Wounded by Beauty

Antonio Ciseri's Sacred Heart painting.

In The Spirit of the Liturgy, Benedict XVI states, “Through the appearance of the beautiful we are wounded in our innermost being, and that wound grips us and takes us beyond ourselves; it stirs longing into flight and moves us toward the truly Beautiful, to the Good in itself.” (pg. 126) Antonio Ciseri’s depiction of Jesus revealing His Sacred Heart to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque reminds us that when we encounter true beauty, it doesn’t just please the eye; it pierces the soul. 

Saint Margaret Mary before Jesus' wounded heart is a powerful reminder of our place before the Divine. Looking upon Jesus’ wounded heart, we see a fundamental truth: it is the creature who should prostrate and worship God, not the other way around. Satan was in no position to demand that Jesus prostrate himself. As a result, in his response, Jesus reveals that it is not the kingdom itself that is magnificent, but the King Himself. Moreover, the only person we find Jesus prostrating Himself before is His Father, in prayer, at the Garden of Gethsemane. 

In the Gospel of Matthew 26:39, when Jesus is in the garden, He falls prostrate in prayer before His father so that His heart may be one with the will of the Father. Unlike Adam and Eve, whose hearts were turned inwards to their own desires, Jesus’ heart is completely turned outward to the Father.

The season of Lent calls every person to move from the “inward turn” of  our first parents outward to the heart of Christ. The Sacred Heart is not merely a portrait to decorate our homes; rather it is a mystery to be contemplated. As Dr. Ramage notes, beauty “carries the power to ‘shock’ us in a redemptive way. It disturbs our complacency and ‘wounds’ the soul-not to harm but to awaken.” By contemplating true beauty, our hearts are moved beyond our disordered attachments, plans, and vices.  Perhaps, during the season of Lent, a practice of almsgiving can be to hand out Sacred Heart holy cards as an invitation for others to contemplate the Sacred Heart. In doing so, may our hearts be wounded by the beauty of Christ's heart and fall prostrate before God in true worship.