More than 41,000 students in Catholic schools across the Archdiocese of Philadelphia were consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Oct. 16 during a Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul. The celebration coincided with the memorial of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, whose life and spirituality are closely associated with devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
About 1,200 students attended the Mass in person, representing Catholic school students throughout the archdiocese.
>>> PHOTOS: More Than 1,000 Students Gather at Cathedral Basilica for Sacred Heart Mass
Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez led the consecration before a near-capacity congregation of students, chaperones, priests and deacons gathered to celebrate Catholic education and devotion to the Sacred Heart.
“What a wonderful, wonderful day for all of us to bring this representative community of our Catholic school students,” the archbishop said at the beginning of Mass.
“You represent more than 41,000 of all of our young brothers and sisters in our Catholic schools as we gather to celebrate the feast of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and the gifts the Lord gave to her.”
The Mass took place during the opening months of the 2026-27 school year, the 175 anniversary year of Catholic education in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It also follows the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops consecratin of the nation to the Sacred Heart during the country’s250th anniversary year.
Brendan Towell, director of spirituality and mission for secondary schools and schools of special education, said the idea for the consecration came from Auxiliary Bishop Keith J. Chylinski, who oversees Catholic education.
“It became clear to Bishop Chylinski that in his role, it was [really] necessary for us to consecrate our schools to the Sacred Heart,” Towell said.
He said devotion to the Sacred Heart offers young people a way to bring their worries, anxieties and burdens to Christ at a formative time in their lives.
“While the heart is something we all possess, the Sacred Heart of Jesus is also a wounded heart, and that wound is open,” Towell said.
“Jesus invites young people to identify that common human heart, but to look at his Sacred Heart. [He says,] ‘I’m going to take those worries, those anxieties, those burdens that so often accompany being [young], even those wounds that you may have, place them here, and leave them here with me.”
Students filled many liturgical roles during the Mass, including choir members, students from Saint Lucy School for Children with Visual Impairments who offered the Prayer of the Faithful, and altar servers from Sacred Heart Catholic School in Havertown.
“Every day we say we have four virtues at our school: Zealous leaders, community builders, peacemakers, and servant leaders,” said Sacred Heart Principal Frances Peterson. “We really take those core values and embody them in Jesus’ Sacred Heart. We tie that all in together.”
In his homily, Archbishop Pérez connected devotion to the Sacred Heart with young people’s use of emojis.
“Only about seven percent of human communication actually involves words. The rest of it involves our body, the looks we give, the hugs we share. All those things happen without words,” he said.
“Today we celebrate, the ultimate emoji of all time — the heart of Christ. That is the ultimate emoji. Christ said lots of words, but His ultimate emoji was Him. What does he say to the world? How does he say it? He actually says it through the cross.”
The archbishop also reflected on the heart as the deepest part of a person.
“If you ask the spiritual masters, what is the heart? It is the deepest part of our soul, of our being,” he said. “That deepest part of who we are, our spirit, our soul, the deepest part of our heart was won by Christ.”
Near the end of Mass, Archbishop Pérez invited students to form heart shapes with their hands and share them with one another. He encouraged them to place their hearts in God and reflect on Christ’s constant love.
“As our [Sacred Heart] icon today expresses, He puts it out to you and to me. What does he say to us?” the archbishop asked.
“Very simply put, he says, ‘I love you.’ And that love is not dependent on anything. He loves you for who you are.”
The following is the consecration prayer as shared by Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez at the end:
Almighty and ever-living Father, today, as we observe the memorial of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque whom your divine Son favored with a revelation of his loving heart, I, Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez, as the Archbishop of Philadelphia, consecrate all our schools, their administration, staff, faculties, and student bodies to the most Sacred Heart of Your Son, Jesus Christ.
May the administration and staff of our schools allow the Sacred Heart of Jesus to motivate their every effort to lead and guide our schools in the truth of the Gospel, and form their faculties and students with a zeal for holiness, service, and courage to make Jesus known to others.
May the faculties of our schools receive from the Sacred Heart of Jesus the wisdom and guidance to impart to their students a diligence in study, a deeper love for the truth and faith, and an enduring desire to apply their knowledge of religion in their way of life now and in the future. May the students in our schools come to know intimately the profound love of the Sacred Heart for each of them, a love that leads them to love him in return, a love that fires each soul with the strength to resist sin, a love that places the worship of God above all and a love that directs every action to the love of neighbor, especially those in need. May this consecration bring to all a renewed sense of your mercy rushing forth from the Sacred Heart of your Son, to heal the wounds of our sins, encourage sincere reparation, and keep us steadfast in a life of grace.
May this consecration aid all with an overflowing measure of grace from the Saving Heart of your Son, so to merit a share in eternal redemption. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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