Heartwarming in the world

“Everything begins with the Heart of Jesus. To believe in the Heart of Jesus means believing that God felt and lives what we experience each day, and therefore can love us.” “Reparation is born through continuing to believe in another and giving another chance. Believe in the Heart of Jesus and bring it to others.”

Fr. Leon Dehon had long desired to become a religious. During his seminary years he met the Spiritan Fathers, who greatly influenced his spirituality. Shortly after ordination, his meeting with Fr. Emmanuel d’Alzon, founder of the Assumptionists, also influenced Leon’s future. Their motto, “Thy Kingdom Come,” remained in Fr. Dehon’s memory so strongly that he even considered joining their congregation for a time. God’s Providence, however, had other plans.

 

He constantly pondered the thought hidden in his heart and the promise he had made to God: “God, I grieve to see You offended, while I cannot prevent it. I will use every means available to make reparation for the offenses against You.” Seeking his “place in the Church,” he considered various paths.

 

The decisive year in these spiritual searches and struggles was 1877,
when Fr. Dehon became chaplain to the Congregation of the Servants of the Heart of Jesus.
His desire for religious life was rekindled. Encouraged by his spiritual directors, the Jesuits, and supported by Bishop Thibaudier, he decided to found his own congregation. That same year, on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, he received verbal approval and, on 14 July, written permission to establish the Oblates of the Sacred Heart. The order was based in Saint Quentin. Fr. Dehon wrote its constitutions and began his canonical novitiate, taking the name John of the Heart of Jesus. Just one year later, the congregation numbered 14 members.

 

As the congregation flourished, anti-clerical sentiment intensified in France and led to the suppression of religious orders. Yet the real troubles were still to come, in a completely unexpected place. The problem began innocently enough in the minor seminary, where Fr. Captier, a formator, began altering the constitutions according to his alleged private angelic revelations. As a result, he turned the institution into an “Angelic School,” straying far from the founder’s original vision. The matter first went to the bishop,
and later to the Holy See itself. After its investigation, the Vatican dissolved the congregation on 8 December 1883. This was a very difficult experience for Fr. Dehon, who, despite his troubles, did not give up but continued his pastoral work with perseverance.

 

Bishop Thibaudier, who supported Fr. Dehon, asked the Pope for another chance, resulting in permission to establish a new congregation. Fr. Dehon seized the opportunity
and began rebuilding the work. In 1886, the first chapter of the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was held, and Fr. Dehon was elected superior general. Together with several confreres, he also made his perpetual vows. This was the key moment when the order began its mission with renewed strength: spreading devotion to the Heart of Jesus and Catholic Social Teaching. Its motto was chosen: “Adveniat Regnum Tuum” (“Thy Kingdom Come”). Soon afterward, the Lay Association of the Sacred Heart was founded. Missionary work expanded first to Germany, then beyond Europe to Ecuador. A new novitiate house was established in Fourdrain, France.

 

On 25 February 1888, Pope Leo XIII finally approved the congregation, making it officially a pontifical-right order (until then it had operated under diocesan law). This enabled the Priests of the Sacred Heart to undertake missions and overseas work more freely. Soon another minor seminary was founded in Clairefontaine, Belgium,
followed by the first house in Rome. Before the end of the 19th century, the Priests of the Sacred Heart had reached Africa.

In 1925, Fr. Dehon died; by then the Priests of the Sacred Heart were deeply engaged
in missionary and pastoral work. In 1926, according to the founder’s wishes, the General House was moved from Saint Quentin to Rome. In 1928, the first Priests of the Sacred Heart arrived in Poland.

 

The Priests of the Sacred Heart today

The Founder’s work has grown and bears abundant fruit on every continent, where the Priests of the Sacred Heart live out and develop the charism received from Fr. Dehon. Today, they number over 2,200 priests and brothers in 41 countries across
5 continents. They work actively in many areas: parish ministry, overseas missions providing practical help to local people, evangelization, conferences, charity, pastoral programs and retreats for various social groups. In Africa, their missions build wells in Chad, support schools, hospitals and educational institutions, and provide food and education for children and young people, as well as supporting their education. They also supported Polish doctors from the AfricaMed Foundation treating patients in mission hospitals in Tanzania and Kenya.

 

Recent initiatives include: “Adoption of Hearts”; the Sacred Heart Home for girls (KDF) in the Philippines; building a primary school in Chad; feeding and educating children in the Philippines; ultrasound equipment for the AfricaMed Foundation; a health clinic
in Albania; “Studies from the Heart” for young people from Transnistria; and “I Collect It”, which successfully spread throughout Poland and engaged thousands of people of goodwill.