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DIOCESE OF DROMORE
Most Rev Eamon Martin DD
Apostolic Administrator
Bishop’s House
44 Armagh Road
Newry
Co. Down BT35 6PN
Tel: (028) 3026 2444
E-mail:
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28th May 2025
Dear Father, Deacon, Sister, Brother,
June - the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
I invite you and all in your parishes and communities to join me in dedicating the month of June to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, invoking Christ’s gift of peace - peace in our hearts, our homes, our country and our world.
Earlier this week the Irish Bishops said:
“We in Ireland must pray for a change of heart. Throughout the month of June - the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus - we call on everyone to pray for an outpouring of the compassion of God on a heartless world.
To see the relentless bombardment of civilian areas, the deliberate withholding of food from the starving, as well as the callous holding of hostages, it appears that humanity has lost its heart. In the face of these horrors, we invite everyone to turn to the heart of Jesus throughout the month of June by praying for the renewal of heart that our world so desperately needs.”
This year marks the 350th anniversary of the Sacred Heart revelations to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque at Paray-le-Monial in France. Last autumn, to mark this special anniversary year, Pope Francis wrote his last encyclical entitled Dilexit Nos, ‘He Loved Us’, and it is about the human and divine love of the heart of Jesus Christ.
Please do all you can to contribute to the following initiatives on some significant dates in June:
- 1.The relics of St Margaret Mary Alacoque and St Claude are arriving in Sacred Heart Church, Cloghogue, Newry, on Friday 30th May and will remain there for one week. All are welcome.
- 2.During the month of June, I invite you to include in the Prayers of the Faithful and after Holy Communion, the invocation, “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, we place all our trust in you.”
- 3.The Bishops call on all Catholics to make the first Friday, 6th June, a day of prayer and fasting in solidarity with our sisters and brothers who are suffering at this time in the Holy Land.
- 4.In Knock, on Sunday 22nd June, I will consecrate Ireland to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but this sacred act is only effective if many individuals, families, parish communities and others do likewise. Please invite the families of your parish to bring their Sacred Heart pictures to Mass on one of the weekends in June, perhaps the weekend of 21/22 or 28/29
June, for a prayer of rededication and blessing of homes and families to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (the prayer will be sent to you in the near future).
- 5.Friday 27th June is the solemn Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. I invite all people in the diocese to join in the novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus leading up to this year’s feast.
- 6.The Jubilee statue of the Sacred Heart has already visited several parishes and schools of our diocese and is available to Dromore and Armagh during the month of July (please contact Deacon John Taafe if interested in taking the statue).
- 7.You can find some helpful Sacred Heart resources on our website, https://www.armaghprays.com/dilexit-nos-jesus-loves-you.
In his last encyclical, Dilexit Nos, our late Holy Father Pope Francis made this very moving prayer: “In the presence of the heart of Christ, I once more ask the Lord to have mercy on this suffering world in which he chose to dwell as one of us. May he pour out the treasures of his light and love, so that our world, which presses forward despite wars, socio-economic disparities and uses of technology that threaten our humanity, may regain the most important and necessary thing of all: its heart.”
Thank you for your cooperation in helping to make June an important month of prayer for peace by resting our hearts in the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
With every blessing and kindest regards,
Yours sincerely,
Most Rev Eamon Martin
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