Sr. Anne Flanagan’s new book, Come to Me: Living the Nine First Fridays, is a boon to my faith life. Sr. Anne invites us to enter into the extraordinary devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the First Friday Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and she does so through a foundational education that prepares the reader for heeding Christ’s call to a closer relationship with Him.
Preparing Our Hearts
I was not unfamiliar with this devotion when I first picked up this book. In fact, I have often attempted this discipline of attending Mass and receiving Communion on and off for probably two decades with no success at completing the devotion. I often struggled with my spirit being willing but my flesh being weak (Matthew 26:41) and succumbing to whatever distraction kept me from finishing the devotion.
In Come to Me, Sr. Anne prepares our hearts to listen to Jesus and enter into an intimate sharing with Him. She details the meaning of the devotion, its history, and its practice, and includes a scriptural understanding of how this devotion shapes us and molds our hearts for Jesus. At the end of the book, she provides a beautifully curated selection of prayers for us to continue in our spiritual practice.
“Devotion to the Sacred Heart is a solid foundation for our life of prayer.” (4)
As my knowledge of this devotion increased, so did my desire to try again. Each chapter that accompanies a month of the devotion matches a theme with a Saint and an accompanying Adoration guide. I am confident that experiencing this devotion with the guided prayer for each month will yield great spiritual fruit for me, and I hope, for you as well.
I may need to get this. I, too, have struggled with completing the 9 First Fridays—twice I’ve come within 1 month—but I realized that I never made Confession often enough, nor did I do required prayers. There are required prayers, aren’t there??? Clearly, I need a guide.