The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus occurs on the third Friday after Pentecost – the Friday immediately following the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. The feast is focused on the love and mercy of Jesus for humanity with the heart as a symbolic representation. The history of devotion to the Sacred Heart is evident as early as the scriptural writings of St. John and St. Paul. Saints like St. Gertrude, St. Bonaventure, St. Bernard, St. Francis de Sales and especially St. John Eudes and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque spread the devotion. It was officialized in 1856 by Blessed Pius IX who made the day of the devotion a universal feast for the Church. In recent years, Pope Francis wrote an encyclical in 2024 titled “Dilexit Nos” (“He loved us”) subtitled “On the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus Christ”.

Thousands of churches across the world are named after the devotion which were built following the revelations of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque between 1673 and 1675 in Paray-le-Monial, France. A large Romanesque church was built in that location in the late 11th century by St. Hugh, Abbot of Cluny and rededicated to the Sacred Heart after St. Margaret Mary’s visions. It is now a popular pilgrimage site. The oldest surviving major church built and dedicated to the Sacred Heart is the Basilica of Our Lady of the Martyrs in Lisbon, Portugal, built between 1779 and 1790. This baroque, neoclassical style structure has a spectacular Rococo interior with ceiling frescoes and an altar centerpiece of Our Lady of the Martyrs. In the U.S., the oldest is the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus built in 1787 in Hanover, Pennsylvania. The Federal-style church contains a lovely image of the Vision of the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary by Filippo Costaggini of Rome and a spectacular mural on the ceiling of the Assumption of Mary by Gebhart of Philadelphia (1844).

Churches dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus typically contain a statue of Jesus displaying His Sacred Heart aflame with love for mankind. Statues made by the Daprato Studios in the early 1900’s show Jesus wearing a cinched full-length robe and a mantle that hangs from one shoulder. In older images the robe will be red and the mantle green, or vice-versa. When pictured full-length, His feet are always bare and sometimes bear the nail marks from the crucifixion. The hands, when visible, will be similarly marked. The heart is usually surmounted by a cross, surrounded by a crown of thorns, and framed by a burst of light. It is almost always seen on the breast of Jesus, who points to it while engaging the viewer with his eyes.

These churches may also include a painting, mural or stained-glass image of the revelations of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. St. Margaret Mary is generally shown in a nun’s habit kneeling before Jesus in display of the Sacred Heart. Sometimes, one will see the Saint’s spiritual director, St. Claude de la Colombiere in the background.