Jesus, Mercy Incarnate

other extreme, some Catholics seem to feel that there is no longer any need for the traditional devotion to the Sacred Heart; now that we have the “new and improved” version, so to speak, in devotion to The Divine Mercy and to the Merciful Heart of Jesus, we can just let the old Sacred Heart traditions, such as the First Friday Communions and the images of the Sacred Heart, fade away quietly and be forgotten. 1. The Sacred Heart and the Divine Mercy are Inseparable The truth is, however, that saints, visionaries, and several popes have seen these two things — the Divine Mercy and the Sacred Heart — as so closely bound up with each other as to be absolute- ly inseparable . Thus, we shall argue that the Church needs both the traditional devotion to the Sacred Heart, and the newer devotion to The Divine Mercy, alive and well among the faithful. St. John Eudes (1601-1680), for example, was the pioneer of the liturgical worship of the Sacred Heart. But in his “Meditations for the Feast of the Sacred Heart,” we find the following, revealing passage entitled: The Divine Mercy should be the Object of our Very Special Devotion. Of all the divine perfections mirrored in the Sacred Heart of our Savior we should have a very special devotion to divine mercy and we should endeavor to engrave its image on our heart. 15 Similarly, consider the visions and locutions received by Sr. Josefa Menendez in the 1920s, recorded for us in a beautiful little book entitled The Way of Divine Love . The whole book is a tender expression of devotion to the Sacred Heart. However, Jesus also explained to her that the message of the merciful love of His Heart must be proclaimed to all people. She recorded the words of our Lord as follows: 108 Jesus, Mercy Incarnate