Most Reverend Benoît Rivière, Bishop of Autun, has decreed a one-and-a-half-year Jubilee to commemorate the 350^e anniversary of the apparitions of the Sacred Heart to Saint Margaret Mary, Visitandine religious of Paray-le-Monial in the XVII^e century.

The anniversary of the first apparition will mark the opening of this Jubilee time. The three main appearances took place on December 27, 1673, on 1^er Friday of a month of 1674 and in June 1675. The closing of the Jubilee will therefore be June 27, 2025, the date of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart and the anniversary month of the third great apparition.

The opening mass on December 27 will be celebrated at 11 a.m. at the basilica of Paray-le-Monial. It will be presided over by Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Apostolic Nuncio in France and will be open to all. The Shrine of the Sacred Heart as well as many movements or associations related to the Heart of Jesus will be present.

The theme chosen is “Return love for love“. These are the words of Saint Margaret Mary: “To learn to love Jesus, who urged me so hard to repay him love for love…” These words perfectly sum up the whole spirituality of the Sacred Heart: to respond to God’s infinite love with love.

During the preparatory year for the Jubilee, invitations were extended to all the dioceses of France, to episcopal conferences throughout the world, as well as to communities living under the spirituality of the Sacred Heart. Parishes, churches, chapels or educational institutions under the patronage of the Sacred Heart were also invited to come on pilgrimage or organize local events.

The Heart of Jesus brings people together. Different ecclesial realities have already responded favourably to the announcement of this major event in France and will participate in the Jubilee. Among them, the Spanish Cor Iesu Institute, which relays information in the Hispanic world, the international Emmanuel community, which animates the Sanctuary of Paray-le-Monial, the worldwide network of the Pope’s prayer founded and animated by the Jesuits, as well as the Abbey of Le Barroux.

Events will also be proposed: an international artists’ competition, a meeting with consecrated persons on February 2, 2024, a retreat entitled “The Way of the Heart” and a theological colloquium in Rome will be organized from 1^er to May 5, 2024...

« This Jubilee is a wonderful opportunity to come and drink from the source of the Sacred Heart and to put oneself at his school”, underlines Father Etienne Kern, rector of the Sanctuary of Paray-le-Monial, “to become apostles of the Heart of Jesus, filled with his compassion, his gentleness and his humility,which the world so badly needs! »

Source: France : 350th anniversary of the apparitions of the Sacred Heart in Paray-le-Monial – ZENIT – English