The very beautiful, traditional Litany to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which many of us prayed as children, has a long story dating even to the 1600's. It seems to have been created out of many sources including the contributions of a priest, a nun and devout lay woman.
The month of June, belonging to the Sacred Heart, with this image of the Celestial or Cosmic Christ, seems to invite us to pray our own litany, one perhaps more grounded explicitly in the Gospels. There's no suggestion that it supplant the traditional litany, but simply to offer it.
Heart of Jesus, conceived in Mary's womb
Heart of Jesus, love for Bethlehem's shepherds
Heart of Jesus, maturing in the Nazareth home
Heart of Jesus, generous at Cana's wedding
Heart of Jesus, in the feeding of five thousand
Heart of Jesus, calling us friends
Heart of Jesus, in the washing of feet
Heart of Jesus, grieved in Gethsemane's Garden
Heart of Jesus, instructing Peter to put away the sword
Heart of Jesus, along the Calvary way
Heart of Jesus, invoking, "Father forgive"
Heart of Jesus, consoling Mary and John
Heart of Jesus, crying out, "I thirst!"
Heart of Jesus, pierced-opening of the Father's House
Heart of Jesus, leaving the Easter tomb empty
Heart of Jesus, that we would feed the hungry
Heart of Jesus, that we would give drink to the thirsty
Heart of Jesus, that we would clothe the naked
Heart of Jesus, that we would welcome the stranger; shelter the homeless
Heart of Jesus, that we would visit the sick and imprisoned
Heart of Jesus, love for blind Bartimaeus
Heart of Jesus, love for the Samaritan woman
Heart of Jesus, love for the rich young man
Heart of Jesus, love for the mothers and their children
Heart of Jesus, love for Lazarus, Martha and Mary
Heart of Jesus, all forgiveness
Heart of Jesus, all welcome
Heart of Jesus, calling the dead to life
Heart of Jesus, over-riding prohibitions
Heart of Jesus, God's rule of love
Heart of Jesus, where power is sought
Heart of Jesus, where terrorists plot
Heart of Jesus, where children are exploited
Heart of Jesus, where the weak are abandoned
Heart of Jesus, where we fail the poorest
Heart of Jesus, where we fail the poorest
Heart of Jesus, forgive our prejudices
Heart of Jesus, heal hateful divisions
Heart of Jesus, raise us out of discouragement
Heart of Jesus, remedy wrong thinking
Heart of Jesus, in our wounds and regrets
Many-chambered and
opened at Calvary,
your Heart, O Christ,
room for all,
where we find each other,
let's believe it:
thrown away and highly valued,
lovers and haters,
colors and kinds
and all the nations,
believers and unbelievers,
scoffers too,
ivory-ied elephants
and forest moss,
soil and water
named and un-named stars.
Father Stephen P. Morris
Many-chambered and
opened at Calvary,
your Heart, O Christ,
room for all,
where we find each other,
let's believe it:
thrown away and highly valued,
lovers and haters,
colors and kinds
and all the nations,
believers and unbelievers,
scoffers too,
ivory-ied elephants
and forest moss,
soil and water
named and un-named stars.
Father Stephen P. Morris
