Father Mateo was a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. His health was restored at the shrine of the apparitions of the Sacred Heart in Paray-le-Monial, France, and that is where he conceived the bold plan of conquering the world, family by family, for the Sacred Heart. Pope Saint Pius X “commanded” him to devote his life to this work of Christian and social regeneration, and thus the Work of Enthronement of the Sacred Heart was born. Father Mateo’s idea was that by entering a picture or a statue of the Sacred Heart into homes, each household member would be permeated with the love of Christ and would show it by a truly Christian family life. Extending his zeal even further, Father Mateo asked families to mount a successive nighttime honor guard for Jesus, King of their homes. Beginning in 1907, he traveled all over the world for forty years, imploring families not to leave Jesus standing on their doorstep. Here is a little story from his life:
Father had gone to preach in Lyons. Although large crowds had come to hear him, when it was time to leave he was disappointed and pained, and after his Mass the morning of his departure, he said simply to Our Lord during his thanksgiving, “Lord, You know I am leaving with a heavy heart, because I have not met a single soul here who is ready to pray, love and suffer for the Work. If this Work I am preaching is to bear any fruit here, send me one of those little and generous souls who, following the example of Sister Therese of the Child Jesus, will offer herself up to pray, love and suffer for the reign of Your Heart.” He had said this prayer three or four times when someone came and interrupted him, saying, “Reverend Father, there’s a poor working girl at the door, a little nuisance who insists on seeing you and talking to you. But don’t bother, I’ll tell her to go away. All right?” “Oh no, bring her in.” And the young girl was brought in. “Father,” she said, “I heard you speaking about the Work. I would like to do something, too. If you need a little soul who, following the example of Sister Therese of the Child Jesus, offers herself to pray, love and suffer, please tell me.” Stupefied, Father remained silent when he saw with what eagerness Jesus had answered his scarcely-formulated request. Thinking he had not under-stood very well, the young worker started over: “Father, didn’t you understand? I would like to be a little soul like Sister Therese of the Child Jesus, who prays, loves and suffers for the reign of the Sacred Heart… Will you accept me?” “Yes, certainly, my daughter.” “In that case, Father, come to the chapel. I’ll make my oblation to Jesus, and you will ask Him to ratify it.”
Taken from catholictradition.org. If you would like to enthrone the Sacred Heart in your family, bring an image of the Sacred Heart, and your family, to the parish at 2:45 pm next Sunday. Details in the “Looking Ahead” section.
