Step 1: Overview of the 350th jubilee and the preparation journey for consecration
The 350th Jubilee
From 27 December 2023 until 27 June 2025, we celebrate the 350th Jubilee of the apparitions of the Heart of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary at Paray-le-Monial. This exceptional event includes, notably, the Opening of the Jubilee Door on 27 December 2023 by the Apostolic Nuncio to France, Archbishop Migliore. On that day, the sanctuary officially joined the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network. We will discuss this further.
The theme is “Returning love for love”, which means welcoming Jesus’s personal love for each of us, repairing the lack of love He suffers, and entering into the compassion of His Heart for those who need comfort.
The sanctuary participates in a vast movement of consecration or renewal of consecration to the Sacred Heart, in a dynamic beginning at the Feast of the Sacred Heart in 2024 and culminating a year later at the Feast of the Sacred Heart in 2025. During an audience with the Pope for the participants of a conference organised by the sanctuary in Rome in May on the theme of Spiritual Reparation, I petitioned the Pope to consecrate the Church and the world on 27 June 2025, the anniversary of the great apparition of the Sacred Heart to Margaret Mary and the conclusion of the jubilee.
Regardless of the Pope’s response, this initiative from the Holy Father only makes sense if it mobilises the entire Church. May the hearts of individuals, families, parishes, dioceses, congregations, and pastors be inspired by the desire to consecrate themselves.
The purpose of this journey is to offer preparation by explaining the devotion to the Sacred Heart, what consecration is, how to consecrate oneself, and how to implement it concretely in our personal, family, and ecclesial lives for the mission. Is it not essential that the world knows the love of the Heart of Jesus?
Overview of the Journey
Our journey will be marked by four parts:
- In the first part, we will see the message of the Apparitions of the Sacred Heart at Paray. These are steps 3 and 4.
- In the second part, we will address what Consecration is, in steps 5 and 6.
- The third part will explain how to consecrate oneself, with steps 7, 8, and 9.
- The fourth and final part will provide practical means to live the consecration to the Heart of Jesus, in steps 10 and 11.
- Finally, the conclusion – step 12 – will show how consecration leads to mission.
Additional: An In-depth Journey
The objective of this journey is to be a foundational, accessible, and nourishing journey to better understand what consecration is, how to live it, and how to put it into practice in daily life.
For a more in-depth journey, I refer to the Journey to the Heart of Jesus created by Father Martin Pradère at the request and with the assistance of the Civilisation of Love Association. After delving into the message of Paray-le-Monial, Father Pradère addresses the message of divine mercy. A comprehensive biblical journey educates us on the entirety of Scripture, especially the Song of Songs, the Gospel of John, and the apostolic mysticism of the Heart of Jesus with Saint Paul. Finally, the last teachings link the spirituality of the Sacred Heart with sacramental, moral, and spiritual life. On the website parcourscoeurdejesus.fr, the podcasts and videos of these 8 teachings, as well as the participant’s booklet, are freely accessible and downloadable.
Conclusion
Let us now invoke the Holy Spirit so that He may lead us into the mystery of the Heart of Jesus, open our hearts and minds: “Send forth your Spirit, Lord, and everything will be created anew, and you will renew the face of the earth.”
In the second step of this introduction, I will explain the reasons for consecrating oneself to the Heart of Jesus.
I’m working hard to spread the word about this campaign.
