| Main centres: | 1-3 business days |
| Regional areas: | 3-4 business days |
| Remote areas: | 3-5 business days |
35cm Sacred Heart Marble Statue - small
Dimensions: 120mm L x 80mm W x 350mm H
Please note that all our Marble Art Statues are made on order. There is a lead time of approximately 10 working days.
The
Sacred Heart
is a devotional name used by some
Roman Catholics
to refer to
Jesus
. Devotion to the
Sacred Heart
in focusing on Christ's
heart
metaphorically focuses on the emotional and moral life of Jesus and especially his
love
for humanity. It also stresses the central Catholic concept of loving Jesus. In the image, Christ's heart is shown containing wounds to which Jesus is pointing, including a
crown of thorns
. This 'wounded heart' is meant to symbolise Christ's hurt at the rejection of his message by humanity. In including the 'crown of thorns', it alludes to the manner of his death, which is further highlighted by the inclusion of crucifixion wounds on Christ's hands. Thus the Christ of the image is of a post-resurrection Jesus speaking symbolically to humanity, not the pre-crucifixion Jesus of the
Gospels
.
The most significant source for the devotion to the Sacred Heart was
St. Margaret Mary
(Alacoque) (
22 July
1647
-
17 October
1690
) of the
Religious of the Visitation Order
who claimed to have received visions of Jesus Christ. In these visions she was told that those who prayerfully looked to the Sacred Heart would be given specific graces. In his
Papal Bull
Auctorem Fidei
Pope Pius VI
praised devotion to the Sacred Heart, which had its own critics within Roman Catholicism. However devotion to the Sacred Heart has been traced back as early as
St. Mechtilde
(d. 1298) and
St. Gertrude
(d. 1302).
Following a theological review, in his encyclical
Annum Sacrum
(
May 25
1899
)
Pope Leo XIII
decreed that the consecration of the entire human race to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus
should take place. It took place on
11 June
1899
. In more recent times the revered Italian cleric Padre Pio promoted and revived the concept of prayer directly to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Religious imagery of the Sacred Heart regularly featured in Catholic homes, particularly before
Vatican II
. Sometimes that image contained beneath it a list of family members, meaning that the entire family were devotees of the Sacred Heart, from whom blessings on the home and the family members were sought, often through the prayer
"O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in Thee".
One particular image was used as part of a set, along with an image of the
Blessed Virgin Mary
. In that image, Mary too was shown pointing to her heart, expressing her maternal love for the human race and for her son, Jesus Christ. The mirror images reflect an eternal binding of the two hearts. This set of images is shown here.
