Sacred Heart of Jesus Statue

The Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ is a significant devotion in Christianity, particularly within the Roman Catholic Church, symbolizing the boundless love, compassion, and mercy of Jesus toward humanity.

This devotion traces its origins to the Middle Ages, with early influences from mystics like St. Bernard of Clairvaux, but it gained widespread prominence in the 17th century through the visions of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a French nun. She reported experiencing apparitions of Jesus, who revealed His heart aflame with love, surrounded by thorns, and pierced, urging her to spread devotion to His Sacred Heart as a means of reparation for humanity's sins. The imagery and practices—such as the Feast of the Sacred Heart, celebrated annually 19 days after Pentecost—emphasize themes of divine love, sacrifice, and redemption, making it a cornerstone of Catholic spirituality and iconography.