06/14/2026
Dear Friends,
In the Memorial Chapel on the southern side of our church, the statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus gazes benevolently upon all who come into that place of peace and prayer. A vigil lamp burns before this statue for this month of June, because June is the month dedicated by the Church to going more deeply to the love, mercy, and grace which flow from the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is always observed on the Friday after Corpus Christi, so this year it fell this past Friday, June 12th.
In 2016, at the ceremonies for the conclusion of the Jubilee Year of Mercy at St. Augustine Cathedral, Bishop Caggiano consecrated the Diocese of Bridgeport to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. That is to say, he intentionally placed this entire local Church in a particular way under the care and protection of the Sacred Heart. This weekend, in union with the Catholic Bishops of the United States, we reconsecrate the diocese to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This act will certainly obtain great graces for the entire family of faith in our local Church, because we will never be able to fully understand, much less exhaust, the love of the heart of Christ for us.
Each June, especially, it is important for us to recall the 12 promises which Jesus gave to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, concerning the specific graces He grants to those who are devoted to His Sacred Heart. The promises Christ gave to St. Margaret Mary are these:
1. I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.
2. I will establish peace in their homes.
3. I will comfort them in all their afflictions.
4. I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all, in death.
5. I will bestow abundant blessings upon all their undertakings.
6. Sinners will find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Lukewarm souls shall become fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.
9. I will bless every place in which an image of my Heart is exposed and honored.
10. I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
11. Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in my Heart.
12. I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays in nine consecutive months the grace of final perseverance; they shall not die in my disgrace, nor without receiving their sacraments. My divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.
In these days of June, let us return often to the Heart of Christ, because there awaits the love, mercy, and peace for which we long with all our hearts. Saint André Bessette, the famous Holy Cross Brother in Montreal, who was deeply devoted to St. Joseph, and worked prodigious miracles through St. Joseph’s intercession, said: “The door of Heaven is the Heart of Jesus. The key to this door is prayer and love.”
God Bless You,
Father Marcello
