SPOKANE, Wash. – Friday is the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the Catholic liturgical calendar. The Sacred Heart, a centuries old Christian devotion, has many ties to the Inland Northwest.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart can be traced back centuries to 1765, when Pope Clement XIII approved the devotion for the universal Church.
Sacred Heart sisters, established the first hospital in the northwest and founded the Providence healthcare network throughout the late 1800s. Roman Catholic sisters who were dedicated to the Sacred Heart also founded several of the first schools across the Inland Northwest.
Father Pierre Jean DeSmet SJ founded the first Catholic mission in northern Idaho, the Mission of the Sacred Heart, in the early 1840s. DeSmet, along with the wider Society of Jesus of which he was a member, practiced a devotion to the Sacred Heart.
Once one is aware of the Sacred Heart, the influence of the devotion upon the northwest is evident in the art and architecture of Catholic Churches around the region, particularly Jesuit parishes. There is also a Sacred Heart parish on the lower South Hill.
While the impact of the Sacred Heart on Spokane’s Catholic community is evident, it extends far beyond the Lilac City. Pope Francis says he will publish a document about the Sacred Heart in September of this year meditating on the power of the devotion for Catholics worldwide.
