Since entering the Benedictine Sisters at Sacred Heart Monastery in 1985, I have developed a deep love for the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This is not just because our monastery is named for the Sacred Heart. I love both the Liturgy of the Hours and the readings for the Mass on the feast.
When I was still doing liturgical dance, I choreographed a piece to an organ arrangement of Barber’s ‘Adagio’, which embodied the rose window in the Sacred Heart Chapel. At the ends of the vertical and horizontal arms of the window are images of Christ’s passion. The center of the window is the Sacred Heart. I depicted the images moving clockwise around the circle – the Eucharist (chalice and host), the Agony in the Garden (sword and rope), the crucifixion (crown of thorns and three nails), suffering on the cross (ladder, spear, and sponge). At the end, I lay prostrate on the floor to show Jesus’ death. Then, to show the Sacred Heart, I stood, moved first my right arm, then my left as if gathering all the world into my heart. Finally, I opened my hands, spreading my fingers wide and moving both arms out as if to disperse the love of Christ to the whole world.
This was a powerful exercise for me, and I had to first develop the movements and then rehearse them repeatedly until they became a part of me. This dance was developed for the anniversary of Sacred Heart Monastery Chapel, and the Sisters videotaped me dancing. It was somewhat like an out-of-body experience for me to watch the tape. I almost did not recognize myself as the dancer. It seemed like it was someone else.
The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which we will celebrate this Friday, June 27th, is a rich and moving celebration of Christ’s infinite love for humanity, a love that is both deeply personal and profoundly redemptive. This devotion, which calls us to reflect on the physical and spiritual heart of Jesus, finds one of its earliest and most powerful expressions in the mystical experiences of St. Gertrude the Great, a 13th-century Benedictine nun and visionary.
St. Gertrude’s writings offer us a beautiful window into the intimacy of divine love. In her mystical encounters, she was drawn to the Heart of Jesus as a source of warmth, compassion, and divine longing. She spoke of resting her head near His heart and hearing the beat of divine mercy—a symbol not only of Christ’s deep personal love for her but of His enduring love for all souls. Her devotion helped to lay the groundwork for the Church’s later formal celebration of the Sacred Heart, centuries before the more widely known revelations to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.
For St. Gertrude, the Sacred Heart was not a distant theological concept but a living reality—an open refuge for sinners, a font of mercy for the weary, and a place of intimate communion for all who seek God. Her visions remind us that Christ’s heart beats with an eternal desire to draw us closer, to heal our wounds, and to pour out grace upon grace.
On this feast, we are invited to enter that same intimacy—to allow our own hearts to be touched by the fire of divine love. The image of the Sacred Heart, pierced and surrounded by thorns, speaks of a love that suffers, a love that endures rejection, yet never ceases to give. It is a radical love, one that defies our human expectations, offering mercy where we might expect judgment, and tenderness where we might expect distance.
In a world marked by restlessness and brokenness, the Sacred Heart stands as a symbol of steadfast love and hope. To contemplate this Heart is to be reminded that God’s love is not abstract or distant, but deeply present, desiring a relationship with each of us. Inspired by St. Gertrude’s example, may we learn to seek the Heart of Christ not only as an object of devotion but as the very home of our souls.
By Sister Karen Ann Lortscher, OSB