BY ERIKA ANDERSON

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--Hoping to bring unity to families, members of the Alliance of the Two Hearts (ATH) in Georgia are encouraging others to consecrate their homes and become devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

In addition to the consecration of homes, the alliance’s mission encourages devotion to Jesus and Mary in vigils on the first Friday and Saturday of each month. The weekend vigil held at area churches addresses Our Lady of Fatima’s request for Communions of reparation on first Saturdays to help bring about peace and unity where there is division. First Fridays are a traditional day of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Father Kevin Peek, parochial vicar at Holy Trinity Church, Peachtree City, encourages the first Friday and Saturday vigils.

“The idea of putting in a whole night of prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament requires a certain amount of discipline and sacrifice,” he said. “When we have that discipline and sacrifice, we tend to be more appreciative of what we’re sacrificing for. Also, it is an act of reparation for sin and that’s something that needs to be expounded upon in this day and age.”

During these vigils, family members receive the sacrament of reconciliation, participate in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the rosary, one Mass in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Friday evening, and another Mass after midnight in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The next will be held March 5 at 8:30 p.m. at St. Thomas More Church in Decatur.

Diane Guesman, coordinator in Georgia of ATH and a member of St. Andrew’s Church, Roswell, first learned of the alliance during a 1994 pilgrimage that she took around the world. She met brothers of the Oblate Apostles of the Two Hearts, who were encouraging this special devotion in response to Pope John Paul II’s call for family unity.

The ATH hopes to achieve its goals through a “house-to-house evangelism,” which reintroduces families to the basic tenets of the faith through recitation of the rosary, attendance at Mass, reception of the Eucharist, participation in the sacrament of reconciliation and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

“This is nothing new,” Guesman said. “We know that we have to make some sacrifice if we want to get the family back together.”

Guesman and several others have been consecrating homes to the two hearts of Jesus and Mary since 1996, when the Alliance of the Holy Family presented an informational seminar in the archdiocese.

Last October, Father Peek, Father Michael Campbell, parochial vicar at St. John Neumann Church in Lilburn and Father Jorge Christancho, parochial vicar at St. Michael’s Church in Gainesville, attended a seminar in Rome, Italy, with 500 priests from around the world, to learn more about the ATH.

Father Campbell said that he was inspired by the speakers.

“Our Holy Father has said that the family is the center of Christian life and if you have holy families, then you have a holy church,” he said.

Father Campbell said he has consecrated over 30 homes to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

“I really like doing it,” he said. “It’s also a chance for priests to visit homes and I think people like knowing that a priest is interested in them.”

When a home is consecrated, or enthroned, a priest or an ATH member blesses the family’s Bible and a cross. Then the family receives a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary to put in a prominent place in their home. Families are encouraged to make Jesus and Mary the king and queen of their homes, to pray the rosary and read the Bible together and to go to monthly confession.

Pat Denton, a member of the ATH and a parishioner of St. John Neumann, said that the consecration of the home encourages families to make Jesus the center of their lives.

“Some people think that it’s about having their home blessed and not having to think about it again,” Denton said. “But it’s a commitment to Jesus and Mary. They come into your home and become members of your family and, in turn, we have to go to Mass as often as possible, pray the rosary as a family and go to reconciliation as often as possible. These are tools given to us by heaven and it’s up to us whether or not we use them.”

Denton said that the alliance helps families to prioritize.

“Unless we make room for Jesus, there won’t be room,” she said. “We have to make Jesus and Mary a priority or they end up getting squeezed out of our family’s lives.”

Guesman had her family’s home enthroned in 1996 and said that their lives have changed.

“My family is no different than any other family. We have our ups and downs like everyone else,” she said. “I have found a lot more peace since Mary and Jesus were brought into our home. It’s like having great confidence in our Lord and that gives you eternal peace.”

Father Peek’s home was enthroned to the Sacred Heart of Jesus when he was a child.

“I really encourage people to enthrone their home,” he said. “Anytime you walk in the house and you see the pictures and the devotionals, it creates an environment that makes you pause and at least ponder the beyond.”

Father Campbell said that one of his goals is to make the ATH an official ministry of St. John Neumann.

“This helps to unify the family in prayer and in self-giving of each other within the family,” he said. “Rooting out selfishness and becoming more respectful and loving of each other is what the Holy Father is asking us to do.”

For more information about the Alliance of the Two Hearts, contact Guesman at (770) 993-1846.

SACRED HEART --
A statue of Jesus in Sacred Heart Church, Milledgeville.
Photo by Michael Alexander