| By Pro Ecclesia Sancta |
In one of her letters to her spiritual director, St. Margaret Mary of Alacoque wrote that God desired that His Divine Heart “be honored under the symbol of [Jesus’] Heart of flesh, Whose Image He wished to be publicly exposed. He wanted me to carry it on my person, over my heart, that He might imprint His Heart there, fill my heart with all the gifts with which His own is filled, and destroy all inordinate affection. Wherever this Sacred Image would be exposed for veneration He would pour forth His graces and blessings” (Letter 133a, November 3, 1689).
St. Margaret Mary thus embroidered a piece of wool cloth with a small image of the Heart of Jesus and wore it over her heart. She made additional images and sent them to her sisters and friends, encouraging them to do the same. Such is the origin of the Sacred Heart Badge or “Detente” (from the Spanish for “halt!”). The devotional practice became even more widespread the following century when another Visitation nun, Sr. Anne-Madeleine Remuzat, enlisted the help of many priests to produce and distribute thousands of badges in the midst of a terrible plague afflicting the city of Marseille in 1720. The badges were inscribed with the words “Heart of Jesus, abyss of love and mercy, I place all my trust in Thee and hope for everything from Thy goodness!” Many who wore them were either cured of the disease or preserved from being infected by it.
The following century, in the year 1870, Pope Pius IX was presented with a Badge and asked about its legitimacy. He responded, “This is an inspiration from Heaven… I am going to bless this Heart and want all badges made after this model to receive the same blessing, so that in the future, it will not be necessary for the blessing to be renewed by a priest. And I want Satan to be unable to cause any harm to those who wear this Badge, symbol of the adorable Heart of Jesus."
Decades later, during the Spanish Civil War and the Mexican Civil War in the 1930s, many Catholic soldiers wore such “Detente Balas” (bullet-stoppers) over their hearts as a plea for divine protection during battle. Some reported witnessing bullets intended for them being diverted miraculously or stopping in mid-air and falling harmlessly to the ground before reaching their person!
If you choose to make your heart a “place” over which the Heart of Jesus is exposed and publicly venerated, what graces and blessings will He pour out through you in our century?
