For the first time in its 183 year history, the University of Notre Dame will be consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Friday, September 25. Following in the footsteps of the United States bishops, the university will consecrate itself after a special 5:15 p.m. Mass in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, celebrated by Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend and concelebrated by University President Father Robert Dowd, C.S.C.
Father Brian Ching, C.S.C., Director of Liturgy and Rector of the Basilica, explained the consecration to the Rover. “The consecration to the Sacred Heart is a pious exercise by which we dedicate ourselves … to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, imploring the graces that flow from it, and committing ourselves to using the Sacred Heart as our spiritual model and guide in the life of faith. … Every single human being is meant to emulate the Sacred Heart of Jesus.”
The consecration originated with a group of students who responded to the call of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for Catholic institutions across the nation to join in its consecration of the United States to the Sacred Heart on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of America’s founding.
Luke Fisher, a sophomore in Siegfried Hall on the Consecration 2026 Committee, told the Rover, “[The consecration] began with a group of us students going to different faculty members, or priests, or heads of institutes, or members of Campus Ministry, and asking, ‘Has Notre Dame ever been consecrated to the Sacred Heart? Is it planning on doing so, and would it be interested in it?’ And we just got a lot of really supportive and good feedback about it.”
Fisher continued, “The University of Notre Dame is being consecrated to the Sacred Heart because of the love it has for Jesus Christ and the desire that the university has to spread that love, not only to all of its students, but ultimately to the whole world.”
Fr. Dowd; Bp. Rhoades; Father Pete McCormick, C.S.C., Assistant Vice President of Campus Ministry; and Father Gerry Olinger, C.S.C., Vice President for Student Affairs approved the idea and decided to consecrate the University to the Sacred Heart a few months after the USCCB.
Gabriel Wollak, a sophomore Old College Seminarian and member of the Consecration 2026 Committee, highlighted how the consecration accentuated the existing presence of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at Notre Dame. “Here at Notre Dame, our basilica is named after the Sacred Heart. We have a heart-shaped quad in the center of campus with a statue of the Sacred Heart [of] Jesus, so it is a very central part [of] the spirituality of Notre Dame, because it is a central part of Holy Cross spirituality.”
Father Gregory Haake, C.S.C., Vice President of Mission Engagement and Church Affairs, told the Rover more about the special devotion that Holy Cross priests have to the Sacred Heart. “The Sacred Heart … is the titular patron of the Holy Cross priest. … As priests, we’re supposed to . . . conform our hearts to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and to love like the Lord loved the people of God.”
Fr. Ching also highlighted this prior presence of the devotion. “It’s not as if the university will just discover the importance of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the 25th of September, but the act of consecration is a way of focusing our attention, … then calling us to action to live out what the Sacred Heart means for us as Christians, as Notre Dame students, as disciples of Jesus.”
While the university is no stranger to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the devotion to the Sacred Heart predates the university, the Congregation of Holy Cross, and America itself. The love of God has been a common theme throughout Church history, but it was St. Margaret Mary Alocoque, a 17th century French nun, who popularized devotion to the Sacred Heart as we know it today.
Fr. Haake told the Rover, “St. Margaret Mary Alacoque receives these apparitions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and … [He] tells her to promote devotion to His Sacred Heart. The devotion had existed before, but that’s really [when] it explodes.”
Fisher commented, “The Church saw fit that we grow in devotion [to] the Sacred Heart, because, as it has been said, to know the heart of Jesus is to know the entire person. If we grow in devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we will get to know the entire Person of Jesus a lot better.”
While the Mass and consecration are the only Sacred Heart-related events officially sponsored by the university itself, campus institutes and organizations are hosting many events as Notre Dame shows and deepens its devotion to the Sacred Heart.
“Behold This Heart: The Theology of Consecration to the Sacred Heart” is an all-star panel hosted by the deNicola Center for Ethics and Culture and the McGrath Institute for Church Life, featuring Professor Jennifer Martin, Professor John Cavadini, Father Kevin Grove, C.S.C., and Professor Anthony Pagliarini. It will be in the McKenna Hall Conference Center on Monday, September 21 at 5:00 p.m.
“Letters from the Heart” is a service opportunity happening at the Clarke Memorial Fountain on Thursday, September 17 from 12:00-6:00 p.m. The Notre Dame family will write notes and letters to prisoners, extending God’s love to those rejected and set apart from society.
There is Eucharistic Adoration in the Basilica after 11:30 a.m. Mass on each Friday of September, from 12:30-5:00 p.m. On September 4, Exalt praise and worship Adoration was Sacred Heart-themed. Additionally, most dorm’s spirituality commissioners have organized a Sacred Heart-themed event, which can be found by contacting your spirituality commissioner or by consulting the ongoing list.
Lastly, the Office of Mission Engagement and Church Affairs is showing the Sacre Cœur film, bringing the life of St. Margaret Mary Alocoque to the screen, in the Browning Cinema in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center (dPAC) on Friday, October 2 at 6:30pm. Guests can reserve tickets using dPAC’s official website.
Fr. Ching highlighted these events but also spoke about the transformation he hopes takes place in the hearts of his students. “Part of being in college is that you’re naturally focused on yourself, because so much of the narrative is about my success and how hard I have to work and my production. … The Sacred Heart calls us to think about life not just in terms of what I’m doing to advance my own cause, but how I’m using my gifts and my talents in service of others, in service of the Church, in service of the Body of Christ.”
Kolbe Barta is a sophomore in Duncan Hall, a proud Texan, and studies theology and economics with a minor in constitutional studies. If you do not find him studying in the swanky new CCCG suite in Flanner Hall, email him at kbarta3@nd.edu.