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Do the Eastern Catholics have any devotion to the Sacred Heart?
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The Sacred Heart is not a devotion consistent with Eastern Christian spirituality (although, regretably, you'll find at least one Byzantine Ruthenian parish under that patronage).
Many years,
Neil
"One day all our ethnic traits ... will have disappeared. Time itself is seeing to this. And so we can not think of our communities as ethnic parishes, ... unless we wish to assure the death of our community."
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Eastern Catholics don't really have a devotion to the Sacred Heart, although I remember Fr. Tom Loya drawing some interesting parallels between the Feast of the Sacred Heart and that of Thomas Sunday - it's been so many years, however, that I don't remember what the parallels were. Of late I've been wondering of there is a way to properly "Easternize/Byzantinize" devotion to the Sacred Heart. The East does have a very strong theology of the heart (not the Sacred Heart) that is sort of epitomized in the works of St. Theophan the Recluse. One wonders if one could develop that theology along the lines of Jesus' heart. Sacred Heart Byzantine (Ruthenian) Catholic Church in Livonia, MI. is actually quite a wonderful little place. I'm friends with the pastor and his (Roman) brother, as well as the deacon and his family. That is the place where I had my first introduction into the Divine Liturgy and the world of the East. Fr. Joseph Marquis was somewhat central in my early formation as an Eastern Catholic. 
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Henrik
As was once said either here or on another Forum where the question was raised - and I can't remember who said it.
" We do not pray to Body Parts - not even Christ's "
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Of late I've been wondering of there is a way to properly "Easternize/Byzantinize" devotion to the Sacred Heart. No, my brother, I don't think so nor is it needed and I suspect, were you to ask my old friend and your current pastor, you'd hear a resounding affirmation of that sentiment. Sacred Heart Byzantine (Ruthenian) Catholic Church in Livonia, MI. is actually quite a wonderful little place. I have heard nothing but good things about the parish in Livonia. My issue is with the patronage - a regretable function of the era in which the parish was erected, 1957. Many years, Neil
"One day all our ethnic traits ... will have disappeared. Time itself is seeing to this. And so we can not think of our communities as ethnic parishes, ... unless we wish to assure the death of our community."
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Perhaps you are right, Neil. Honestly I've not really thought about it too much. I was having a conversation with a Western Rite Orthodox friend of mine and the topic of devotion to the Sacred Heart came up briefly. That was the first I'd really thought of that devotion in well over a decade. Growing up as a Roman Catholic my family was consecrated to the Sacred Heart, and I remember praying "Jesus meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto thine" daily. But I never really delved into the theology of the Sacred Heart. Honestly, I'd never really thought of the Sacred Heart as venerating one of Christ's bodily organs until I heard the above mentioned quote of Orthodox and Easterners "not worshiping Christ's organs." I'd always presumed "heart" was being used in the biblical/Patristic sense, where the heart is the very center of the person. In this sense I would think it'd be perfectly acceptable for an Easterner to pray the above prayer. But it doesn't really concern me too much/at all. I don't really have a devotion to the Sacred Heart. My realm is more the Jesus Prayer.
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Henrik
As was once said either here or on another Forum where the question was raised - and I can't remember who said it.
" We do not pray to Body Parts - not even Christ's " That is a ridiculous straw man.
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"Sacred Heart" is just a metaphor for the love of Christ.
My grandparents had a picture of the Sacred Heart which, when I was small, really gave me the heebie-jeebies. It was graphic to the extreme.I thought of it in terms of "The Addams Family" TV program: ooky, kooky and spooky. One time a smart-aleck in my class at school said of a Sacred Heart picture, "Look: Jesus has heartburn!"
Not far from my house, over in Rowlett, is a RC diocese of Dallas cemetery called Sacred Heart Cemetery. I was reading the obits in the newspaper a few weeks ago and learned someone was being "interned" in "SCARED Heart Cemetery".
Allez comprendre...
Last edited by sielos ilgesys; 06/03/12 12:06 AM.
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Do the Eastern Catholics have any devotion to the Sacred Heart? Yes, it does exist. It was especially a source of consolation for many Byzantine Catholics in Ukraine and Eastern Europe during the time of communist persecution. Blessed Basil Hopko [ carpatho-rusyn.org] was healed miraculously after making a novena to Sacred Heart of Jesus: As the young Hopko was getting ready for his journey abroad he became sick and had to undergo several operations. In his Memoirs Bishop Hopko writes: "Having spent all my travelling money on doctors and hospitals, I gave up the hope of seeing my mother again. At that time I did not realize that it was God's holy will to keep me in my native land."
He ascribed his unexpected recovery to a "miracle" that resulted from his Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, He promised Jesus that if he would be cured, he would receive Holy Orders in celibacy. He was ordained priest by Bishop Paul P. Gojdich, O.S.B.M. on February 3, 1929.
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Father Kubicki draws a connection between the Eucharistic writings of St. John Chrysostom and the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus: http://archive.org/details/Fr.JamesKubicki_S.J.St.JohnChrysostomThe Sacred Heart is not a devotion consistent with Eastern Christian spirituality (although, regretably, you'll find at least one Byzantine Ruthenian parish under that patronage).
Many years,
Neil Why is that wrong?
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I have a prayer book dedicated totally to devotions to the Sacred Heart, printed in Homestead, PA in 1929 by Fr Grigassy. It has a Moleben, Benediction, propers for the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (looks to be a vigil rank-there are eight stichera, and litija; the Divine Liturgy Antiphons have proper verses, zadostojnik, and proper Communion), Enthronement, assorted prayers, a history of devotions, and various hymns. All of it Church Slavonic, 190 pages.
It was an important part of our history, and there is something about it that spoke to the Slavic ethos. Here in eastern Iowa, there were a significant number Bohemian communities, and by far the Sacred Heart was dominant dedication. There are 13 in the Archdiocese alone, and there are another two in the northern part of the Diocese of Davenport (including the cathedral).
In Christ,
Adam
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