06/11/2026
Sacred Heart Novena, Day 9: Consecration of our Nation, our Diocese, and ourselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Today, June 11, the United States Bishops will consecrate our nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (which you can live-stream at 3:00 pm Central Time, if you wish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1WyC4TSeoo). Tomorrow, June 12, the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Bishop Hying will consecrate the Diocese of Madison to the Sacred Heart at a special Mass at 7:00 pm at Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Church in Sun Prairie (if you are unable to join in-person, you can watch the live-stream of that Mass at madisondiocese.org/live).
When something or someone is consecrated, it is set apart for sacred purposes. In consecrating our nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the U.S. Bishops wish to entrust the country to the love and mercy of Jesus Christ, placing all of us into His care, under His reign, and at His service. Bishop Hying will make a similar offering of the Diocese of Madison in particular to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
These two consecrations offer us the opportunity ponder how each of us can consecrate ourselves individually to the Heart of Christ. It is fitting, wrote Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Annum Sacrum, to consecrate ourselves to the Sacred Heart, "an act that is nothing else than an offering and a binding of oneself to Jesus Christ." In consecrating ourselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we allow His Heart to love us, sustain us, pardon us, and lead us by His example of charity and mercy. We unite ourselves and our actions to His saving work.
A simple way that you can consecrate yourself and each day to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is by praying a daily Morning Offering, such as the classic prayer below:
O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you all my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day, for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in reparation for my sins, for the intentions of all my relatives and friends, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father.
For a longer act of consecration, consider this prayer attributed to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque: https://ewtn.co.uk/prayer-act-of-consecration-to-the-sacred-heart-of-jesus/
Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus:
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, blazing furnace of God’s mercy and goodness, transform my heart and spirit so that I might give myself more generously in love and service to others. May Your tender Heart always be the place of encounter to experience the unconditional love of God tangibly made manifest in Your every word, action and gesture.
Take possession of me so that I might be an extension of Your presence in our world and channel the rivers of living water that flow from the fountain of Your infinite love and mercy. Grant me the grace needed to boldly proclaim and zealously spread the Gospel through the joyful work of evangelization, as I invite others to enter more deeply into the mystery of Your Most Sacred Heart! Amen.
(Prayer by Bishop Donald J. Hying)
