Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Bushwood

Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Bushwood Catholic parish in Bushwood, St. Mary's County, Maryland. Mass times: Sunday 6:30 and 8:00 AM; Wednesday and Friday 7:00 AM. See website for more info.

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06/13/2026

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The Immaculate Heart of Mary

The Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary invites us to contemplate the interior life of Our Blessed Mother, a heart completely united to God in faith, humility, and love. Mary's heart was not great because it was free from suffering. Rather, it was great because she welcomed God's will with complete trust, treasuring His words and remaining faithful through both the joys of Bethlehem and the sorrows of Calvary.

This loving surrender lies at the heart of Carmelite spirituality. Carmel teaches us to seek God not through extraordinary achievements, but through a deep life of prayer, trust, and loving fidelity in the ordinary moments of each day. Mary is the perfect model of this hidden holiness. Her life was largely unseen by the world, yet every moment was lived in loving communion with God.

Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus looked to Mary not as someone distant and unattainable, but as a tender mother who walked the path of faith with simplicity and trust. Thérèse's "Little Way" echoes the disposition of Mary's Immaculate Heart: offering small acts of love, embracing humility, and surrendering everything to God.

As Saint Thérèse beautifully wrote:

"My vocation is love!"

These simple words reveal the secret of both Mary's heart and the Carmelite vocation. Love is not found primarily in extraordinary works, but in a heart that belongs entirely to God. Mary's Immaculate Heart teaches us how to love with purity, generosity, and trust. Thérèse reminds us that even the smallest act, when done with great love, has immense value in God's eyes.

Today, let us ask the Immaculate Heart of Mary to form our hearts after her own. May she teach us to trust God in every circumstance, to remain faithful in prayer, and to walk the Little Way with confidence, knowing that holiness is found in loving God wholeheartedly in the present moment.

**Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.**
**Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, pray for us.** ❤️

How to receive a plenary indulgence today. It is not as hard as you think it is. Confessions are being heard at the pari...
06/12/2026

How to receive a plenary indulgence today. It is not as hard as you think it is.

Confessions are being heard at the parishes as follows:

Sacred Heart
Sunday 7:30-7:50 am
Friday 8:30-9:00 am
Saturday 2:45 -3:15 pm

Holy Angels
Sunday 10:00-10:20 am
Wednesday 8:30-9:30 am
Saturday 3:30-4:15 pm

I find it is helpful to offer your plenary indulgences to the Holy Souls in Purgatory and ask for their intercession. It just seems to be easier to make the commitment when it is for someone who can no longer make reparation for their sins.

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HOW TO RECEIVE A PLENARY INDULGENCE ON THE FEAST OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS ⤵️

📅 Friday, June 12, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, a feast honoring Christ's love and mercy for humanity.

On this feast day, the Church grants a plenary indulgence (the full remission of temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven) to the faithful who publicly recite the Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This can be done in a church, with your family, or in a religious community.

To receive the indulgence, the usual conditions also apply:

➜ Be free from attachment to all sin, even venial sin
➜ Receive the Sacrament of Confession within about 20 days before or after
➜ Receive Holy Communion, preferably on the feast itself
➜ Pray for the intentions of the Holy Father (such as one Our Father and one Hail Mary)

Many Catholics know this feast because of the promises associated with devotion to the Sacred Heart. But at its core is something much simpler. Jesus asks to be loved in return.

In a world that often ignores God or pushes Him aside, acts of reparation may seem unnecessary. Yet Catholics believe that love responds to love. The Sacred Heart reminds us that Christ's mercy is always available and that our prayers and sacrifices can be united to His love for the world.

This is a beautiful opportunity to return to Confession, receive Our Lord in the Eucharist, and entrust yourself and your family to His Sacred Heart.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

🙏 Recite the Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus 🙏

Most sweet Jesus, whose overflowing charity for men is requited by so much forgetfulness, negligence, and contempt, behold us prostrate before Thy altar, eager to repair by a special act of homage the cruel indifference and injuries to which Thy loving Heart is everywhere subject.

Mindful, alas, that we ourselves have had a share in such great indignities, which we now deplore from the depths of our hearts, we humbly ask Thy pardon and declare our readiness to atone by voluntary expiation not only for our own personal offenses, but also for the sins of those who, straying far from the path of salvation, refuse in their obstinate infidelity to follow Thee, their Shepherd and Leader, or, renouncing the vows of their Baptism, have cast off the sweet yoke of Thy law.

We are now resolved to expiate each and every deplorable outrage committed against Thee. We are determined to make amends for the manifold offenses against Christian modesty in unbecoming dress and behavior, for all the foul seductions laid to ensnare the feet of the innocent, for the frequent violations of Sundays and holy days, and the shocking blasphemies uttered against Thee and Thy Saints. We wish also to make amends for the insults to which Thy Vicar on earth and Thy priests are subjected, for the profanation, by conscious neglect or terrible acts of sacrilege, of the very Sacrament of Thy Divine Love, and lastly for the public crimes of nations who resist the rights and teaching authority of the Church which Thou hast founded.

Would that we were able to wash away such abominations with our blood. We now offer, in reparation for these violations of Thy divine honor, the satisfaction Thou didst once make to Thy eternal Father on the Cross and which Thou dost continue to renew daily on our altars. We offer it in union with the acts of atonement of Thy Virgin Mother and all the Saints and of the pious faithful on earth; and we sincerely promise to make recompense, as far as we can with the help of Thy grace, for all neglect of Thy great love and for the sins which we and others have committed in the past.

Henceforth we will live a life of unwavering faith, of purity of conduct, and of perfect observance of the precepts of the Gospel, especially that of charity. We promise to the best of our power to prevent others from offending Thee and to bring as many as possible to follow Thee.

O loving Jesus, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our model in reparation, deign to receive the voluntary offering we make of this act of expiation; and by the crowning gift of perseverance keep us faithful unto death in our duty and the allegiance we owe to Thee, so that we may one day come to that happy home where Thou, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, livest and reignest, God, world without end.

Amen.

Happy Feast Day Sacred Heart! Special Mass at 8 am. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Dy8U2eeEJ/?mibextid=wwXIfr
06/12/2026

Happy Feast Day Sacred Heart! Special Mass at 8 am.

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Th Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
June 12

This is a movable feast that honors the Sacred Heart. In 1675, Jesus told St. Margaret Mary that He wanted the Feast of the Sacred Heart to be celebrated on the Friday after the Corpus Christi octave. In 1856, the Feast of the Sacred Heart became a universal feast.

St. John Paul II, a great devotee of the Sacred Heart, said, “This feast reminds us of the mystery of the love of God for the people of all times.”

What is the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus?

The Heart is the symbol of human love. This Catholic devotion honors the Sacred Heart of Our Lord, through which was manifested to us God’s eternal love for everyone. “God is Love” (1 John 4:8), and so in honoring the human expression of that Love, especially on the Cross, we honor Its Divine Source.

Why is the Sacred Heart important?

St. John Paul II said, “The Sacred Heart has given us everything—redemption, salvation, sanctification.”

The Sacred Heart is the actual heart of Christ and also indicates His love for humanity. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “The prayer of the Church venerates and honors the Heart of Jesus just as it invokes his most holy name. It adores the incarnate Word and his Heart which, out of love for men, he allowed to be pierced by our sins” (CCC 2669).

Why is Jesus’ Heart on fire?

Jesus told St. Margaret Mary, “My Sacred Heart is so intense in its love for men, and for you in particular, that not being able to contain within it the flames of its ardent charity, they must be transmitted through all means.”

St. Gertrude the Great said, “O Sacred Heart of Jesus, fountain of eternal life, Your Heart is a glowing furnace of Love. You are my refuge and my sanctuary. O my adorable and loving Savior, consume my heart with the burning fire with which Yours is aflame. Pour down on my soul those graces which flow from Your love. Let my heart be united with Yours. Let my will be conformed to Yours in all things. May Your Will be the rule of all my desires and actions. Amen.”

What is the relationship between the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary?

The hearts of Mary and Jesus are deeply entwined. The Blessed Virgin gave her consent to the divine plan of redemption (see Luke 1:38), and Our Lord willed and accomplished it. Thus, these two Hearts can never be separated. The Servant of God Lúcia dos Santos, one of the visionaries of Fátima, expressed it this way, “[While Jesus was in Mary’s womb], the Heart of Christ was beating in unison with the Heart of Mary.”

The Feast day of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is always the day after the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Courtesy of Catechists of St. Francis Xavier

06/11/2026
Day 8 – Jesus, gentle and humble of heartHow Sacred Heart became the cathedral on the Pines. An excerpt from the Parish ...
06/10/2026

Day 8 – Jesus, gentle and humble of heart

How Sacred Heart became the cathedral on the Pines. An excerpt from the Parish history.

Tragedy struck Bushwood manor House on January 4, 1934. Father Stephen Rudtke, S.J. the pastor at this time, had given the Sisters an extra holiday during the Christmas season. It was on this day that the tragic accident occurred. Mr. Julius Johnson and his two sons, Leonard and Bernard, had gone to the convent to see the Christmas Crib. When Sister Maxima turned on the lights of the Crib, one of the bulbs burst and the dry cedar tree immediately burst into flames. The fire quickly spread along the electric wiring throughout the two-story manor. Mr. Johnson attempted to save the Blessed Sacrament, but was unsuccessful. The wind blew the chapel door closed. To protect his own life, Mr. Johnson had to crawl on his knees to open the door. By the time the fire trucks from Leonardtown arrived, only the dining room and kitchen could be saved. The Sisters moved into the Sacred Heart Parish Hall until a new convent was built in Avenue in 1935.

On Sunday, April 16, 1944, tragedy struck again when a bolt of lightning ignited the church building. Despite the efforts of the Leonardtown Fire Department and the Parishioners, the church was completely destroyed. The Blessed Sacrament and many of the Alter vessels and vestments were saved. Mass was offered in the Parish Hall that tragic Sunday morning. The hall served as a church until the third Sacred Heart Church was completed in October of 1945. The new church was officially dedicated on February 16, 1947.

The Parishioners can be justly proud of the beautiful brick church they built (under the leadership of Father Stephen J. Rudtke, S.J.) on the foundation of the old wooden church. When you enter the church, you can see the unique Flemish bond brickwork design of the interior, which overhead, the huge oak beams emanate the sense of solid strength. The interior of the church is bathed in myriad colors as the sun streams through the stained glass windows, which were donated by various Parish families over the years. Three hundred year old cedar trees surround the exterior of the church, thus the descriptive title “Little Cathedral in the Pines.” (Unfortunately, those majestic pines had to be removed not long before Father Early left in 2013.

Please share any stories or memories you have.

On June 11, the United States Bishop’s will be consecrating our country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in honor of the 250th celebration of the country's founding.

Kimberly and I found that enthroning the Sacred Heart in our home has been a great blessing. I encourage everyone to consider adopting this sacred custom as a wonderful way to share in the special grace of the national consecration.

For detailed steps on how to enthrone your home, visit https://files.kofc.org/download/assets/Enthronement+Booklet/541498da9d8511f08d21221c26c50bba

For more information on the national consecration visit https://www.usccb.org/consecration-united-states-sacred-heart-jesus.

Highly recommend this series for those who grieve.  https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CtL3PgVYE/
06/09/2026

Highly recommend this series for those who grieve. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CtL3PgVYE/

GRIEF SUPPORT WORKSHOP

“Grieving with Great Hope”
is a five-week grief support workshop series that offers a prayerful, practical and personal approach for anyone who is mourning the loss of a loved one. If you have lost a spouse, a child (including miscarriages), grandchild, a parent, another family member or a friend, you are encouraged to attend. Contact Tina (301-481-1961) to sign-up or for more information. The workshop will start
Tuesday, July 14 at 6:30 pm in the Parish Center (28299 Old Village Rd., Mechanicsville, MD).

Day 6 Novena to the Sacred Heart - https://www.usccb.org/novena-sacred-heart-jesusParish History - According to Archdioc...
06/08/2026

Day 6 Novena to the Sacred Heart -

https://www.usccb.org/novena-sacred-heart-jesus

Parish History -

According to Archdiocesan records, a Parish dedicated to the Sacred Heart was established in 1755. The first Sacred Heart Church was a wooden structure of modest lines and size. It was built on Bushwood Manor about 50 yards from the present church according to Father Edward P. O’Connell, a Jesuit priest and historian, who often came to Sacred Heart to say Mass when our pastor was away. The church at Bushwood was the first one dedicated to the Sacred Heart in the United States.

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Address

23080 Maddox Road P. O. Box 37
Bushwood, MD
20618

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 3pm
Tuesday 9am - 3pm
Wednesday 9am - 3pm
Thursday 9am - 3pm
Friday 9am - 3pm

Telephone

+13017693100

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