A new audio reflection series focuses on each of the 33 approved titles of Jesus that are found in the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
"The Litany of the Sacred Heart: Introducing the Person of Jesus," is available on the Ascension App and features 33 audio reflections. The series debuted on June 23, 2025, just ahead of the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 27.
Among the people providing the reflections are Jeff Cavins, Jackie and Bobby Angel, Fr. Mike Schmitz, Fr. Patrick Riviere, and Sr. Alicia Torres, FE.
Fr. Riviere, a priest of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux in Louisiana, told Aleteia in a phone interview that he contributed reflections on two of the titles in the Litany: "Our peace and reconciliation," and "Overwhelmed with insults."
The Sacred Heart of Jesus, Riviere told Aleteia, is "a symbol of love" and the love that Christ has for humanity.
The litany of the Sacred Heart was officially approved by Pope Leo XIII in 1899, he said, but devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus dates back centuries.
The Litany, he said, is a reminder that "Jesus himself had a heart that loved us, and desires to show us that love."
Jesus took on human flesh, said Fr. Riviere, to "unite Himself to us."
"And the heart is on fire because it so desperately desires to unite itself to us, for us to receive the love that is contained within," he said.
"It's easy to take even just look at any image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to see that it's easy to receive love from that."
His favorite title, he told Aleteia, is "Overwhelmed with insults."
"It beautifully speaks to the way that Jesus took all the things that we struggle with upon himself. Like, we don't, I don't, carry a single thing alone, but I carry everything with Him," he said.
"So that image of just knowing that I'm not alone in the struggle, but that He's also there; I've always been very particularly drawn to that concept."
While each of the 33 reflections are short — under 10 minutes — Fr. Riviere advises against "bingeing" them all at once.
"Really, take it slow and meditatively," he said. A good idea is to do "one a day," in order to "enter more deeply into the beauty of the prayer."
