Cover image: Catholic holy card depicting the Sacred Heart of Jesus, circa 1880. Auguste Martin collection, University of Dayton Libraries (Public Domain)

 

This piece originally appeared on 11 February 2011, the week of St Claude de La Colombière's feast day. A Jesuit priest and confessor, St Claude fostered devotion to the Sacred Heart in the most trying of times. It has been slightly edited for web presentation. - Ed.

Claude de La Colombière (1641-82) was a Jesuit who fostered the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus as a counter to the rigorous teaching of the Jansenists. He also had the misfortune to be in London at the time of the alleged Popish Plot.