Zeale News spoke with attendees at CatholicVote's June 13 Zeale for America 250 celebration in La Crosse, Wisconsin, about how the Sacred Heart and other Catholic devotions have shaped their homes, prayer lives, and relationships with Christ.
Many pointed not only to public expressions of faith but also to the personal devotions that sustain their daily lives.
Mother and daughter Miguelina Corripio and Bridgette Nunez of Minnesota attended Cardinal Raymond Burke’s consecration of the nation to the Sacred Heart at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe together.
“I wanted to be part of history. It’s not every day that it’s 250 years of America. I love Cardinal Burke, and I love to be a part of this. The Sacred Heart has always been part of my life,” Corripio said, noting the image of the Sacred Heart she inherited from her childhood home and adding that she’s especially devoted to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Nunez also explained what drew her to the event.
“I had an awful neck injury, and I had to get surgery to replace two discs in my neck, and that condition that led to me having surgery led me to coming back to the faith, because I was a practicing Catholic by no means,” she said. “So now, coming back to the faith, I’m my mom’s plus-one. It’s all so inspiring to me.”
Steve and LeAnn of Winona, Minnesota, said they attended the June 13 prayer rally to observe America’s anniversary through a Catholic lens.
The couple said their devotion to the Sacred Heart extends into their home life.
“We enthroned the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary in our home four years ago,” LeAnn said.
Mary of Mahomet, Illinois, likewise described a home filled with daily reminders of the Catholic faith.
“Come to my house,” she said. “I have, of course, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and I have Divine Mercy and all kinds of other things, and a crucifix in every room.”
As she reflected on the role faith plays in her life, Mary said the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart has taken on a special significance.
“It’s great that the Sacred Heart offers something so uplifting for the month of June,” she said, adding that she prays the Litany of the Sacred Heart every day.
Harry Schmidt of Denver, Colorado, said that he traveled to La Crosse as a longtime supporter of CatholicVote. Having supported the organization for nearly 20 years, Schmidt told Zeale News he was looking forward to “all of it” when asked what he most anticipated about the day’s prayer rally. Daily prayer and frequent Mass attendance are central to his spiritual life, he said.
“I am lost without starting my day reading the Magnificat,” he said. “There is Mass three days a week in a chapel in the building I work in. [Mass] keeps me going at 76.”