“Something is happening here!”

The jubilee of the 350 years of the appearances of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Paray-le-Monial will end with the “Sacred Hearts” from June 26 to 29, 2025. What assessment do you draw from this 350th anniversary?

The great appearance of the Sacred Heart of Jesus occurred in June 1675 in Paray-le-Monial. It was during this event that Christ asked for the institution of a party in his honor. 350 years later, many Christians have discovered or rediscovered the beauty, news and power of the message of the heart of Jesus. In Paray-le-Monial, they plunged back into the experience of the Gospel and “burned” from the fire of the Holy Spirit. This has notably resulted in the arrival of parishes, dioceses, school institutions from France and faithful from various countries of the world. Several monasteries came and came out of the “fence”. For the 350 years, there was a very strong crowd, far beyond the usual flow of existing pilgrims before the COVVI-19. We noted a rediscovery of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Likewise, the links with other sanctuaries linked to the Sacred Heart of Jesus have tightened, notably with the Sacred Heart of Montmartre, in Paris, for example. We discovered that in being as close as possible to the heart of Jesus, we were close and working together took on its full meaning.

Do you have the feeling that devotion to the Sacred Heart was, until recently, less present in the lives of believers?

We have forgotten this grace of the appearances and the Sacred Heart, that the whole world envies us. Pope Francis even devoted, in October 2024, an encyclical, Dilexit ourin which he quotes many times several French saints. France sits on a heap of gold which it tends to ignore.

In the 1980s, the bishops of France had published a map of the hundred largest sanctuaries in our country. Paray-le-Monial did not appear there. For me, it’s symptomatic. At the end of the 19th and early 20th century, the Sanctuary of Paray-le-Monial aroused real enthusiasm. However, after Vatican Council II, this momentum gradually faded. In 1975, on the occasion of the tricentenary of the Sacred Hearts, my predecessor had launched several calls to invite pilgrims to gather in Paray. None have been heard. At the same time, without being aware, presented the young French charismatic renewal, led by the venerable Abbé Pierre Goursat (1914-1991).

This year, conversely, hundreds of groups of French, of various ecclesial sensitivities answered the call. And the fruits are numerous. I am convinced that the influx of pilgrims that we noted during the 350 years appearances will be perpetuated. Christians came, returned and they will come back!

It is a great joy to note this rediscovery of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Long associated with the Emmanuel community, which has animated sessions there for fifty years, it is today recognized as a spiritual good for the whole of the Church. It’s a rocking point! The 350th anniversary celebrations marked a turning point: Paray-le-Monial is no longer perceived as a place specific to the Emmanuel, but as a lively source, open to all, where everyone finds their place.

For some in France, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus would have fallen into disuse, especially among young people. Is this always the case?

It is an a priori generational. Young people do not have them. Those who come to Paray-le-Monial ignore these debates on this alleged disuse. They discover in Paray that Jesus loves them as they are. And that they can become carriers of mercy. Or even “take fire” to Jesus Christ, who will raise them when they fall. Experience confirms this. I invite those who nourish reluctance or reservations with regard to this upcoming devotion to Paray-le-Monial. You have to account for what is lived there.

But these reservations are understandable. The fact of having, in the past, a heart of Jesus bloody, dolorist, sentimentalist and sometimes politically recovered, contributed to a form of caricature. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is not that. It is a compassionate heart for our time.

What are the spiritual fruits of this 350 year old jubilee?

Something happens in Paray-le-Monial! The pilgrims are transformed, upset. Families, the wounded of life find there and consolation with the heart of Jesus. They live, in their own way, what Marguerite-Marie Alacoque mystically lived: laying their burdens on this heart and being consoled by him. They are renewed in hope. They perceived how the Lord loves us in his divine mercy. The gospel message has penetrated their heart into existential intimacy. Pilling in Paray-le-Monial is making a pilgrimage from head to heart! This sanctuary upsets the faithful, who live there the experience of fire, flames, ardor, burn of the heart, the fire of the Holy Spirit. It is the love of the Lord for the brothers, for the poorest. There is a desire that the name of Jesus is known.

This 350th anniversary, started on December 27, 2023, had the theme “to give love for love”. Why this choice?

By choosing the theme “to make love for love”, I was deeply marked by the need for reparation in the face of sexual abuses in the Church. This pain, shared with the Christian people, echoed the complaint of Christ to Saint Marguerite-Marie on sacrileges, especially on the part of the consecrated. In Paray-le-Monial, Jesus asks to be consoled. The sisters of the Visitation wanted to offer a “year of repair” to the Pope, without success. Carried by this same desire to console and repair, we have chosen this theme at the dawn of 350 years: a simple, but essential spiritual dynamic. We organized a conference on this theme in Rome in 2024, the acts of which will be presented during the holidays of the Sacred Heart.

Almost a year ago, Pope Francis published his last encyclical Dilexit our on the Sacred Heart of Jesus. What do you remember?

I feel a great gratitude for Pope Francis. This text is one of the most beautiful spiritual fruits of the jubilee of the 350 years of the appearances of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Paray-le-Monial. He is almost miracle! No one expected him, which is no longer a few months before the death of the Holy Father. We must measure the impact of this encyclical on the life of the Church: some bishops of France now want to renew the life of their diocese starting from the heart of Jesus. They come to ask us to support them. It is also our mission!

What is striking is this “fire” of the Sacred Heart which is given back to the world, this updating so that somewhat indifferent Christians can reclaim it. This encyclical gives us the means to live the mission of the Church by starting from the heart. But this text poses the challenge of being received by all. It is the deep mystic of the magisterium of Pope Francis. Dilexit our Long time is part, she will take time to settle in the spirits. It proves that this Sanctuary of Paray-le-Monial is a place for the whole church.

The “Sacred Hearts”, scheduled for late June, will be held in the presence of Cardinal François Bustillo, bishop of Ajaccio (Corsica) and Special Envoy of Léon XIV. How did you react to the announcement of this coming?

The Sanctuary of Paray-le-Monial had requested Mgr Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the Conference of Bishops of France and Archbishop of Reims, to preside over these celebrations. With him, we wanted the Church of France to mobilize and recognize in these “parties” something important for everyone. It was he who had the idea of ​​asking for a pontifical legate from Pope Francis. The presence of Cardinal Bustillo is important: this jubilee does not only concern France, but the Universal Church. His coming thus recalls the universality of the Sacred Heart. It’s a call to come to Paray-le-Monial!

What can we live and discover during these “Sacred Hearts” festivals, from June 26 to 29, 2025?

The “Sacred Hearts” will take a dimension that is both festive, cultural and spiritual. A show entitled The treasures of Val d’Or will retrace the story of Paray-le-Monial, while an artistic competition, organized during the jubilee, will have made it possible to renew the image of the Sacred Heart. The documentary The Sacred Heart: his reign has no end Directed by Steven and Sabrina Gunnell will be projected in preview twice.

At the heart of this joy, the times of praise and the Eucharistic celebrations will be accompanied by deep lessons: the cardinal François Bustillo will discuss popular devotion, and Mgr Éric de Moulins-Beaufort will meditate on the sense of consecration in the heart of Jesus, especially for France. A time of consecration will be proposed to pilgrims, to offer himself to the Lord and “make love for love”. Finally, teaching will open tracks to extend the grace of this 350th anniversary. The sanctuary awaits nearly 4,000 faithful for these “parties”.