By Erika Anderson, Staff Writer

ATLANTA—The traditional devotion of the enthronement of the Sacred Heart has found new energy through the lay movement of Vatican II, and, through the vision of Archbishop John F. Donoghue, has become an important ingredient in the archdiocesan recipe for evangelization.

The devotion dates back to 17th century France, where St. Margaret Mary Alacoque was a Visitation nun at the convent of Paray-le-Monial.

Between 1673 and 1675, Margaret Mary had visions in which Jesus appeared, his five wounds shining like five suns. Flames darted from every part of his body, most of all from his breast, which was said to be like a furnace.

His message was “See this heart which has loved so much and received so little love in return. Tell everyone to love my Sacred Heart and make up for those people who don’t love me.”

Through the work of Margaret Mary and St. Claude la Colombiere, devotion to the Sacred Heart spread. Pope Clement XIII approved liturgical observance of the Sacred Heart in 1765, 75 years after St. Margaret Mary’s death in 1690. She was canonized in 1920.

It was through the work of Father Mateo Crawley-Boevey, SSCC, that the practice of enthronement became a worldwide Catholic practice. Referring to the practice of solemnly installing an image of the Sacred Heart in a place of honor in the home or business and dedicating that place to Jesus by an act of consecration, enthronement is a practice with a history and encouragement by every pope since Pope St. Pius X first approved it orally in 1907. Pope Benedict XV wrote a letter of approval in 1915.

Before the 1960s and the Second Vatican Council, the enthronement process was primarily facilitated by priests. With the lay movement of Vatican II, practicing Catholics began serving as lay enthronement leaders, visiting the homes and performing the ceremonies.

The devotion is the same as it has been for over 200 years, but the modern approach empowers the lay person and gives families the ability to evangelize other families, said Deacon Lloyd Sutter, senior administrator for the archdiocesan Department of Religious Education, and one of the facilitators of the recent missions.

“The main difference is that the person acting on behalf of the person whose home it is is a lay person rather than a clergy person,” he said. “In this secular society in which we live, the relevance of devotion to the Sacred Heart is to maintain the spiritual integrity of the occupant of the home.”

When priests were performing the enthronement ceremonies, there was a limit to how many homes they could visit in a year because of other commitments. The lay enthronement program not only gives the leaders an opportunity to put their faith into action, but it allows for the enthronement of many more homes.

At a workshop for priests and deacons held on the Friday of each mission, Pat Leo, assistant for the Syracuse, N.Y.-based Sacred Heart Apostolate, said that the priest’s role is essential, but not difficult.

“Images are very important,” he said, adding that teenagers, especially, are attracted to sports figures and other secular heroes. “If you don’t have a good one, a bad one is going to come in. I know you’re busy, Fathers, and you can’t get into families as much as you would want to, but I promise that you are going to hear about what’s going on in these families as a result of enthronement.”

“The enthronement of the Sacred Heart is not going to be for you guys a burden. It’s going to be a blessing,” Leo continued. “All you have to do is encourage and support your parishioners who are involved with this.”

On June 16 during “Come To Me,” the archdiocese’s fifth annual Corpus Christi celebration, Archbishop Donoghue consecrated the archdiocese to the Sacred Heart. He encouraged Catholics to enthrone their homes to the Sacred Heart and become involved in the lay enthronement process, as part of his ongoing commitment to evangelization.

The archbishop and an evangelization committee made up of clergy and lay people dedicated the year 2000 to those who had been away from the Catholic Church with the “Catholics Returning Home” program.

With the Sacred Heart missions, the evangelization project reaches out to practicing Catholics in an effort to help them strengthen their faith. Next year will likely be devoted to the unchurched, Deacon Sutter said, adding that the archdiocese’s commitment to evangelization stems from the most basic and essential belief of the Catholic Church.

“The source and summit of our faith is the Eucharist. At the Mass—the eucharistic celebration—the last thing the priest or deacon says is ‘Go in peace to love and serve the Lord,’ In essence, it is a call to put our faith into practice,” he said. “In 2000 we made a special effort to encourage the return to the practice of the faith of those who had been away, and this year, between Corpus Christi celebrations, the focus is on feeding the practicing Catholics . . . All of it is based on the practical application of the belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.”

Deacon Sutter said that the enthronement process not only strengthens the faith of the home’s occupants, but gives them an opportunity to evangelize.

“You create in the home of the family or the single person a place or space where that positive religious image is reserved so that you never forget that the Lord is the master of your home,” he said. “Everyone who comes into the home sees that and knows you practice your faith. It’s evangelization.”