June is the Month Catholics Dedicate to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Have you offered your home yet to the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus?

A Parishioner writes:

“We are giving our house to Jesus!”

That’s how our four year old described it, and that’s what we did when we enthroned our home to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The Enthronement is a solemn ceremony that takes place within your home, where you acknowledge Jesus as the King of your home and dedicate your family to Him. As explained by the Sacred Heart Apostolate:

“Jesus promised St. Margaret Mary Alacoquethat He “will bless the home in which the image of my Sacred Heart shall be exposed and honored.” When we enthrone (display) the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in a prominent place and signify that Jesus is the King, friend and brother of the family, we are responding to the invitation of the Church to make our homes “Domestic Churches”, wherein Jesus is the center and source of love for all. As the sanctuary church lamp reminds us of Christ’s presence in the tabernacle, the enthroned image of the Sacred Heart reminds us that Jesus is among us and with us. By this covenant we make our homes and hearts His tabernacle.”

It’s a very personal and meaningful occasion for a family, and can be planned as simply or intricately as you desire.   As June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, I encourage you to consider blessing your own home this way.  Here’s what you need to do:

1. Look up the instructions and rubrics for the Enthronement ceremony. It will include a blessing of your home, blessing of the images, enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Creed, a message from your priest, consecration, prayer for those who are missing or deceased, consecration of children, final benediction, and signing of the certificate. I believe our ceremony lasted about 30 minutes.
2. Pick a date. We have friends who picked a Marian feast day, and another who organized it while a newly ordained priest was in town… and during a tornado warning!  We planned ours to coincide with the finishing of our basement.Note: The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is on June 16 this year.
3. Invite a priest. Our ceremony was conveniently on the first Friday of the year, but mostly it was chosen to accommodate both our weekend and weekday priests. Ask the priest if he’d prepare a message to mark the occasion.  It’s possible he’s never been invited to do this before. It’s exciting!
4. Pick a beautiful image or statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. We bought a statue on a pilgrimage, and then chuckled when we realized we also had an image in our living room, and another upstairs.   Would you like to include the Immaculate Heart of Mary? 
5. Choose a place of honor in your home.This is where you will “enthrone” His Sacred Heart, and perhaps Mary’s Immaculate Heart, during the ceremony.   It should be a place of prominence. For our statue, we found a decorative niche online and inserted it into our chapel wall.
6. Invite close friends and family. These should be people who know you intimately and might benefit from witnessing your consecration.  We had eleven guests and asked them to bring their own Sacred Heart images from home to be blessed. 
7. Prepare for the ceremony. Prepare a small table or altar with the selected image(s) and holy water. I would also suggest the ceremony prayers be printed and available for those in attendance, and that you secure a Certificate of Enthronement to be signed by your family and your priest and framed later.  Do you have a white cloth to decorate? Would you like to have fresh flowers? Candles to light?  A poem for the kids to recite in His honor? Will you take any pictures?
8. Seek the sacraments. On the day of your ceremony, make plans to assist at Holy Mass, receive the Eucharist, and be recently confessed as a family.
9. Have a feast. Enthronement day is a solemnity within your household, so make it a celebration!  We served soups, cheese tray, fruits, veggies and heart-shaped frosted cookies.  Plan your day in a way that comes naturally to you and makes it special for your own family.
10. Thank your guests for coming. Our ceremony was on January 5, so we prepared Epiphany home blessing kits to send with our guests, along with a magnet of Sacred Heart and Immaculate Hearts and cookies.   Perhaps thank you notes prepared by the children, prayer cards, or a spiritual bouquet would be meaningful.

A friend recently asked what we did to celebrate our enthronement anniversary this year, and I admit, at first I felt like a failure: I didn’t even bake the intended cookies!  Later, I reflected that we do ask for His mercy thrice at the end of every Rosary.  We are mindful of the First Friday and First Saturday devotions.  We live with His image around us and gaze upon Him throughout each day. My husband was even inspired to replace his free farmer hats with one showcasing the Sacred Heart emblem.    

We pray you’ll consider enthroning your own home to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. A quick search for the “Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” will provide you with several resources for more information. This website was especially helpful to us, and provided a certificate to download and print:http://www.catholictradition.org/Two-Hearts/enthronement.htm    

O, Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
O, Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
O, Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.