Sacred Heart Appeal
Greetings!
The monks of Christ the King Priory – Benedictine Mission House are grateful for your interest in our ministries at home and around the world. With your help, we could again provide needed funding for projects of our international Missionary Benedictine family: e.g.: health care, education, renovations of churches, schools, and facilities. The support goes even further as we assist women communities and dioceses, especially in Africa, who collaborate with us in many ways. We reached out to our confreres and the people entrusted to their care who live in regions plaqued by famine due to lack of rain. Father Anastasius reported that our office, thanks to the generosity of so many, disbursed in 2025 almost $3,000,000 for projects and humanitarian aid.
Thank you for your loyal support, friendship and prayers.
The current appeal makes reference to the month of June, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
I therefore researched the Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and found interesting information on Wikipedia. In summary: St. Margaret Mary Alacoque claimed in 1674 that Jesus requested to be honored under the image of his heart, appearing radiant with love. The First Friday Devotions, a practice that is still followed today, became popular. In the early 19th century, the month of June officially was dedicated in honor of the Sacred Heart. Church history shows that Popes Pius IX, Paul VI and John Paul II reiterated to the devotion of the Sacred Heart many times. In the last encyclical letter, Dilexit Nos, shortly before his death in 2025, the late Pope Francis states:
“Mission, as a radiation of the love of the heart of Christ,
requires missionaries who are themselves in love and who, enthralled by Christ,
feel bound to share his love that has changed their lives.”
Dilexit Nos, 209
The Missionary Congregation of St. Ottilien, founded in 1884, and its works were entrusted to the protection of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Thus, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart became the principal feast for our Congregation.
In his coat of arms, Pope Leo XIV, shows a flaming, pierced heart resting on a book, indicating his roots as a member of the Augustinian Order. St. Augustine’s spirituality can be summarized in the famous quote “Restless is our heart, until it finds rest in you, my God!”
In conclusion, let me share with you part of a prayer that Pope Leo gave to us and the world shortly after his election in 2025.
“Lord, I come to your tender heart today,
to you who have words that set my heart ablaze,
to you who pour out compassion on the little ones and the poor,
on those who suffer, and on all human miseries.
Grant all your children the grace of encountering you.
Change, shape and transform our plans,
so that we seek only you in every circumstance:
in prayer, in work, in encounters, and in daily routine.
From this encounter, send us out on mission,
a mission of compassion for the world
in which you are the source from which all consolation flows. Amen.“
Please check out our current appeal!
On behalf of Fr. Anastasius and my confreres, I thank you for your anticipated support as your financial resources permit to help us in providing care at our “mother and child clinics” offered at our hospitals and dispensaries. Care for vulnerable children is critical! Through early diagnoses, diseases can be prevented. Mothers are educated in caring for their children and families. – We entrust you and your loved ones to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Bro. Tobias, O.S.B.
Director of Development