The Sacred Heart and the Carmelite tradition.

Elias/Elijah

St. John the Baptist

"A well-known quote from Teilhard is  that 'Tout ce qui monte converge'  - all that rises converges.  And, so often in the process of writing and reading this   icon this seems to have been the case.  Reading the icon takes me off into a new direction, but then this new line of reflection seems to curve around and converge with other ideas and aspects and times of my life.  The last post a while ago (see HERE )  took me by surprise in the way that I was drawn to thinking about a person who was important influence  back in the 1970s! It struck me that if I had asked him then what did David and the other Welsh saints 'have' he would have replied in Welsh, that they had pure hearts - Calon lan.  This in turn took me on a journey to explore where he was coming from: that is the Carmelite tradition.  I knew a little about the Carmelites, but not that much and so off I went to Mount Carmel!  ( READ MORE ABOUT THE CARMELITES HERE) .  Of course I have not physically been to Carmel - unlike Paris - but none the less if you want to discover the Carmelite tradition  that is where you have to start.  The converging began straight away!   Mount Carmel is, of course, the site closely associated with Elijah - or  ELIAS.   This is the name Ian chose  for his studio.  The presence of St.John the Baptist immediately took on a new dimension.  John the Baptist    in the gospels is proclaimed by some as Elijah returned : the sign of the coming of the Messiah.  John is not Elijah, but, as the Angel Gabriel tells Zachariah in St Luke's gospel,  he came in the 'spirit and power' of Elijah.   I think that just as the Seraphim on the upper left of the icon is a window or doorway into the Franciscan tradition   - which  is very relevant to understanding Teilhard - so John the Baptist in our icon now provides a similar  door-way into the Sacred Heart in the Carmelite tradition.  And it is a very long, deep and rich tradition which has - for many hundreds of years - focused on the 'heart'.   I have been reading  about the Carmelite's and the Sacred Heart  and  I soon discovered that  a central idea in this tradition is a 'pure heart'.   So, when I supposed what my old Chaplain Fr. Fitz O.Carm would have said, I had providentially come to the right answer!  He would have said  -like a good Carmelite - they have pure hearts!  There is so much to say about this that it would be just plain silly to try and sum-up what I am learning.  Fortunately there is a really excellent piece by a lay Carmelite  (Johan Bergström-Allen, T.O.C. ) which does a helpful job in providing and introduction to the topic. Please read it HERE.  He notes, for example  that:

Carmelite Scapular Medal showing Our Lady of Mount Carmel and  the Sacred Heart

'Exponents of Carmelite spirituality tell us that ‘the Carmelite tradition begins in searching hearts ..and they speak of the relationship between Carmelites and Jesus Christ as Seasons of the Heart. The dynamic at the root of the Carmelite quest is a longing for God deep in the heart. The Carmelite journey is a pilgrimage to the heart of God whom we eventually discover has been dwelling deep within our own hearts all the time. It is therefore not surprising that Carmelites have often given prominent place to the notion of ‘the heart’, including the Sacred Heart of Jesus…… Devotion to the Sacred Heart is therefore especially appropriate for the Carmelite, because it encourages us to reflect on Jesus in his humanity. In the years following Teresa’s reform of the Order, her sisters in France further developed devotion to the Sacred Heart, notably Venerable Mother Madeleine of Saint-Joseph (1578-1637), Blessed Marie of the Incarnation (Madame Acarie, 1566-1618), and her daughter the Venerable Marguerite of the Blessed Sacrament (1619-48). To these, and later Carmelites, the word ‘heart’ awakens an image of that vital organ which throbs within us. We know that it sustains our physical existence, but we also speak of the heart as that place deep within that gives rise to our emotions and desires. We talk about giving our heart to someone or something, we speak of opening our heart to others, and we are afraid of having a broken heart. We know from John’s account of the Gospel that Jesus’ heart was broken, but devotion to the Sacred Heart is not only about Christ’s anatomy but rather about the emotions and feelings he has for us: tenderness, forgiveness, and love….. In the Carmelite tradition we revere Mary as the woman of pure heart, a title ascribed to her since the Middle Ages. Like her we are meant to cultivate detachment so that we enjoy purity of heart (puritas cordis), given over to the one true God and not distracted by false idols. With her we strive to serve Jesus ‘faithfully from a pure heart and a good conscience’ (Rule of Saint Albert, Ch. 2)…… In recent years other Carmelite nuns have placed their confidence in the heart of Jesus that loves us even in our feebleness. Congregations have been founded within the Carmelite Family that take their name from devotion to the Sacred Heart, such as the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart, and the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus. By forming praying communities at the service of God’s people, such Carmelites cultivate hearts open to those around them.'


So there is much to discover about the Sacred Heart from the perspective of  the Carmelite tradition!  Prof. John Welch O. Carm has written an inspiring account of  what Carmelites  understand by  'Seasons of the Heart', you can read it HERE.  I  am currently reading his book  The Carmelite Way,  (HERE ) which is very good introduction to the  tradition and some of the saints who have inspired this 800 year old religious community. 

And the connections with Teilhard are also quite interesting.  The first is that Teilhard wrote a piece (Hymn to Matter ) about Elias/ Elijah being taken up to heaven which I blogged about some time ago.  Go HERE The second connection is that  ' The Mystical Milieu', written in 1917  shows clear signs of being influenced by  St Teresa of Avila's  Interior Castle. And the third is that, as de Lubac  notes, Teilhard thought of St John of the Cross  and St Francis as amongst  'the most authoritative representatives'  of a 'cosmic' sense in Christianity! (The Religion of Teilhard de Chardin., p143)  So, the fact that our icon - inspired by Teilhard - provides us with a window into the Carmelite tradition of the heart is a real joy. 

Finally, an interesting footnote and connection.  When Ian was trying to explain the difference as between an icon and other forms of religious image he suggested I compare Bernini's 'The Ecstacy of St. Teresa and an  icon of Elias (above, left ) from St. Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai!  See HERE! 


St Teresa gave this account of her experience as depicted in Bernini's sculpture (left):

"I saw in [the angel's] hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron's point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it. The soul is satisfied now with nothing less than God. The pain is not bodily, but spiritual; though the body has its share in it. It is a caressing of love so sweet which now takes place between the soul and God, that I pray God of His goodness to make him experience it who may think that I am lying." 

Feast of All Saints of Wales and Memorial Bl. John Duns Scotus

 I have spent the past few days on my return from France preparing for today which in Wales and Scotland are celebrated as the feast days for all Saints of Wales (in Wales) and  Bl. John Duns Scotus (in Scotland).     So many thoughts came to mind and once again I found that the Sacred Heart provides a very powerful  way to focus on what this day means to me.

Fr. John FitzGerald OM. 

Today  at mass a number of ideas came to the surface.  The first was that meditating on all the saints of Wales  was difficult and so I let my mind wander.  It soon rested on the memory of someone who was VERY important to me as as student - the Catholic chaplain.  This was inevitably  a time of questions and doubts.   But fortunately, the chaplain at my college was  a truly  remarkable man and was a real inspiration both intellectually and spiritually.  ( I think I also learnt a lot on how speak and lecture from him as well. )  Not many Catholic priests get obituaries in national newspapers, but Father John FitzGerald O.Carm. was one of them.  He was a Carmelite friar, priest, poet, philosopher, teacher and translator.  In his sermons and general chat he would illuminate the contribution of Celtic Christianity and above all the Christian tradition in Wales.  Read about him HERE.   As I thought about the Welsh saints  I imagined what Fr. 'Fitz' would have said.  First he would have quoted a few Welsh poems and something appropriate in  Greek or Latin or several other languages, from which he would distill a simple message.  I imagined he would have said something like, pray that  you could have a heart as open, humble, brave and pure as theirs.  I remember his  lucid and elegant accounts of complex theological arguments and no-body  ever came close to his exploration of the readings from scripture at mass.   Sadly, I don't think he ever wrote them down.  Such a loss.  He was also someone who demonstrated that - as Christians  - we had to use our heads and our hearts to praise God.  Both the head and the heart had to be open to the world.  He also gave me a sense of the importance of language in thinking and feeling.  I am sure he would have quoted a well-known saying in Wales often : 'Cenedl heb iaith yw cenedl heb galon.' ( A nation without a language is without a heart. )  In a sense prayer is the language of the heart - the language of love.  To pray is to raise the mind and the heart  to God.  And, as I reflected on the lives of our saints from way back in the 5th century  through the persecutions of later centuries and to the saints of our own time ( like Fr. Fitz!)  their holiness which serves as a model for our own lives is to be seen in how they spoke the language of love.  And, as they spoke from the heart and not just the head the people of their day listened and understood.  With that in mind I naturally thought of a great Welsh hymn which Fr. Fitz  would have quoted at the drop of a hat and the twinkling of an eye.  

Nid wy’n gofyn bywyd moethus,
Aur y byd na’i berlau mân:
Gofyn wyf am galon hapus,
Calon onest, calon lân.

Calon lân yn llawn daioni,
Tecach yw na’r lili dlos:
Dim ond calon lân all ganu –
Canu’r dydd a chanu’r nos.

Pe dymunwn olud bydol,
Chwim adenydd iddo sydd;
Golud calon lân, rinweddol,
Yn dwyn bythol elw fydd.

Hwyr a bore fy nymuniad
Esgyn ar adenydd cân
Ar i Dduw, er mwyn fy Ngheidwad,
Roddi i mi galon lân.

And the translation


I don’t ask for a luxurious life,
the world’s gold or its fine pearls:
I ask for a happy heart,an honest heart, a pure heart. 

A pure heart is full of goodness,
More lovely than the pretty lily:
Only a pure heart can sing -
Sing day and night. (CHORUS) 

If I wished worldly wealth,
He has a swift seed;
The riches of a virtuous, pure heart,
Will be a perpetual profit.

Late and early, my wish
Rises on the wing of song,
For God, for the sake of my Saviour,
To give me a pure heart.  ***

And that - as Fr. Fitz would have said - sums it all up very nicely.  That  is what our  Welsh saints had, a pure heart.  As Fr. Fitz would have also said: ' Beati mundo corde quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt '.  (Matt, 5.8)  'Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. '  When we pray to the Sacred Heart that is what we are praying for - what the saints have achieved: to see God.  And, if we are to see God   -in all things - we must not allow ourselves to love what the world counts as valuable and desirable.  First and foremost we must  ask for the grace of a pure heart. It is only when we have a pure heart can we see God in the world around us and in the people we meet.

As I reflected on this I suddenly realized that as a Carmelite Fr. Fitz would have had a special devotion to the Sacred Heart!  How could I not have thought about this before!  The phrase idiot comes to mind.



I also reflected today on Bl.John  Duns Scotus.  The Seraphim on the upper left of the icon has become the doorway for meditating on him and the Franciscan tradition.   I find it a joy to read the account in Bl. Gabriel Allegra's book how Teilhard was surprised and delighted by finding out more about Duns Scotus' work.  I think I will re-read that part of the book later today!  Meanwhile, thanks to my old Chaplain,Fr. Fitz (OM),  I now have to explore the Carmelite tradition of the heart.  What a fitting a new direction to have emerged on  this day!

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***  So many recordings to choose from but the one I like is by a young choir who do a great job in singing what is in effect our second national anthem.   Isn't it the BEST national anthem!? And the very  best anthem for young people in a old materialistic world.  GO HERE
 The recording by  Bryn Terfel is also quite good.  Go Here

Following the Sacred Heart to Paris: (6) St Mary Magdalen and the Sacred Heart

I was so pleased that Ian included St. Mary Magdalen on our  the icon of the Sacred Heart.  (Read, for example, here.) Spending some time in Paris gave me the opportunity to reflect on her relationship to the devotion.  Whilst in  Paris we attended the 'Madeleine' twice; once for the concert and then for Sunday mass.  I found the image of the icon kept popping into my head and enabled me to  think about her from so many different perspectives.  Is this what an icon is supposed to do?  It seems to me that is precisely what it can facilitate!

In the icon she is located on the right hand side, directly opposite Adam.  And the thought that occurred to me in the Madeleine - and was reinforced by looking at (so many!) works of art in the Louvre and the museum of the Moyen Age is that we are right to reflect on the relation between Adam and St Mary Magdalen.   The link it seems to me is the cross at the top of the icon.  For Christians the cross is the 'Tree of Life' on which the second Adam redeemed the world.  Mary Magdalene was at the foot of this cross as one who loved Christ with all her heart and was forgiven much  and loved much by Christ.  She points the way to the meaning of the cross as a symbol of God's love and mercy and calls us to open our hearts to that love and mercy as she opened hers.  Love was her choice. love was her way.  Adam on the other hand and other side of the icon chooses differently.  Adam wants knowledge: and so become like God. Adam desires KNOWLEDGE of the tree in the Garden of Eden.  St. Mary Magdalen desires only LOVE and MERCY from the tree on which hangs the saviour of the world on Golgotha.

Lorenzo Monaco's crucifixion, in the Louvre

As I reflected on this in the Madeleine it struck me that the whole history of the building reflected the different paths of Adam and Mary Magdalen. In brief: the church was originally a confiscated synagogue (1182) consecrated to the saint.  In the 18th century a new church was proposed and then during the French Revolution and the reign of Napoleon other (non religious uses) were suggested.   It was not until 1842 that the building was finally consecrated as a church.  It was thought that St Marie Madeleine was an appropriate saint for a church which would symbolise repentance and reparation for the terrible things done during the revolution, and also to symbolise national reconciliation: forgiveness and mercy.   The revolution, as we noted in a previous post, was  an utterly  merciless revolution designed to bring into being a new world based on reason and knowledge rather than Christianity.   It was a revolution in which Churches were turned into temples in which reason would be the object of worship.   The revolution was, in so many senses, heir to Adam's choice: the desire for knowledge and power so as to become like God.   The church of the Madeleine, however, can be read as a symbol of repentance and the recognition of how dangerous and misguided this view was then and remains today.  St. Mary Magdalen is therefore a reminder of  how, as human beings,  we have been created for love.  And, whenever and where-ever we loose sight  (as individuals or as societies ) of this we need to repent of our sinfulness in rejecting a life of love and building a civilization of hate, greed and fear rather than self-less love for God and our neighbour.    And when we repent  of our failure to love and when we open our hearts to that divine energy of love wholly and completely - as did Mary of Magdala - we see the other side of the cross ( as Teilhard put it).  We see the radiance of the risen Christ drawing all human beings  towards their completion in  Him.  We see the way, the truth and the light.

Following the Sacred Heart to Paris: (5) Climbing the hill to Sacre Coeur

If you follow the Sacred Heart to Paris, then it is inevitable that you end up in Sacre Coeur. For me it is a place full of memories  as I think of  what has happened to me - and to Montmatre - over the many years I have been coming to Paris.  (See , for example: here.)  It was a cold morning when we walked up the 'butte Montmatre' and I could not help thinking that it was all very sad, tired and dirty.  That is to say, more tired and sad and dirty than I remember it from the last time.  As you spiral upwards physically, mentally and spiritually you spiral downwards! 

 Montmatre itself has lost what little charm it had left!  Having said that, I was reminded of someone many years ago talking about Charles Aznavour's song ( La Boheme hear  HERE ) in which he was moaning about the decline of the place back in the 1960s.   As usual the basilica was full of tourists, doing the circuit and then out. So sad.  What they get out of it, I fail to see.  We knelt down in front of the altar and tried to pray - but it is so difficult.  I spent some time just looking at the great mosaic  which was the subject of early posts to this blog.  Later, I had a chat with a very kind Benedictine sister in the bookshop whose suggested some things to read.  And then, we left.   So many thoughts were going around my head, and the more they went around - like tourists around the basilica - the sadder I became.   It was as if I had followed the Sacred Heart to the Sacred Heart, and yet somehow in all the crowds we had failed to meet up! And yet the basilica is, in so many ways, the great statement and monument to the Sacred Heart.  The basilica is the great votive offering of a country - la belle France.

The first thing that came to mind, however,  was the Convent at Tyburn in London. ( I blogged about this. Here).  Back in 1898 Rev Mother Mary Adele Garnier had founded the 'Congregation of the Adorers of the Sacred of Heart, Montmatre.'   In 1901 - due to laws against religious orders - the congregation was moved to London.  And from there it has spread all over the world: but they have no convent in Montmatre  - the mount of martyrs.  Of course, the basilica has maintained a perpetual adoration of the Sacred Heart in the Blessed Sacrament for 125 years! And it was this thought which revived me - as well as a cup of hot chocolate.

The basilica in a sense is a gigantic metaphor for the Sacred Heart itself.  When you just look at the outside of things, it is difficult to find God anywhere in the sheer mass of humanity which swarms around and inside.   To experience the Sacred Heart you have to go beyond  the outside of things. (The physical heart.)  And ( what Teilhard called ) the within of things in the basilica  cannot be experienced as a 'tourist'.  You cannot be a tourist to the Sacred Heart.   You are not a tourist in your own house or home.  And to experience the Sacred Heart, I realized,  it has to become your home: your place of security, rest and comfort.   Thus the heart of the basilica is to be found  precisely where the banner outside tells us: in prayerful adoration of the divine centre of all creation.   Sadly, as a visitor and a tourist, I was not able to experience this real heart within the basilica.   However, if you contact the basilica it is possible to do precisely that, after the doors have closed (at 10.30pm).   See HERE.  Perhaps the next time I visit I will not do so as a tourist, but as a pilgrim coming home.  So, I will stay the night!  As the words of a well-known hymn expresses it: ' O Sacred Heart my home lies deep in you.'  HEAR here.)  And home, of course,  is where the heart is!

The trouble is what we see high upon the hill of Montmatre is a massive and imposing political statement: and yet deep inside this monumental structure is a spiritual 'within'.  And we can only really encounter the Sacred Heart in Montmatre when we understand the relationship between the within and the without of the building.  The within of the building - its core -  is the devotion to the Sacred Heart as the symbol of the love and word  of God made flesh.  The Sacred Heart - the temple of the Trinity.  The Sacred Heart, the dynamic energy of love which is pulling the universe towards its completion when Christ will be all in all.  The Sacred Heart - all that the great litany of the Sacred Heart embodies and which is expressed in another way in Teilhard's litany.  But the without is a symbol of a religious and a political kind.  It is fundamentally a political symbol :  it reminds us of how, in the past,  the Sacred Heart was a symbol of resistance and opposition to the belief that human beings can only advance through revolution and violence exercised in the name of reason.  And because of this, the building stands as an important statement which is relevant to us in the 21st century.  The Sacred Heart stands as a monument to those who suffered - on all sides - as a result of the defective belief that  'enlightenment' was only to be had through REASON.  It is a monument to the belief that humanity is just a collection of nation states.  (It was built after the Franco- Prussian war. )   Indeed, on this hill during the revolution St. Peter's church was proclaimed a 'temple of reason.'   For all its faults, the voice of the Church then, as now, was unequivocal: real enlightenment comes when we seek to change society not through revolutionary violence and through the exercise of state power and armed force, but through an evolutionary process which seeks to harness the capacity which humanity has for love.   It is therefore, so very appropriate that the basilica of Sacre Coeur is one of the great buildings of the world.  It should remind us of the dangers of believing that humanity advances only by using  the 'head'  - the very part of the body the revolutionaries liked to remove.  When I see the building it is as a reminder of how humanity has to evolve through combining the head and the heart.  Reason and faith. Logic and love.   Whenever human beings forget this link between these capacities that must be harnessed like two powerful horses ( in front of the building!)  humanity is prone to do stupid and evil things.   Sacre Coeur is a monument to so much of the stupidity and wickedness which we find in the history of France, but also in the story of every nation on God's earth.   At the same time, it is also a sign that we must have faith in the future of our planet and our capacity to 'build the earth' and realize that ( as Teilhard said) the 'age of nations is past.'  This faith should be rooted in what is contained in the within of the controversial structure which sits on the 'butte': human history and evolution has a point, a direction and a purpose.  We call this point towards which we are moving and evolving, the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The 'foyer' or the point - the divine centre-  at which all creation will converge. 

As we descended down the steps of the rue Foyatier and looked back up at the basilica still enveloped in the misty cold air, it was this thought of a divine centre and  a heart on fire with love for us and for every single human being in Montmatre that warmed our hearts that morning.

Jean -Simon Berthélemy's Sacred Heart of Saint Sulpice

Berthélemy's Sacred Heart: click to enlarge.**

Reflecting on the painting by Jean -Simon Berthélemy  - dated 1784- in the Church of Saint-Sulpice which I encountered on a recent trip to Paris (SEE EARLIER POST) ,  it struck me that we need to focus on  the message of the painting -  which might  have been more apparent at the the time when it was fist displayed in the church prior to the French Revolution than to us now.  And that message?  On the left of the painting we see the world in adoration of the love of God as manifested in the humanity of Christ - as symbolised by His heart.   But then on the right hand side we move from adoration to ACTION.  We see St Michael as a channel for God's love using that energy to act upon the evils and wickedness of this world.  The Sacred Heart is not simply a a devotion, it is the source of an energy which humanity has to harness in order to bring about the Kingdom of God.   Thus, when we reflect on the history of the devotion it is noticeable that the communities that  have a special love of the Sacred Heart - such as  those established by St. Madeleine Sophie and St. Louise de Marillac-  have been active through prayer and charitable works  - in building what Bl. John Paul called a 'civilisation of love'. The Sacred Heart is calling for action and not just devotion: action, through prayer and charitable endeavours - to confront and challenge the existence of poverty of body, mind and spirit in our world ; action to create a just society; action to build a new earth.  And, in the context of the belief that reason alone is all we need to build a better world, the Sacred Heart was thus  the symbol of opposition to the religion  of reason promoted by the Revolution.   We need to see the Sacred Heart once again in these terms - as a symbol which challenges the marginalization of faith in our world.   Reason without faith in God as love - is always dangerous and ultimately destructive.  The Sacred Heart calls us to be active in  harnessing faith and reason and above all what Teilhard called the 'energy of love'.  Love - the ultimate and most powerful form of energy in the universe.   That is what St. Michael is using to protect the good and defeat evil!  The Sacred Heart in this picture is challenging us to join Michael in building a civilisation of love.


So... I have another way of reading the presence of St. Michael in our icon!
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** The picture is the best I can do with a virtually black painting!! Sorry.   Although the basic structure and content of the painting is clear, it is impossible to get any more detail.  As to colours, if you look at other paintings by Berthélemy, you can get a sense of the colours underneath years of  dirt!   This picture can only be a very rough approximation.  His colours tended to be quite vivid and rich.  For other paintings by him see here.

Following the Sacred Heart to Paris: (4) L'Art Saint Sulpice and the art of the Sacred Heart

From the sublime to to ridiculous!   Despite the desire to experience the love of the Sacred Heart as manifested in the lives in the lives of St. Madeleine-Sophie and St. Louise and their sisters, I knew there was somewhere else in Paris I had to visit: Place St Sulpice.  In many ways what had taken place in and around the area associated with the Church of St. Sulpice was just as important to the devotion to the Sacred Heart as the traditions and teachings of the church.  As a devotion, it has been very focused on an image.  The area was in its day in the 19th century responsible for the mass production of Catholic art.  It was from this part of Paris that all the plaster statues of the Sacred Heart were to be produced and where from  pictures and prayer cards were exported world-wide.  As Colleen McDannell shows in her book  Material Christianity ( Yale University Press, 1998): 'l'Art Saint-Sulpice became the international style of Catholic church art. From Ireland to Mexico to India or the United States, local art was replaced by goods either imported from France or copied from French standards.'  Teilhard was not alone in feeling that this kitsch art produced by the many businesses which surrounded the  church of St. Sulpice did the Sacred Heart no favours.  Indeed, the predominance of the Sulpicean images was not helpful to what he believed was necessary: an  evolution in the devotion.  And yet, he himself carried around with him an image which he treasured as something which in someway captured his sense of the Sacred Heart. (See here )  On the card he carried and which he gave as a gift to his friend Lucile Swan is the address of Art Catholique, 6 Place Saint Sulpice. So,  off  we went to find it.  And here it is - above right.

There are still a few shops around the Church selling pretty much the same kind of Sacred Heart merchandise that would have been sold over a hundred years ago.  We  then ventured inside the church. It is well worth a visit and it was especially relevant for my Sacred Heart journey.   The only thing I knew about the church was that it was famous for its organs  and organists: Widor played here for over 60 years! As we walked around it was noticeable that the most 'used' of many chapels was that the the Sacred Heart. I wanted to get in an have a really good look, but there was a family who were praying very intensively and I naturally did not want to disturb, so I carried on and discovered the marvellous paintings of Delacroix in the ' Chapel of the Holy Angels'.  I knew the first one: 'Jacob wrestling with the Angel'.  But did not know the ceiling painting of 'St. Michael Defeats the devil.'  Eventually I returned to the Sacred Heart  Chapel, and explored it in some detail.

The chapel was far more important than I imagined.  It turns out that it was the first chapel in Paris ever to be dedicated to the Sacred Heart - in 1748.  It was the initiative of the then  pastor of the church, Jean-Babtiste Languet de Gergy  -  whose brother was an early  biographer of none other than Marguerite Marie herself.

The chapel  has a rather poor window depicting the Sacred Heart, AND the head is missing ! It has some impressive woodwork on the altar - dated 1841 and a  statue  by Emile  Thomas dated  1894.   What was surprising was that the statue of the Sacred Heart  had a golden heart rather than the more usual red on an open chest: and it is noticeable that this kind of statue is quite common in Churches in Paris - even in a Jesuit Church such as Saint Paul and St. Louis in the Marais.  But not the kind of image produced by L'Art Saint Sulpice! The kind of images produced en masse by the businesses around the church mainly opted for the lurid red, blood dripping variety.  The face is also strong and masculine without any trace of the rather feminine look which we associated with l'Art Saint Sulpice style.  What was  also interesting was the fact that it was surrounded by votive hearts made of what looks like brass: which presumably could have been purchased in one of the many shops around the church.

Around the base of the statue were contemporary equivalents: written prayers and thanks.  Thus the Sacred Heart still seems to be attracting the kind of devotion that was manifested in the past.  It just was not so aesthetic!  But I was moved by the number of people who would come to the chapel and light a candle or just sit and pray, and I would leave whenever someone came in to the chapel. Eventually I noticed a large painting on canvas on the left hand on the chapel.  It was black very dirty and it was difficult to make out what the painting was about.  So I took a few pictures.  It was only when I got home to London and  edited the pictures that the image became clear.

The artist of this picture which is described, but not shown in the guide is named as  Berthélemy (Jean-Simon)  and is dated as 1784.  In his day he was a very well known and highly respected artist.  See here.   It is a real shame that you can only see this picture after being edited and adjusted  on the computer.  The picture needs a good clean!

Berthélemy's Sacred Heart

However, although not very satisfactory, my photograph gives a good idea as to what the painting is about.  The guidebook simply says that it 'presents the adoration of the Sacred Heart by the world'.   This suggests to me that the person who wrote the entry had not really looked at picture.  It is,  I think, one of the more interesting Sacred Heart images I have come across.  

Our icon features St. Michael and the Sacred Heart, and to my knowledge the picture by Berthélemy  is the only Sacred Heart which also shows the symbol in relation to St. Michael.  He is shown defeating Satan. This seems to be accomplished by Michael harnessing the power of divine energy radiating from the heart.   Thus the painting is better described as the Adoration of the Sacred Heart by the world and the defeat of Satan through the power of the Sacred Heart! Although dated 1784 - that is 5 years before the revolution - the painting to me  has more of a post-revolutionary feel. Divine retribution for what had happened to the Church during the revolution?  Perhaps it is dated incorrectly?  Satan appears to be holding a statue - perhaps the statue of the Virgin by Bouchardon  that had been lost / stolen?  Pre or post revolutionary the painting still  conveys in no uncertain terms the strong  and growing devotion to the Sacred Heart as the saviour of France and the protector of the church.     One other point is that if we look at the painting by Delacroix in the chapel of the Angels done in the middle of the 19th century we find an echo  of Berthélemy's Sacred Heart in Delacroix's painting of  Saint Michael defeats the devil: especially with the discarded weapons on the left-hand side.


There are many issues suggested by Berthélemy's picture.  Here I will just raise one.  Given the location of this painting in the very centre of the French religious art industry,why was this image not more widely distributed?  I think the answer to that is straight-forward.  The  industry was overwhelmingly committed to selling a more homely or safe image of the Sacred Heart.  This kind of image would not sell.  But if we are to better understand the Sacred Heart, I think this image is an important one to explore. 

Following the Sacred Heart to Paris: (3) The road to the rue du Bac

The sad thing about so many of the 'tourist trap' churches in Paris, especially Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur is the fact that they are over-run by tourists.  That is not so bad.   But it is a fact that so many tourists simply do not understand that they are walking on sacred ground.  They show no or little respect.  It is difficult to pray in such places. How different it is if one takes the road to the 'other Notre Dame ' in Paris hidden away in the rue du Bac: number 140, to be precise.   Unlike the tourist dominated and monumental Notre Dame, the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal is small, and if you did not know it is there, you might easily pass by! And although can be  VERY busy, it is one of the most prayerful  places in Paris.


 The  Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous medal was originally dedicated to the Sacred Heart (1815)  and subsequently re-named after the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin to Saint Catherine Laboure in 1830.  A visit to the chapel was a must for this trip for so many reasons - not least because of the close associations with the the Chapel,  the Daughters of Charity and the medal with the Sacred Heart.   You can find out all about the Chapel and the Medal and the Daughters of Charity by visiting their website : here.

For now I can only note that I found the Chapel very moving and inspiring.   It gave me a renewed sense of what the medal is all about : the mystery of salvation and the role of Mary - the Immaculate Conception -  in the redemption of the human race.  If the Sacred Heart is the summa of our faith, and the Rosary is the 'doorway' into the Heart of Christ,   then it seems to me that the medal is a summary of God's plan for mankind and the central role of Mary in this plan. To wear it is to be constantly aware of God's plan, and its message of hope.  In promoting this constant awareness of the fact that we are children of God the little medal is truly miraculous!   And, in terms of the Sacred Heart on the back of the medal  in particular, it provides a powerful symbol of the Alliance of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The original seal used by St. Louise de Marillac.

I think that the medal, in conjunction with the seal of the Daughter's of Charity  (see HERE) which states that 'La Charitie de Jesus Crucifie Nous Presse' - The Charity of the Crucified Jesus  urges us.' * gives us a most profound insight into the meaning the Sacred Heart should have for how we are called to live our lives.  It should energise, activate and drive, push and urge us on.  To devote ones life to the Sacred Heart is -  it seems to me now -  to live a life  energised and vitalised by the love of God.  We can see what this can look like when we reflect on the history of the Daughters of Charity established by St. Louise and the Society founded by St. Madeleine-Sophie in Paris all those years ago.  

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* Sometimes the Latin form is used by the Daughters of Charity: 'Caritas Christi Urget Nos' .  Which is, of course, St. Paul, Corinthians 2.  5:14