USTOLIČENJE JEZUSA ZA KRALJA V DOMOVIH

   His Holiness, Pope Pius XII, as well as his immediate predecessors have praised and encouraged the movement for the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart in the Home, and have clearly indicated how important this movement is in reference to the work of social reconstruction.  It is well known that society, be it the people of a single city of the people of an entire nation, reflects the picture that appears behind the domestic walls of the community; for it is there that Christian virtue, generosity, the spirit of sacrifice, and civic loyalty are planted and nurtured and developed later to produce that fruit which will benefit the family and society as a whole.  How important, therefore, it is to keep healthy and alive the spiritual atmosphere of the home.  For this purpose it is suggested that we invite into our home to be a permanent guest, the divine Master; that we erect for Him there a throne where He can take His place; that we erect this throne in a central and important position in the house where it will be visible to all and where it will dominate the home so that His countenance will constantly be there to illumine, inspire, and direct parents and children and all who cross the threshold.

  We are all invited to open the door of our house to Christ the King.  No matter how humble our dwelling may be, we can assign Him a throne there.  The significance of the Enthronement is quite evident.  It means that our Lord and Creator and Father comes to live under the same roof with His creatures and children.  With open heart, He enters to dwell with us and He remains among us as a Friend, a Benefactor and a Companion.

  Christ Jesus is King but “His kingdom is not of this world” (John 18, 36). He is a peace-loving King who reigned on a cross with a crown of thorns on His head because He loves souls.  Now He longs to reign through the merciful omnipotence of His Sacred Heart; He wishes to conquer souls with that same love, charm, enlightenment, direction, and doctrine which constitute His message to the world, His Holy Gospels.  This conquest of souls begins in the divine Heart and is directed at our hearts; it is a conquest of love and deifying friendship from His part that brings to its willing prey spiritual purification, a thirst for justice, freedom from evil and the control of the passions, freedom from secularism and from every false ideology.  The Enthronement of the Sacred Heart in our home will signify that Christ has conquered us and that He now reigns in our midst.

  Every morning from the little throne in our house Jesus will smile upon each one of us, sprinkling our hearts with His generous benedictions.  Those individual Hearts, in fact, will become a true throne for Christ.  Thus ennobled throughout the day we will be better able to avoid the pitfalls of evil and the dangers we are bound to encounter here and there in our contacts with the world.  And in the evening, when the work of the day is done, what joy will be ours when we return home to be reunited with the members of our family before that foundation of benediction, ever flowing yet ever full, the Sacred Heart there enthroned.  May the Sacred Heart be enthroned in more and more homes, carrying its blessings to the houses of the land.

Washington, D. C.
May 6, 1949
A. G. Cicognani
Archbishop of Laodicea
Apostolic Delegate