For the first time, Pope Leo XIV’s voice appears in ‘The Pope Video’ asking Christians to pray for his intentions.
Vatican City (06/03/2025 12:22, Gaudium Press) — This Tuesday, June 3, the Vatican released the Pope’s prayer intention for the month of June. In a video message, Pope Leo XIV invited the faithful to pray “so that each of us may find comfort in a personal relationship with Jesus and learn from His Heart the compassion for the world.”
The video features a new prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, asking Christ to help us know Him more deeply, to be with Him, to learn from His love—transforming us so that He becomes our goal in every circumstance of daily life—and to send us on a mission of compassion, bringing His consolation to the world. Accompanying the voice of Leo XIV are images filmed in the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus in Rome and at the National Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Makati, Philippines, a popular place of devotion for the entire Archdiocese of Manila.
Prayer from The Pope Video:
“Lord, today we seek the company of Your tender Heart—You, who speak words that set my heart on fire, You who pour out compassion upon the smallest and poorest, upon those who suffer, and upon all human misery. We long to know You better, to contemplate You in the Gospel, to be with You and to learn from You, from the charity with which You let Yourself be touched by every poverty.”
“You who have revealed the Father’s love by loving us without measure with Your divine and human Heart. Grant each of us the grace of encountering You. Change, mold, and transform our plans, so that we seek only You in all circumstances: in prayer, in work, in encounters, and in daily routines. And from this encounter, send us on mission—a mission of compassion for the world. Be for us the source from which all consolation flows. Amen.”
June: Month Dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
The month of June is traditionally dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The faithful are invited to adopt Christ’s gaze upon humanity and act with the sentiments of His Heart, especially to ease the suffering of the most vulnerable. Indeed, the Heart of Christ is the source of His love for humanity—expressing the mystery of God’s heart, moved with compassion and pouring His love over all men and women in every time and place.
One of the high points of devotion to the Heart of Christ was the revelation received by Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque and interpreted by St. Claude La Colombière, SJ, in the 17th century. In 1856, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the feast of the Sacred Heart. Later, in 1889, Pope Leo XIII elevated it to the rank of Solemnity and wrote the encyclical Annum sacrum, in which he consecrated all humanity to the Heart of Jesus.
In 1928, Pope Pius XI published Miserentissimus Redemptor, urging the faithful to repair, through loving acts, the wounds caused to Christ’s Heart by our sins. In 1956, Pope Pius XII issued Haurietis aquas, which deepened the theological understanding of devotion to the Sacred Heart. Finally, in 2024, Pope Francis released Dilexit nos, in which he proposed devotion to the Heart of Christ as a response to the culture of indifference and disposability.
Compiled by Gustavo Kralj
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