The month of June is customarily devoted to the Sacred Heart of Christ. In his 1956 Encyclical Haurietas aquas, one of the most important of all papal teachings on the Sacred Heart, Pope Pius XII said that the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the supreme symbol and expression of Christ's love for humanity. Because Jesus is both fully human and fully divine, His physical heart is united to His divine Person and therefore signifies not only His human affections but also His infinite divine love. Pius XII emphasised that devotion to the Sacred Heart is not directed toward an isolated bodily organ but toward the whole Person of Jesus Christ and His redemptive mission. He rooted this devotion in Scripture, particularly in Christ's sacrificial love revealed on the Cross and in the piercing of His side, from which blood and water flowed. He also stressed the importance of reparation, responding to Christ's love through prayer, gratitude, and acts of charity. Devotion to the Sacred Heart, he added, is a powerful remedy for the spiritual and social crises of the modern world, fostering peace, conversion, and deeper union with God. Click the image above for the Litany of the Sacred Heart which Bishop Philip recommends us to recite each day with its 33 invocations, one for each year of life of our Lord Jesus Christ. [Faith magazine / Diocese of Lansing] [Portsmouth Diocese e-News]