The Devotion and Office of the Sacred Heart of the Lord Jesus Christ/Introduction
FRANCIS JOSEPH, by the mercy of God, and of the Apostolic See, Bishop of Boulogne , &c., to all the Faithful of our Diocese , Greeting and Benediction.
✠
THE object and the motives of the establishment which we announce to you, my dear brethren, are contained In the short extract of the verbal process sent us by the General Assembly of the Clergy of France, held last year at Paris, and of which the tenour is as follows:
His Lordship, the Archbishop and Duke of Rheims, President.
HIS Lordship, the Archbishop of Rheims,
stated, that the Queen not being content
with giving the most shining example of the
tenderest and sincerest piety her soul was
full of, was yet desirous to find the most
effectual means to rouse and stir it up more
and more through the whole kingdom; that
her majesty desired him to inform the assembly how earnestly she wished to see the
devotion to the sacred heart of Jesus, and a
peculiar office in its honour, established in all the dioceses in which it was not yet received; that he did not doubt but the assembly would be sensible of the manifold advantages 'of such a pious establishment, and
would approve of, and authorize it by a
deliberation conformable to her majesty’s
laudable design. Upon which, the Bishops,
of whom the assembly consisted, penetrated
with the profoundest respect and veneration
which her majesty deserves, both by her
exalted rank and her eminent virtues, and
being desirous to assist and favour, as much
as in them lies, the commendable zeal of her
majesty, have, with an unanimous consent,
agreed and resolved to establish in their respective dioceses, the devotion to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus, and a solemn office in its
honour; and to invite by a circular letter,
the other Bishops of the kingdom, that have
not yet recommended this salutary devotion to
the faithful who are committed to their care,
to do the same, and to comply with her majesty’s desire. Signed,
By our Lords of the Assembly,
The Abbot of Bausset, formerly Agent,
The Abbot of Lestoco; both Secretaries.
OUR august Queen,[1] my dear brethren, not satisfied with making that pious devotion Page:TheDevotionAndOfficeOfTheSacredHeart.djvu/14 Page:TheDevotionAndOfficeOfTheSacredHeart.djvu/15 Page:TheDevotionAndOfficeOfTheSacredHeart.djvu/16 Page:TheDevotionAndOfficeOfTheSacredHeart.djvu/17 Page:TheDevotionAndOfficeOfTheSacredHeart.djvu/18 Page:TheDevotionAndOfficeOfTheSacredHeart.djvu/19 Page:TheDevotionAndOfficeOfTheSacredHeart.djvu/20 Page:TheDevotionAndOfficeOfTheSacredHeart.djvu/21 Page:TheDevotionAndOfficeOfTheSacredHeart.djvu/22
- ↑ Mary Lecksinska, Princess of Poland, Queen of France, daughter of the late Stanislaus, King of Poland at.d Duke of Lorrain, espoused to Lewis XV. She died on