Twelve Promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Between December 1673 and June 1675, in the four great apparitions of Paray-le-Monial, Our Lord Jesus Christ revealed to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque († 1690) his Sacred Heart and promised twelve particular graces to those who would honour this devotion. The Saint transmitted these promises, on different occasions, to her Jesuit spiritual director St Claude La Colombière († 1682), who preserved them in his writings. The concise formulation of the «twelve promises», grouped from the Saint’s autograph letters, has been diffused since the 18th century, especially by the Society of Jesus and by the Apostleship of Prayer. The twelfth promise — called «the Great Promise» — is the foundation of the devotion of the nine First Fridays (already present in Eucharistic Adoration, Phase 3i).

To those who honour his Sacred Heart, Our Lord promised:

1. To grant them all the graces necessary in their state of life.
2. To establish peace in their families.
3. To comfort them in all their afflictions.
4. To be their secure refuge during life and especially at the hour of death.
5. To shed abundant blessings upon all their undertakings.
6. To grant sinners that they may find in his Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy.
7. To lead lukewarm souls to fervour.
8. To raise quickly to perfection the fervent souls.
9. To bless in a special manner the homes where the image of his Sacred Heart is exposed and honoured.
10. To give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
11. To inscribe upon his Heart, that they may never be erased, the names of those who shall propagate this devotion.
12. The Great Promise: «In the excess of the mercy of my Heart, I promise that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who shall communicate on nine First Fridays of the month consecutively the grace of final penitence: they shall not die in my disgrace nor without receiving the sacraments, and my divine Heart shall become their secure refuge in this last hour.»

Sacred Heart of Jesus, burning with love for us, inflame our hearts through yours. Amen.