Heart-Shaped Prayerbook

Le Sacré-coeur de Jésus.
[France: ca. 1880]. (BRMS 128)

Intended for private devotion, this homemade pin cushion encloses a devotional manuscript featuring eight French prayers or mottos in praise of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. The object consists of two heart-shaped green velvet covers with gold cloth edges enclosing two semicircular sheets of folded paper with cutouts and decoupage decoration. After the original needlework hinge at the head wore out, the two halves were joined at the bottom by a strand of white glass beads. The significance of the object’s shape is derived from three of the prayers written inside. One is the first verse of a traditional French hymn on the Sacred Heart of Jesus:

[Jesus sweet and humble of heart make my heart like yours.]

Praise for the Sacred Heart of Jesus occurs in a second motto:

[Loved, praised, worshiped all at once is the Sacred Heart of Jesus.]

A final prayer invokes the sweetness of the Virgin Mary's heart:

[Sweet Heart of Mary, conceived without sin pray for me.]

View a video of the heart-shaped object with a devotional manuscript.