Inspirations Behind the First Friday Devotion

Sherry Hayes-Peirce discusses how her devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus led to an annual prayer practice.

Today we celebrate Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, a religious sister from the Visitation Order who sparked the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. According to her biography in Franciscan Media’s Saint of the Day feature, she was chosen to receive the revelations from our Lord to “arouse the Church to a realization of the love of God symbolized by the heart of Jesus.”

“Not to be extraordinary except by being ordinary.” The foundational maxim of the Visitation Sisters, written by Saint Francis de Sales, prescribes that these nuns, rather than focusing on severe physical austerities, emphasize performing everyday actions with profound interior humility and extraordinary love. She was not seeking notoriety, but the Lord had other plans for her. On December 21, 1674, she received her first revelation from Jesus that His love for mankind would be known to her over the following 13 months.

The most powerful revelation became the image of Jesus’ heart resting exteriorly on His chest.

The image revealed reflected a cross atop a flame above a heart encircled with thorns and light beaming from the heart.

• Cross: The ultimate sacrifice of His love for us.
• Flame: His heart burns with love for all humanity.
• Thorns: Suffering and agony of the Lord in His Passion and death.
• Light: God’s presence and guidance.

First Friday Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

I became a devotee of the beautiful prayer practice of First Friday devotions after reading an Aleteia article, “Five Things Catholics Should Know About First Fridays.” My church has a beautiful statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus that became my safe place to pray, especially in times of trial. Every First Friday I would snap a selfie in front of the statue or another statue to mark the nine months of the year that I participated in the Novena of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

However, when my husband died, it was too painful to gaze upon the statue. I was in the deepest depths of grief when my mind, heart, and soul couldn’t comprehend why God had called him home. Looking at the statue triggered anger in me instead of the peace it used to.

For a decade, it has been my prayer practice to offer an intention in January that I pray for each First Friday through September. My husband and I would come together to select the intention every year, and we would have to navigate, when traveling, a way to get to Mass wherever we were on First Friday.

A Change of Habit

Last September when my annual novena ended and when I made my pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Holy Redeemer, I decided to try a different prayer practice. Along with pursuing my master’s at Loyola Marymount University, I entered into the 19th Annotations, a version of the Ignatian Spiritual Excercises that also lasts nine months. It was such a powerful experience, one that transformed me in so many ways. Meeting with a spiritual director every week for nine months truly helped me hear the Trinity speak to me through the Scripture passages about the life of Jesus, the Christ I love and serve.

As I write this, I feel a wonderful sense of anticipation in resuming my practice of praying the Sacred Heart Novena in the new year. Part of my widowhood journey has been being solely responsible for selecting the intention for my annual novena. This year marks five years since my husband died, and the intention of finding peace with his passing has definitely been answered; I need to select a new one. Several things in my life need the depth of prayer this novena provides.

Another change in my prayer life, sparked by my inability to gaze upon the statue, was a whisper from the Holy Spirit to begin spending time in Adoration. Gazing upon the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist has become such a cherished time of prayer and encounter with the Lord for me at this stage of my life. Saint Margaret Mary was called to spend a vigil hour of prayer and meditation on Jesus’ agony in the Garden of Gethsemane every Thursday. Perhaps you might take up a new prayer practice every week on a specific day of the week, and ask the Lord in prayer to reveal to you what day He ordains you to meditate on His agony in the Garden.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, I Trust in Thee!

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Copyright 2026 Sherry Hayes-Peirce
Images: (top) Canva; all others copyright 2026 Sherry Hayes-Peirce, all rights reserved.