2022 Summer Reading Recommendations
The Secret of the Heart: Saint Catherine of Siena on the Heart of Jesus
by Sister Mary Jeremiah, O.P.

At the outset of summer, knowing the heat of high noon will only grow stronger with each day, it seems appropriate to dwell on fiery things. Something’s on fire. And it will burn long after the dog days of summer come and go. It is never extinguished—eternally inflamed. It is the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, whose solemnity the Church celebrates today. Saint Catherine of Siena, a Dominican and a Doctor of the Church, knew this heart through and through. A nun in the heart of Texas, a spiritual daughter of St. Catherine, knows something of it too. Sister Mary Jeremiah, O.P., a Dominican nun of the Monastery of the Infant Jesus in Lufkin, Texas, offers readers an intimate reflection on the Sacred Heart in her book, The Secret of the Heart: Saint Catherine of Siena on the Heart of Jesus.

Sister Mary Jeremiah begins her book with a well-researched correction. It is assumed that devotion to the Sacred Heart did not begin until Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque promoted the devotion in the late seventeenth century. Sister Mary Jeremiah debunks this misconception, exploring scriptural, patristic, and medieval references to the Sacred Heart and the immemorial devotion paid to it, from the evangelists to John Chrysostom to Anselm of Canterbury. 

This evidence culminates in the larger portion of the book: Sr. Mary Jeremiah’s description of St. Catherine’s writings on the Sacred Heart itself. In her Letters, Prayers, and Dialogue, Catherine sings the praises of Jesus’s Heart from every angle, with every pious detail of every life-saving drop of blood. Key to her devotion was the image of Christ as the bridge to intimacy with God, with his Heart as the key step on said bridge. After experiencing something of a heart transplant with Christ himself, Catherine was more fully able to understand the secret of the Heart of Jesus. Sister Mary Jeremiah explores this secret in depth, and gives the reader ample reflection to meditate on. She then traces Catherine’s particular flavor of devotion to the Sacred Heart through her spiritual successors, from Carmelite mystics to Pope Pius XII.

Perhaps the strongest attribute of The Secret of the Heart is Sr. Mary Jeremiah’s guidance through St. Catherine’s often lengthy descriptions of her mystical experiences, honing in on the richest aspects. The secret of the Sacred Heart is no secret at all. It is plainly obvious to those who love God and trust in his love for them, and oh so consoling. This American nun translates the Sienese saint while retaining all the spiritual depth that makes her a Doctor of the Church and a trusted guide. On this feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, consider picking up The Secret of the Heart. Let your heart burn this summer, knowing another Heart burns ardently for you.

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Photo by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P. (used with permission)