Joseph de Galliffet
Published: 2015-03-13
Total Pages: 316
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FATHER JOSEPH DE GALLIFFET has been called, and with great justice, the apostle of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart. It was he who bore the brunt of the struggle in its behalf. It is to him that we owe the publication of the Memoir of Blessed Margaret Mary written by herself; it was he who first laid at the feet of the Holy Father the petition for the establishment of the Feast; it was he who, when the petition was negatived by the Sacred Congregation, pursued with undaunted perseverance the task entrusted to him by Almighty God, knowing well that this first rebuff was but the signal of coming victory; it was he who by his life and writings contributed more than anyone else to procure the decree of 1765, which granted to the Bishops of Poland and to the Archconfraternity of the Sacred Heart at Rome permission to celebrate the Feast with a Mass and Office of its own. It was in I726 that Father Galliffet published the first edition of the work which is now, we believe for the first time, appearing in an English dress. It was originally written in Latin, but seven years later the author issued it in French, with many additions and improvements. The dogmatic and historical arguments are greatly developed in the French edition, which has been reprinted again and again, and translated into Italian, German, Polish, Spanish, &c. The book is divided in to three parts. The first explains the historical origin and progress of the Devotion, its nature according to the principles of theology, and the difference that exists between it and the Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, which latter had been often urged as rendering it unnecessary. The second part is a panegyric of the Devotion itself, and sets forth its excellence both on account of its Divine object, the end which it proposes to accomplish, and the virtues it fosters and the fruit it produces in the soul of him who practises it. To this part is subjoined an appendix which gives in detail the testimony of a number of holy persons to the favours they have received through the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The third part deals with the practical side of this Devotion, suggesting a number of pious practices in its honour, quoting the sentiments expressed by the saints, which show how the adoration of the Sacred Heart is "no new invention," but has always been the object of the veneration of the saints. Many books have been written since the time of Father Galliffet on the Devotion to the Sacred Heart, but they are all of them only a developlnent of what he wrote respecting it. It would not be true to say that his book exhausts its subject, for its subject, being none else than the love of Jesus Christ for man, is simply inexhaustible. But it is, and ever will remain, the standard work on the subject, the one to which we must refer for the theological foundations and the historical origin and progress of the Devotion. It is beautifully written, full of solid piety, but free from any exaggerated or high-flown sentiment. It carries its own evidence of being the work of one who was himself inspired with an intense love for the Sacred Heart.
