Many Catholics have already found special ways of celebrating 2025, the Jubilee Year of Hope. The year truly is a year of hope because, after all, with it we mark the 2,025th anniversary of the Incarnation! While Rome has designated holy doors that are only opened during a jubilee, and thus pilgrims flock to Rome in order to obtain those special graces, many local dioceses offer their own diocesan-designated sites where special indulgences may be obtained during a Jubilee Year.
But with all the excitement about the Jubilee Year of Hope, you might have missed the news that this June 2025 is also the Jubilee of the Sacred Heart.
This June marks a very beautiful commemoration spanning several weeks and filled with meaning for those who love the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This Jubilee officially closes in 2025 on June 27, the Feast of the Sacred Heart. And the Feast of the Sacred Heart is extra special this year … because this June is exactly 350 years from when Christ first requested this feast.
More special days
There are some special days to celebrate the Jubilee this June, specifically June 13-20, 2025, because that is the span of days during the Octave of Corpus Christi, 1675, in which the Sacred Heart appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a French Visitation nun. This event is sometimes referred to as the “Great Apparition,” or the “Fourth Revelation from the Sacred Heart of Jesus.”
Our Lord made known His desire for the Feast of the Sacred Heart to be established. Try marking your calendar for these eight days and making extra acts of love and reparation in honor of the Sacred Heart or praying extra prayers on those days.
You can get a free Sacred Heart-themed mini-retreat to commemorate each of these days dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus sent right to your inbox each day from June 13-20 here.
Behold this Heart
Jesus opened His Heart and spoke these words to St. Margaret Mary during the octave of Corpus Christi, when she was before the Blessed Sacrament:
And what did Jesus wonderfully promise? That His Heart “will open wide and pour forth lavishly the influence of Its Divine love on all” who will receive Holy Communion on the Feast of the Sacred Heart in a spirit of reparation.
What a beautiful promise! Let’s mark our calendars now and get to Mass on Friday, June 27! Let us receive Holy Communion on that day in a spirit of loving reparation for the outrages our Eucharistic Lord has received.
3-Year jubilee
The Jubilee of the Sacred Heart has actually spanned three years (2023-2025), celebrating the apparitions of 1673, 1674, and 1675. Over those years, Jesus famously requested the 9 First Fridays devotion in order to make reparation to His Eucharistic Heart.
But there is another request the Sacred Heart of Jesus made: to pray a Holy Hour on Thursday nights, spiritually consoling Him in Gethsemane from 11 p.m.-12 a.m. Those who feel called to fulfill this request can learn more about how to go about it, including prayer guides, from this apostolate, which has championed the Thursday devotion to consoling Christ’s Heart in Gethsemane since 2023 – the first year of the Sacred Heart Jubilee!
June altar - it's not too late!
For more ways to celebrate, along with going to Mass and receiving the Most Holy Eucharist on the Feast of the Sacred Heart in a spirit of reparation, why not plan to make a June altar in your home in a spirit of love?
You could set up an image of the Sacred Heart and a candle or bouquet of flowers as a continuous visual reminder of your devotion. You could plan a special dinner for family or friends (and yes you’re definitely worth the effort even if you live alone!) and get a little creative with the menu by serving, for example, heart shaped ravioli or featuring artichoke hearts or hearts of palm. At dinner, display a statue or image of the Sacred Heart on your table, and try adding a detail like a red tablecloth, or red glasses, plates, or napkins. As part of grace before meals, you could pray this daily prayer to the Sacred Heart.
Jesus meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like unto Thine!
