make any change in it. Later she revealed that it was Our Lord Himself who had inspired him with the ideas in this book and that it was so pleasing to Him that "none other but Himself could have arranged everything so much to His wishes." This magnificent work is a revelation to all just why so few of us become great saints and why so few, despite going frequently to the Sacraments, fail really to grow in the life of grace and make great progress in the spiritual order. The best there is on this important devotion!"
http://books.google.com/books?id=XIcEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PR1&dq=croiset+1863#PPA3,M1
...This devotion wholly consists, properly speaking, in an ardent love of Jesus Christ, constantly residing amongst us in the adorable Eucharist, and in testifying this ardent love by our grief at seeing Him so little loved and so little honoured, and by the means we take to repair this contempt and this want of love.
http://books.google.com/books?id=OccCAAAAQAAJ&pg=PR1&dq=montfort+faber+paternoster&ei=vCjIR4DyHovAiwGmw_2sCA#PPA61,M1 The devil, like a false coiner and a subtle and experienced sharper, has already deceived and destroyed so many souls by a false devotion to the Blessed Virgin, that he makes a daily use of his diabolical experience to plunge many others by this same way into everlasting perdition ; amusing them, lulling them to sleep in sin, under the pretext of some prayers badly said, or of some outward practices which he inspires. As a false coiner does not ordinarily counterfeit any thing but gold and silver, or very rarely the other metals, because they are not worth the trouble, so the evil spirit does not for the most part counterfeit the other devotions, but only those to Jesus and Mary, the devotion to Holy Communion, and to our Blessed Lady, because they are, among other devotions, what gold and silver are amongst metals.
http://books.google.com/books?id=XIcEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PR1&dq=croiset+1863#PPA45,M1 It is necessary, then, to have a lively faith, in order to have this ardent love for Jesus Christ in the most Blessed Sacrament, and to be touched by a sense of the insults to which the excess of His love for us exposes Him; and to acquire, in fine, a true devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ.
[img]http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/1112/sacredheartdw4.jpg[/img] [img]http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/4930/immaculateheartopusdeirw4.jpg[/img]
"Even at the hour of death, incredulous, indifferent, hardened souls have been converted by simply showing them a picture of the Sacred Heart, which sufficed to restore these sinners to the life of hope and love, in a word, to touch the most hardened. It would, indeed, be a great misfortune to any apostolic man to neglect so powerful a means of conversion, and in proof of this I will mention a single fact which will need no comment. A religious of the Company of Jesus had been requested by the Blessed Margaret Mary to make a careful engraving of the Sacred Heart. Being often hindered by other occupations, there was much delay in preparing this plate. ' This good father,' writes the saint, 'is so much occupied by Mon- signor d'Autun in the conversion of heretics, that he has neither time nor leisure to give to the work so ardently desired by the Heart of our Divine Master. You cannot imagine, my much-loved mother, how greatly this delay afflicts and pains me. I must avow confidently to you my belief that it is the cause of his converting so few infidels in this town. I seem constantly to hear these words : ' That if this good father had acquitted himself at once of his promise to the Sacred Heart, Jesus would have changed and converted the hearts of these infidels, on account of the joy He would have felt at seeing Himself honoured in the picture He so much wishes for. As, however, he prefers other work, even though to the glory of God, to that of giving Him this satisfaction, He will harden the hearts of these infidels, and the labours of this mission will not be crowned with much fruit.'
I am trying to figure out how to pray the Rosary well. St. Louis-Marie said that those who pray the Rosary everyday will not be led astrayed by the devil. But many people claim to pray the 15 decade Rosary everyday, in 45 minutes, and have contradicting beliefs about doctrines. I believe that this means that they are not saying the Rosary correctly. I believe that the primary error is praying the Rosary too fast to be able to sufficiently devout-- 45 min per 15 decades. I believe it should be said at least 30 min per 5 decades, then gradually say it up to one hour per 5 decade, which was the time that St. Francis de Sales took to say the Chaplet, who made the vow of praying the daily chaplet (5 decades) before going to sleep everyday, despite his busy schedule as a bishop:
From his youth, Francis de Sales had formed the habit of saying his chaplet daily. Later, he made a vow to do so… To recite it, he employed considerable time which seemed to him brief,—an hour said St. de Chantal,—lingering in pious consideration on the mysteries of the Rosary; it was a familiar, childlike talk with his heavenly Mother, and he readily forgot himself near her.
However great was his fatigue, he never shortened the prayer [a Chaplet each day] vowed to Mary. On one occasion extraordinary occupations had not permitted him to say the chaplet at the hour appointed; the night being already advanced, he prepared, notwithstanding excessive fatigue, to fulfil this pious duty. His secretary, having perceived it, begged him to consider the extreme need he had of repose, and to defer his chaplet till the morrow. “My friend,” answered the Saint, “we must never put off till tomorrow what can be done to-day.”
