Pierced Hands and Heart
In Chiesa del Santissimo Nome di Gesù all'Argentina, commonly referred to by Anglophones as the “Church of the Gesù,” there is a startlingly powerful image of Jesus Christ in a side chapel. This painting, housed in the first Jesuit church built in Rome, Italy, leaves all who view it changed. Both the tourist who comes to observe the church solely for its stunning Baroque architecture and the pilgrim who comes to pray can’t help but be moved by Pompeo Batoni’s depiction of Jesus.
In the painting, Jesus’ left hand stretches out towards the viewer, displaying His Sacred Heart grasped in this same hand. His right hand is extended in the supine position, tilted slightly inward towards His Heart, yet angled out just enough for the observer to realize that He is inviting the beholder to not only gaze at His Heart, but also reach out and take it.
At first look, the most alarming thing about the painting seems to be Jesus’ eyes, painted in such a realistic way that they penetrate your soul and make you either want to run towards Him or run away from Him. Yet if you’re brave enough to stay and contemplate the image for a few minutes longer, you’ll realize that it’s not just the eyes that startle, it’s a much more subtle detail that will end up shaking the soul: Jesus’ pierced hands offering His Pierced Heart.
The Weight of Love
Gazing at this image, the viewer has an insight on how Jesus presented Himself after His Resurrection, when He first appeared to the Apostles, who were hiding in fear. The Resurrected Jesus entered the Upper Room, revealing His wounded hands and side, signs of our sin against Him. Yet He didn’t stop there. He offered them His Sacred Heart as well. He had every reason to come into that room full of revenge and anger, reprimanding the Apostles who in His greatest moment of need, ran away from Him in fear during His Passion and Death.
Yet He doesn’t enter the room to terrorize. And this is what makes the image of the Sacred Heart in the chapel in Rome both startling and powerful—Jesus, the Wounded One, comes in peace. Jesus, the Wounded Healer, comes in love. He breathed peace into the Apostles after showing them His wounds. He comes in peace, He comes in mercy, He comes in love. His wounds reveal the weight of His love for us. His love is the most incredibly life-transforming reality there is. That within the greatest sin there ever was and ever will be—that we humans put the Son of God to death—the response to that greatest sin is merciful love, a wounded hand pointing to a Merciful Heart.
We Too Must Forgive
Within the offering of Jesus’ mercy and love to us there comes a call to extend that same mercy to others. In the Upper Room Jesus invites Saint Thomas the Apostle to, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side” (John 20:27). A gaping, open wound—large enough to fit a man’s entire hand within it—that is Christ’s call for us to extend Christ and His love into the peripheries and enter completely into the great suffering, the large woundedness of others. If we, great sinners, are forgiven by Him, we too must forgive. Within His Pierced Sacred Heart is forgiveness, gentleness, humility, and peace—and He offers it to us. We too must offer others the same.
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Safe In the Sacred Heart
Yes, offering our own hearts as Christ offered His may leave us injured and hurt. One of the most stirring aspects of Pompeo Batoni’s painting of Jesus is how vulnerable and exposed Jesus’ Sacred Heart is. Sometimes, holding out our heart to others causes our heart pain. Our hearts may be pierced, mocked, manipulated, broken, scourged, trampled, and forgotten. When we experience this, we must ask Jesus to heal our hearts. Christ, the Gardener of our hearts, always brings healing. If your heart that you held out so lovingly and vulnerably, has been injured, or is being hurt, run to the Sacred Heart. Fall in love with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Let His Heart romance your heart. His Heart is safe. He will not hurt you. He wants to show you His love for you. When we fall deeply in love with Jesus’ Sacred Heart, our own heart is strengthened to such a degree that nothing can separate us from His love. His love becomes our love, His mercy becomes our mercy.
Today on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, let us ask Jesus to give us the grace and gift of fortitude and of courage—that we may always run to His Sacred Heart when we are tempted to flee, and find refuge there. Once safely hidden within His Wounded Heart, let us learn the lessons of love found there within. Filled with the grace of the Sacred Heart we will be able to love as He loves us, and show one another that we are His disciples, because we love (John 13:35).
A Prayer To Jesus’ Sacred Heart
Lord Jesus,
let my heart never rest until it finds You,
who are its center, its love, and its happiness.
By the wound in Your Heart
pardon the sins that I have committed
whether out of malice or out of evil desires.
Place my weak heart in Your own Divine Heart,
continually under Your protection and guidance,
so that I may persevere in doing good
and in fleeing evil until my last breath.
Amen. // Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque
Claire Couche is a wife, etiquette instructor, blogger, homeschooling mother, and registered nurse. She is passionate about sharing content that helps her community live a beautiful and virtuous life. Using her degrees in theology and history, Claire shares about the Catholic faith often on her IG account @findingphilothea and her website, Finding Philothea. You can often find her reading a good book in a beautiful dress! Learn more about Claire and all things etiquette here.
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