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| Typical "holy card" image of the Sacred Heart |
Most Catholics are aware of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the kitschy images that currently go with it. According to most information about it the devotion dates back to the late seventeenth century, to the apparition of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, a Visitation nun living in a Visitation monastery at Paray-le-Monial in the Franche-Comte region of east-central France. In these apparitions Jesus is said to have appeared to her and, among other things, requested that pictures of His Sacred Heart should be set up and venerated in churches and homes. He also made several promises that people who venerate His Heart would receive special graces for their lives.1
In addition, like the reverence shown to the Body and Blood of Christ, the devotion to the Sacred Heart calls attention to the “burning love” for humanity that led the Second Person of the Holy Trinity to become a man and to die the sacrificial death of Calvary for the salvation of fallen creation.2 As such it is a powerful image for meditation on the love of God for His people. However, the recent “traditional” images that have been associated with the devotion have obscured its immense power.
The image of the Sacred Heart underwent many changes from
the time of Saint Margaret Mary to the present until it became a piece of
Catholic kitsch, off-putting to many. As
one description that I read recently described it “So often one looks at
pictures of The Sacred Heart and sees a female face, even though it has a
beard!”3 This is,
unfortunately, often true. But it wasn’t
always so.
In fact, the image of the Sacred Heart has a long history,
going back at least 200 years prior to Saint Margaret Mary’s visions. Indeed, the back history of the image may
have contributed greatly to the image she and her followers promoted. Very
little about the image was actually new.
From the Sixth Century to the Middle Ages
It all begins with images of the crucified Jesus being
pierced by a Roman spear, causing blood to issue from His wounded side, and with the image of the Man of Sorrows, the
devotional image in which the figure of Christ, scourged and crowned with
thorns, displays His wounds for veneration.
 |
| Crucifixion from the Rabbula Gospels Syrian (Beth Zagba), c.586 Florence, Bibliotheca Medicea-Laurenziana MS. Plut. I. 56, fol 12v-13r |
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| Crucifixion from the Sacramentary of Gellone French, c. 775-800 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France Latin 12048, fol. 143v |
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| Last Judgment with Christ as the Man of Sorrows Surrounded by Angels Holding the Instruments of the Passion from Ajugement et des xv signes Northern French, c. 1250-1300 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Arsenal 3516, fol. 154v (detail) |
The Man of Sorrows
Most especially it goes back to those Man of Sorrows images in which Christ is shown with open eyes, engaging the viewer. In these “awake” images the figure of Christ often calls attention to His wounded side. |
| Master Francke, Man of Sorrows German, c. 1430 Hamburg, Kunsthalle |
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| Petrus Christus, Man of Sorrows Flemish, c. 1444-1448 Birmingham, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery |
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| Hans Memling, Man of Sorrows German, After 1490 Esztergom, Christian Museum |
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| Jacob Corneliszoon van Oostsanen, Man of Sorrows Dutch, c. 1510 Antwerp, Museum Mayer van den Bergh |
Devotion to the Five Wounds of Christ
The emphasis on the Crucifixion and to the wounded side of Christ resulted in the rise of devotion to the Five Wounds of Christ, which was a very wide spread late medieval devotion. The five wounds are to the hands, feet and heart of Christ, since the spear thrust to His side reached His heart.4 We possess many records of the popularity of this image in the period just before and after the beginning date for the rise of Protestantism in 1517. |
| Wound of Christ Actual Size from a Book of Hours France (Verdun or Paris), c.1375 New York, Pierpont Morgan Library MS M90, fol 130r |
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| The Pierced Heart of Jesus German Woodcut, c. 1450-1499 Washington, National Gallery of Art |
 |
| Composite Window of English Stained Glass English, 15th Century New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art
This composite window, made up of panels from several locations, includes three panels with the Five Wounds, showing how ubiquitous these panels must have been in English churches before the Henrician/Edwardian Reformation. The three panels are: top right panel, bottom panels: second from the left (shown below left in detail) and second from the right.
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| Five Wounds of Christ Composite Window of Stained Glass English, 15th Century New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Angel with the Five Wounds of Christ Stained Glass English, 15th Century Glastonbury, Abbey |
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| The Five Wounds of Christ from a Psalter Dutch (Den Bosch, Monastery of Marienwater), 1468 The Hague, Koninklijk Bibliotheek MS KB_134 C 60, fol. 245v |
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| The Five Wounds of Christ Single Leaf from a Manuscript German, 1469 Austin , University of Texas at Austin Harry Ransom Humanities Reserach Center |
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| The Five Wounds of Christ with the Christ Child in the Sacred Heart German, 1475-1480 Washington, National Gallery of Art |
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| Five Wounds of Christ German, 1484-1500 London, British Museum |
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| The Sacred Heart of Jesus from a Prayer Roll English, 1495-1505 New York, Pierpont Morgan Library MS G 39, fol. 5r |
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| Two of the Five Wounds of Christ from a Book of Hours Flemish (Bruges), c.1500 London, British Library MS King's 9, fol. 143v-144 |
As has been demonstrated by Eamon Duffy and other historians, the devotion to the Five Wounds was extremely strong and tenacious. In 1536 Catholics in northern England revolted against the religious changes which had followed King Henry VIII’s break with Rome in what is known as the Pilgrimage of Grace. They adopted the Five Wounds as their symbol.5
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| The Five Wounds of Christ Page from a Medical and Religious Miscellany English, c. 1475-1550 London, British Library MS Sloane 1584, fol. 26v-27 |
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| Sigmund Grimm, The Five Wounds of Christ German (Augsburg), c.1520 London, British Museum |
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| Simon Bening, Miraculous Mass of the Five Wounds of Christ from the Da Costa Hours Flemish (Bruges), c. 1510-1520 New York, Pierpont Morgan Library MS M399, fol. 36v |
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| Simon Bening, Worship of the Five Wounds of Christ fromPrayer Book of Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg Flemish, c. 1525-1530 Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum MS Ludwig IX 19, fol. 335v |
The Heart Alone
During the course of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the wounds to hands and feet ceased to be included and the focus shifted to the wound to the Heart alone. Sometimes this appeared as a devotion to the side wound by itself and sometimes the Heart. At this point the Heart still resembled a Valentine’s Day heart, that is, a flat, two-dimensional representation of a heart. |
| Lucas Cranach Elder, Adoration of the Sacred Heart German, 1505 London, British Museum |
By the end of the sixteenth century flames had begun to appear. Initially they began to appear around the heart and then as if emerging from it.
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| Antonie Wierix, Adoration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Flemish, 1595 Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz Museum |
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| EngravingAfter Martin De Vos, Charity Flemish, c. 1600 Vendome, Musee de Vendome |
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| Abraham Aubry after Johann Toussyn The Five Wounds of Christ German, c. 1651-1700 Braunschweig, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum |
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| Matthias Greuter, Blessed Philip Neri (now a Saint) German, 1606 Rome, Biblioteca Vallicelliana
The Angel at the left holds a flaming heart. It is unclear
whether this is a reference to the ardent heart of Saint Philip
Neri or the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I include it as represent-
ative of the addition of flames to the heart image.
|
Enter Saint Margaret Mary
This is the point at which Saint Margaret Mary’s apparitions occur. The first image she created, in 1685, belongs in this lineage. The only really new element is the crown of thorns, which she shows as if it were a wreath encircling the heart. |
| Marguerite Marie Alacoque, First Image of the Sacred Heart by Saint Margaret Mary French, 1685 Paray-le-Monial, Sisters of the Visitation |
From there the image underwent several changes. While some pictures retained the crown of thorns as a wreath, others applied it directly to the heart or omitted it altogether. Still others combined it with a new image of the Sacred Heart of Mary, which showed a similar heart pierced by a sword and encircled with a wreath of roses.
 |
| Adoration of Sacred Heart French, 1690 Rennes, Musée des Beaux-Arts
In this engraving Saint Margaret Mary (who is holdinga flaming heart, possibly her own) and a Bishop kneel
in adoration before Margaret Mary's image of the Sacred Heart. Below the Sacred Heart, the Virgin Mary and
Saint Joseph also kneel in adoration. They hold a banner which reads "Consecrate yourself to the Heart of my Son,
His grace will lead you to the door of Salvation".
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| Adoration of Sacred Heart French, 18th Century Rennes, Musée des Beaux-Arts
In this image Christ appears as one of the Trinity, separate from His heart, which is adored by angels.. The crown of
thorns surrounds an image of Christ Crucified in the center of the Heart.
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| Pierre Drevet, Saint Jean Eudes French, c. 1700 Versailles, Chateaux de Versailles et de Trianon
Shortly before the apparitions to Saint Margaret Mary began Saint Jean Eudes had also been encouraging veneration of
the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The caption reads "Eudes (Jean) Founder of many Seminaries and Celebrated Missionary,
died 1680".
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| N. Chasteau, Image of the Sacred Heart from a Lay Prayer book for Mass at the Agnus Dei French, 1700-1750 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 84, fol. 43 |
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| N. Chasteau, Image of the Sacred Heart from a Lay Prayer book for Mass at the Litany of the Virgin French, 1700-1750 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 84, fol. 96 |
A Realistic Heart
Another development was in the form of the heart itself. In the course of the eighteenth century it went from being a two-dimensional Valentine heart to an anatomically correct heart rendered in scientific detail. |
| Michael Christoph Grabenberger and Michael Georg Grabenberger, Sacred Heart of Jesus German, c. 1700 Lambach (AU), Benedictine Monastery |
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| Angels Adore the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Presence of the Trinity French, 1700-1725 Paray-le-Monial, Musée du Hieron |
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| Blue Monochrome Ceramic Plaque Angels Adoring the Sacred Heart of Jesus French (Sevres), c.1725-1751 Sevres, Cité de la ceramique |
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| Charles Natoire, The Sacred Heart of Jesus Frontispiece of De Cultu Sacro Sancti. Cordis Dei ac Domini Nostri J. Christi by Joseph de Galliffet French, 1726 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
The very realistic image of the Sacred Heart was a bit too realistic for most viewers. Although the explicit anatomical details of the heart were not reproduced by others, the characteristic shape of the human heart was henceforward the preferred image.
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In addition, the position of the Crown of Thorns changed. In the early images, based on the drawing by Saint Margaret Mary, the Crown had been a frame against which the Heart was positioned. In the course of the eighteenth century the Crown began to be depicted as wrapped around the Heart. This change added a new dimension of suffering to the depiction of the burning Heart. This became the nearly universal image of the Sacred Heart from this time forward.
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| Bartolomeo Letterinin, The Sacred Heart Adored by the Madonna and Saints Italian, c. 1730 Venice, Church of San Canciano |
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| Ferdinand Delamonce, Adoration of the Sacred Heart "Venient et Adorabunt" (Frontispiece) of L'excellence de la devotion au Coeur adorable de Jesus-Christ by Joseph de Galliffet Published at Lyon, 1733 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France |
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| Charles Lamy, Religious of Notre Dame de la Charite du Refuge in adoration before the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary French, 1735 Tours, Musée des Beaux-Arts |
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| Jean Faur Courrege, Adoration of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary French, 1749 Tours, Musée des Beaux-Arts |
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| Sacred Heart of Jesus German, c. 1754 Winnweiler, Pilgrimage Church of the Holy Cross |
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| Corrado Giaquinto, Adoration of the Holy Trinity with the Sacred Heart Italian, 1754 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado |
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| Miguel Cabrera, Sacred Heart of Jesus Mexican, c. 1756 Mexico City, Fundacion Cultural Daniel Liebsohn, A. C. |
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| Corrado Giaquinto, St. Margaret Mary Alacocque Contemplating the Sacred Heart of Jesus Italian, c.1765 Private Collection |
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| Jose de Paez, Saints Igmatius of Loyola and Louis Gonzaga Adoring the Sacred Heart Mexican, c.1770 |
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| Sacred Heart with Instruments of the Passion Unknown origin, 18th Century |
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| Jose de Paez, Sacred Heart Adored by Angels Mexican, c. 1775 Mexico City, Museo Soumaya |
The Exterior Heart
Up to this point all the focus had been on the heart of Jesus as a freestanding, disembodied, entity, alluding to, but not showing the figure of Christ. A further development of the eighteenth century was the introduction of what would become the most common image of the Sacred Heart, one in which the image of the Sacred Heart appeared at the same time as the figure of Christ, appearing to be outside His body. |
| Pompeo Batoni, The Sacred Heart of Jesus Italian, 1767 Rome, Church of the Gesù |
This image seems to have been introduced by the artist
Pompeo Batoni in a painting for the altar of a chapel in the mother church of
the Jesuit order, the Gesù, in Rome. Its
location in this prominent place guaranteed that the image would have wide
influence. As it did. It is the ancestor of most of the images
since it appeared. The principal
innovation in this image is the combination of an engaging Jesus, fully
clothed, offering His Heart to the viewer.
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| Sacred Heart of Jesus Italian, 1780 Rome, Church of Santa Maria in Vallicella |
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| Sacred Heart of Jesus Italian, 1800 Rome, Church of San Giovanni in Laterano |
The Classic Image Continues
Although this image completely dominated the imagery that most people came into contact with through lithographs, sometimes hand colored, there was also a more classic strain in which the Heart was disclosed, separately from the figure of Jesus. |
| Manuel Salvador Carmona, Adoration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Spanish, 1804 Madrid, Museo del Prado |
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| Thomas Kelly, Adoration of Sacred Heart American, c.1874 Washington, Library of Congress |
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| Thomas Kelly, Consecration to the Sacred Heart American, c.1874 Washington, Library of Congress |
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| Stained Glass Window of the Sacred Heart American, 20th Century |
The Dedication of France
One of the requests of Jesus which Saint Margaret Mary revealed, was that King Louis XIV make a dedication of France to the Sacred Heart. This was complied with and the Sacred Heart image became intertwined with the history of France, particularly with the monarchy.6 |
| J.J.Pasquier, La devotion au Sacre Coeur de Jesus French, 1765 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
Here Queen Marie Leczinska, wife of King Louis XV pays homage to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Heart of Mary
and to the Eucharist. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are held aloft by the figure of Faith. Hope holds the Eucharist, and Charity stands behind her.
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Just as the Five Wounds of Christ had been an image that rallied the northern English against the Henrician reformation in 1536, the image of the Sacred Heart became an image that rallied those opposed to the French Revolution. It was worn as a badge and affixed to the banners of the rebels during the anti-Revolutionary Vendean uprisings of 1793 to 1796.7
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| Pierre-Narcisse Guerin, Henri de la Rochejacquelin French, 1817 Cholet, Musée Municipal
Henri de la Rochejacquelin was a leader of the Rebellion in the Vendée and Cholet was one of the centers of the revolt which was ruthlessly crushed by the Republican government in what some have termed the first modern genocide.
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In spite of the crushing of the rebellion in the Vendée,
the Sacred Heart remained as a symbol for the royalist faction in France.
In the latter years of the nineteenth century,
following the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War, a great basilica was
raised at the top of Montmartre hill in Paris, dedicated to reparations for the
sins of France since the Revolution. Begun
in 1870, it was completed in 1914, but its consecration was postponed until
1919 due to the First World War. It was
named Sacre Coeur and is today a well-known, if little understood, feature of
Paris.
But, during the period of the basilica’s construction the
image of the Sacred Heart had evolved into a symbol of French nationality, as several
items suggest.
One particularly touching collection of objects that was carried by one French soldier during the First World War attests to this. Among his possessions was a miniature flag of the French Republic, the tricolor, in which the white area bears the Sacred Heart.
The feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is not a fixed
date. It depends on the date of
Easter. It is celebrated on the Friday
following the octave of Corpus Christi for those countries where Corpus Christi
is celebrated on a Thursday or the Friday after Corpus Christi where Corpus
Christi is celebrated on Sunday. In
either way of computing the day is identical.
This year, 2017, it falls on June 23rd.
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| -Eugene Delacroix, Virgin of the Sacred Heart French, 1821 Ajaccio (Corsica), Cathedral |
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| Jean-Leon Gerome, Bishop Belsunce Making a Vow to the Sacred Heart During the Plague in Marseilles French, 1854 Paris, Church of Saint Severin |
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| Hippolyte-Dominique Holfeld, The Sacred Heart Adored by All Parts of the World French, c.1860 Dijon, Musée Magnin |
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| Olivier Merson, H.M. Magne, R. Martin, The Sacred Heart of Jesus Adored by The Virgin Mary, St. Michael, the Pope, St. Joan of Arc and France (personified, in white) French, 1923 Paris, Basilica of Sacre Coeur |
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| Button, The Sacred Heart As the Hope and Salvation of France Franco-American, 1900 Besancon, Musée du Temps The museum notes that these buttons were made in Newark, New Jersey! |
One particularly touching collection of objects that was carried by one French soldier during the First World War attests to this. Among his possessions was a miniature flag of the French Republic, the tricolor, in which the white area bears the Sacred Heart.
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| First World War Personal Memorial Collection French, 1914-1918 Dijon, Musée de la Vie Bourguinonne Perrin de Puycousin |
The Twentieth Century
In the twentieth century French and other artists continued to depict the image of the Sacred Heart in new and sometimes startling ways that are a far cry from the languid kitsch so familiar in religious goods stores today. |
| Odilon Redon, The Sacred Heart French, 1910 Paris, Musée D'Orsay |
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| Harry Clarke, The Sacred Heart Irish, 1918 London, Victoria and Albert Museum |
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| George Desvallieres, The Sacred Heart French, 1920 Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Musée Maurice Denis-Le Prieure |
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| Georges Roualt, The Sacred Heart from the Passion Series French, 1935-1936 Paris, Centre Georges Pompidou |
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| Maurice Denis, The Sacred Heart of Jesus French, 1939 Autun, Musée Rodin |
© M. Duffy, 2017
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- Information on the promises can be found at http://www.catholictradition.org/Two-Hearts/devotion12.htm;
- A very thorough look at the theology behind the devotion, all of which still applies, can be found at: Bainvel, Jean. "Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus," The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 21 Jun. 2017 http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07163a.htm
- Comment from member of the public at http://wdtprs.com/blog/2017/06/im-cool-about-a-certain-popular-devotion-wherein-fr-z-goes-all-rah/#comment-561091
- John 19:34 "one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out." http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/19
- Duffy, Eamon. The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England c. 1400-c.1580, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1992, pp. 238-248. See also, Ethan H. Shagan, Popular Politics and the English Reformation, Cambridge (UK), Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp. 89-128.
- Edmunds, Martha Mel. "Gabriel's Altar for the Palace Chapel at Versailles: Sacred Heart and Royal Court in Eighteenth-Century France", Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 65, No. 4 (Dec., 2006), pp.550-577.
- A pretty even handed summary is accessible at : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_the_Vend%C3%A9
Scripture texts in this work
are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010,
1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are
used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the
New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing
from the copyright owner.
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