The Sacred Heart of Jesus shares in a most intimate way in the life of the Incarnate Word, and has been thus assumed as a kind of instrument of the Divinity. It is therefore beyond all doubt that, in the carrying out of works of grace and divine omnipotence, His Heart, no less than the other members of His human nature is also a legitimate symbol of that unbounded love.
Under the influence of this love, our Savior, by the outpouring of His blood, became wedded to His Church: “By love, He allowed Himself to be espoused to His Church.” Hence, from the wounded Heart of the Redeemer was born the Church, the dispenser of the Blood of the Redemption — whence flows that plentiful stream of Sacramental grace from which the children of the Church drink of eternal life, as we read in the sacred liturgy: “From the pierced Heart, the Church, the Bride of Christ, is born….And He pours forth grace from His Heart.” (Pius XII: Devotion to The Sacred Heart)
What a man! That profile pic of the sedia is amazing. Once comprehended, the nobility of Pius XII’s soul can never be forgotten. These pictures reinforce that burning nobility beautifully. Are there any extant photographs in this vein of Gregory XVI?
Thomas, I think the 1st Pope photographed was Pius IX in the 1850′s? I believe.
There is something with this Pope that his pictures as pope touch my soul.