SUN PRAIRIE — “The designs of His Heart are from age to age, to rescue their souls from death.”

The opening antiphon of the Mass of the Sacred Heart expresses how steadfast Jesus’s love is and how it remains at every point in history.

The Diocese of Madison reached an important point in its history on Friday, June 12.

On that day, the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison consecrated the diocese to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Consecrating the diocese deliberately places all of our priests, parishes, and people under the Sacred Heart’s direction and protection.

It also reminds us that we are under Jesus’s care and His loving reign.

May His mercy and love bring tremendous graces to our diocese, animating all our efforts to evangelize and bringing forth great fruit!

This consecration of the diocese coincides with the U.S. bishops’ consecration of the entire nation to the

Sacred Heart, which took place during their Spring Plenary Assembly in Orlando, Fla., on June 11, the vigil of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart.

Coinciding with the nation’s 250th anniversary, this consecration places the country’s past failures and triumphs, as well as its future dreams and hopes, under the care of the Sacred Heart.

American Catholics offer Jesus thanksgiving for the gifts He’s given and reparation for our sins, praying that the Sacred Heart will bring conversion, peace, justice, unity, and integrity to our country.

The consecration of our diocese took place at Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Church in Sun Prairie.

The church was standing-room only as the faithful filled the building to join in the consecration.

Bishop Hying celebrated the Mass, with several priest concelebrants, including Fr. Vince Brewer, pastor of Epiphany of the Lord Parish in which Sun Prairie is located.

The Gospel was read by Deacon Joe Stafford, permanent deacon serving Epiphany of the Lord Parish.

A Knights of Columbus honor guard was present.

Several Religious congregations were in attendance, including the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary and the

Sisters of Mary, Morning Star.

The bishop, in his homily, spoke about St. Margaret Mary Alacoque’s vision of the Sacred Heart, how Jesus told her of His burning love for us that refused to be contained.

“That’s the love that has brought us here tonight, this fiery perpetual love of Jesus. So in the Sacred Heart, we realize that God Himself has a heart, that the Lord has loved us from all eternity, and that His love for us is unconditional, absolute, and everlasting. I think many of us, perhaps all of us at certain moments in our lives, feel unloved. Wonder if we matter. Wonder if God is concerned about us . . . Jesus’s Heart on fire is the answer to all of those profound questions that often afflict us. And it’s in the Heart of Jesus, then, that we are reassured that yes, indeed, the Lord loves us beyond our imagining.”

Encountering this love of Christ transforms our hearts and our lives.

“My hope is that every person in our diocese, every home, enthrones the Sacred Heart of Jesus and does the consecration. Imagine if every Catholic family or diocese enthroned the Sacred Heart in their house and lived this consecration. It would change the course of human events.”

After the general intercessions, all knelt as the bishop consecrated the diocese to the Sacred Heart.

The faithful raised their voices to join his for the second part of the prayer, asking that the Lord would repair divisions, draw people to Himself, and bless the United States of America.

The faithful’s portion of the consecration was prayed in both English and Spanish.

Immediately after the Mass, the bishop led the faithful in the Litany of the Sacred Heart and an Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart.

Prayer cards and home enthronement booklets were available for the faithful to take home to further expand their devotion to the Sacred Heart.

For those who were unable to attend, the resources are also available online at madisondiocese.org/sacredheart

Attendees exited the church into a golden summer evening, where Bishop Hying greeted many of them and blessed images of the Sacred Heart that people had brought to the Mass.

Melanie Pfeil, campus director of Encounter School of Ministry’s Madison campus, attended the Mass and was amazed.

“That was one of the most powerful Mass experiences of my whole life. I am still in awe . . . It was so well done, and I know graces will be reverberating through the centuries from that moment. Isn’t that amazing to think about?”