(Updated June 28, 2026) As part of the national commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) consecrated the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The consecration took place on June 11th, the vigil of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart. How did this devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus come about, and what significance does it hold that a nation would be consecrated?
The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus grew from the revelations of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, a French nun with the Order of the Visitation. Margaret Mary’s early years were laden with suffering due to poor health and a difficult family life. The Church in that age was also suffering as it faced the heresy of Jansenism, a movement plagued by fear of God and rigorous scrupulosity. The sacraments were seen as a reward after much penance, preparation, and purification, rather than as a source of grace for healing and imperfection.
It was through that suffering nun to this suffering Church that Jesus had a message of love and mercy for the world. He appeared to Margaret Mary on the feast of Saint John the Beloved in 1673 while she was praying before the Blessed Sacrament. He invited her to be like John at that First Eucharist, and to rest her head against His Sacred Heart.
The image of the Sacred Heart given to Margaret Mary was a heart of human flesh, on fire, surrounded by thorns, bleeding, and surmounted by a cross. The fire was to show that Jesus is consumed by His passionate love for humanity – uncontainable, all-encompassing, transforming. The thorns, the bleeding, and the cross are all symbols of his suffering, his vulnerability, his total gift of self on the cross, and the price of redemption. The human flesh was the final word against Jansenism, showing that God was not a distant dictator but the Word made flesh, who longed to be one with His people. Where Jansenism made the Sacraments unapproachable, Jesus urged them to receive His Sacred Heart in the Blessed Sacrament frequently, desiring to feed a spiritually malnourished culture with His very self.
While the Church of France was wrestling with Jansenism, the country itself was facing somewhat of a golden age. King Louis XIV wanted to see the rise of the absolute monarchy, with pure indulgence being the crown jewel. It was a kingship characterized by lavishness and ultimate power, with domination and total allegiance as the end goal. Again, it was to this monarchical misalignment that Jesus came to reveal the true Kingdom, the Kingdom where his humble, merciful Sacred Heart reigns over all. Whether it was the pride and indulgence of a king or the false humility and coldness of Jansenism, the Sacred Heart of Jesus stood as the remedy to the two extremes faced by the French.
This wouldn’t be the last time the monarchy wrestled with the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In 1689, Jesus told Margaret Mary that the king was to publicly consecrate the nation and himself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Sacred Heart was also to be added to the coat of arms and the banner of France, in exchange for Divine protection and French victory. The last request for His enthronement was the command to build a basilica dedicated to the Sacred Heart, in which the nobility would worship Jesus as the Lord of Lords. These requests were ignored by Louis XIV and his successor, Louis XV. One hundred years to the day after the request was made, the French Revolution began. The imprisoned, terrified monarch of the day, King Louis XVI, promised in desperation that if he was restored to the throne, he would fulfill the request and consecrate himself and all of France to the Most Sacred Heart. It was too late for him to make a public consecration to a kingdom that he no longer had authority over, and thus, Jesus’ command went unfulfilled by Louis XVI as well. Jesus even made reference to the tragic disobedience of the French monarchy to Lucia, one of the Fatima children, as a warning to the Pope’s delay in consecrating Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
While no French monarch ever obeyed the requests of Jesus (and now no longer can since the French monarchy no longer exists), the people of France have been obedient. The emblem of the Sacred Heart made it onto the banners of France unofficially in 1793, when peasant Catholics revolted against the revolutionary government, which was trying to outlaw Catholicism and martyr clergy. In 1875, the request to construct the Basilica of the Sacred Heart was made possible by the French people’s decision to undertake a public act of reparation for the sins of the nation. The funds were raised by ordinary French Catholics, and the Basilica of the Sacré-Cœur was officially consecrated in 1919. It wasn’t until 1922 that France was consecrated to the Sacred Heart, a collective action of the Bishops of France (much like the Bishops of America have accomplished in 2026).
While Jesus might not have appeared asking for a national consecration, the Bishops of the United States have clearly heard the call to do so. The Church is already seeing a tidal wave of renewal after the Eucharistic Congress (and the Eucharistic Procession that preceded it). However, we’re still a deeply divided and hurting nation, hungry for even more renewal.
The bishops created a blueprint for lay Catholics to participate in the consecration. First, they asked people to join a novena, which began on June 3rd and led up to the consecration day on June 12th. They are also encouraged parishes and small groups to collectively complete 250 hours of Adoration and 250 works of mercy. By loving Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and in our neighbor, the bishops hope this consecration becomes more than passive; it becomes active and makes a real impact.
If you or your parish were not part of this consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, it is not too late. See the USCCB website for details on how to join in now.
As we have been doing with the synod, parishes will also be asked to pray the consecration prayer as an act of thanksgiving and reparation. Recognizing the immense need for renewal of the domestic church as well, the bishops are asking that families make an act of enthronement of the Sacred Heart in their homes, embracing His Lordship over their household.
Another integral piece of the consecration crusade the Bishops have begun was a national Eucharistic procession, carrying the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus for all to see. The theme for the pilgrimage is “One Nation, Under God” and the route is called the Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini route. Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini is the patroness of the pilgrimage because she was the first American citizen to be canonized a Saint. Mother Cabrini had a deep love for Jesus in the Eucharist which fostered her missionary spirit. She was sent by the Holy Father to New York where she ministered to immigrants, started hospitals and orphanages, and fostered a religious educational system. Her mission lives on today through her order, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which she founded.
The pilgrimage began in Augustine, Florida on Memorial Day weekend. “The route will continue up the Eastern Seaboard through most of the 13 original colonies, reaching as far north as New Hampshire and Maine. Stops will be made in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, our country’s very first Catholic diocese, as well as the Archdiocese of Boston to visit significant national historical sites. The pilgrimage concludes over the 4th of July weekend in Philadelphia, in honor of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.” (National Eucharistic Pilgrimage Website). The closing Mass will take place on July 5th in Philadelphia and will be celebrated by Archbishop Perez.
The official consecration by the USCCB took place on June 11th, during the USCCB’s Spring Plenary Assembly in Orlando, Florida. In his homily, the Archbishop of Baltimore, Archbishop William Lori, said, “Consecration is also an act of hope. It is a declaration that the future does not belong merely to political movements, economic forces or human plans. The future belongs to God. And so we place into his heart not only ourselves, but generations yet unborn; all those who will inherit the church and nation we leave behind.” He also acknowledged the deep imperfections and failures we’ve had as both a church and a nation in reflecting the love of Christ, while also giving the Heart of Christ as the merciful remedy for healing, communion, and friendship with Jesus and our neighbor.
“Today we place the church of the United States and these United States of America into the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Not because we have everything figured out, but because we know the one whose love endures forever. In his heart we find gratitude for the past, strength for the present, and hope for the future.” -Archbishop Lori
The people of France led the movement towards honoring the Sacred Heart devotion, and the bishops completed it by consecrating the nation and the basilica. Yet, as mentioned, the French government never took part in the consecration. In the United States, the Bishops have led the movement, the people have faithfully followed, AND our president joined in the consecration day. The White House released a statement from President Trump stating that he and Melania were joining in prayer for the consecration. He also noted that the nation had already been consecrated to Our Lady under Bishop John Carroll, shortly after the Revolutionary War, in the earliest years of our nation.
“Above all, we pray that America will continue for the next 250 years, and beyond, to be a land of faith, a country of miracles, and a light and glory to all nations.” -Closing Statement of President Trump
Jesus made the request that France be consecrated in 1689. France wasn’t officially consecrated as a whole nation until 2022, 333 years later, and completed by French Bishops and the faithful. In 1899, Pope Leo XIII consecrated the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In 2026, the United States bishops, faithful, and government have together consecrated the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
We have much to be grateful for in these 250 years as a nation, and these 250 years of navigating what it means to be an American Catholic. We also have much reparation to make for those many years, and many prayers to offer for the years to come. What an immense grace for the United States Bishops to prioritize the consecration of our nation. Both Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV have written encyclicals on the Sacred Heart, showing that this devotion remains at the forefront of Jesus’ call for His Bride today. There can be nothing more life-changing than the fact that the Sacred Heart burns with love for you.
In America, as it is in heaven. Amen.
My Divine Heart is so passionately in love with men that it can no longer contain within itself the flames of its ardent charity. It must pour them out by thy means, and manifest itself to them to enrich them with its precious treasures, which contain all the graces of which they have need to be saved from perdition.
Official Consecration Day - June 11th, 2026
Links on how to join the Consecration from the USCCB
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR CONSECRATING OUR COUNTRY TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR CONSECRATING OUR COUNTRY TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS. LET’S ALL PRAY FOR OUR COUNTRY AND THE WORLD.