Bl. Bernardo Francisco de Hoyos, as a Jesuit novitiate, with the Sacred Heart of Jesus appearing before him. (Miguel Galván/Wikimedia Commons)
Blessed Bernardo Francisco de Hoyos was the first apostle of the Sacred Heart in Spain. He was born in Torrelobatón, Spain, on Aug. 21, 1711. Three hundred years later, on Aug. 21, 2011, the Mass of World Youth Day was celebrated in Madrid. The evening before, at the conclusion of the vigil service, Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the youth of the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Bernardo studied in the Jesuit school in Medina del Campo and was drawn to the Jesuit way of life. At 14, he desired to enter the Society of Jesus and was accepted into the novitiate in 1726.
During his two years as a novice, the young Jesuit saints Aloysius Gonzaga and Stanislaus Kostka were being canonized. The canonization process of John Berchmans had also been initiated. Bernardo chose John Berchmans as his model and intercessor.
At his profession on July 12, 1728, Bernardo heard Our Lord say to him: “From today on I will unite Myself more intimately to you because of my love for you.”
On Aug. 10, 1729, Our Lord, covered with his Precious Blood, appeared to Bernardo, and showing him the wound in his side, said, “Rejected by humanity, I come to find my consolation with chosen souls.”
In 1732, Bernardo told his spiritual director, “I see that everything in my heart is moving towards God, drawn like an iron to a magnet. It desires only God, searches only for God, and longs only for God.”
On May 4, 1733, Bernardo received a decisive mission from Jesus: “I wish for you to spread the Devotion to My Sacred Heart throughout all of Spain.” Bernardo experienced total immersion into the Heart of Christ. He wrote, “From this moment, I have been submerged and absorbed by the Divine Heart. As for eating, sleeping, studying and the rest, my soul appears not to recognize anything but the Heart of its Beloved; and while I am before our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, then break loose the torrents of His choicest favours.”
On May 14, Bernardo obtained what is known as the “Great Promise” from the Sacred Heart: “This will always be my place of rest. I will make my home here – the place where I have desired and chosen to be. I will reign in Spain with more veneration than in other places.”
Bernardo consecrated himself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 12, 1733, using the same formula written by the Jesuit St. Claude de la Colombière (the spiritual director of St. Margaret Mary) 50 years earlier.
From then on, Bernardo did all he could to spread devotion to the Sacred Heart. He formed a group of devoted collaborators to communicate to others the essence of the devotion to the Sacred Heart.
Bernardo distributed prayer cards and leaflets and founded many confraternities and associations in honour of the Sacred Heart.
On Jan. 2, 1735, Bernardo was ordained a priest, but less than a year later, on Nov. 29, he died after contracting typhus.
Bernardo was beatified in Spain on April 18, 2010. St. Aloysius Gonzaga, St. Stanislaus Kostka, St. John Berchmans, and Blessed Bernardo Francisco de Hoyos are the four “youth-saints” of the Society of Jesus and models of purity.
In fact, Bernardo’s intercession is especially helpful to those who struggle with the vice of impurity. Bernardo’s devotion to the Sacred Heart - the complete surrender of all his affections – is an antidote to all impurity.
納德宣揚聖心敬禮
1711年8月21日真福納德.方濟.奧約斯出生於西班牙的托雷洛瓦通，他是在西班牙傳揚耶穌聖心第一位使徒。三百年後、即2011年8月21日，教宗本篤十六世在西班牙馬德里主持世界青年大會彌撒；在前一夜的守夜祈禱，把普世青年獻給耶穌聖心。
納德在梅迪納德坎波的耶穌會辦的學校唸書，因而耶穌會會士的生活方式所吸引。十四歲的他，決意加入耶穌會，1726年被接納為初學生。
作初學生的兩年，剛好是兩位年青的耶穌會會士、類斯和達義.葛思佳被宣聖，而審核若望.伯爾各滿宣聖過程也已展開。納德揀選了若望.伯爾各滿作他的模範及代禱者。
1728年7月12日，納德發聖願；他聽得吾主對他說：「因我對你的愛，從今天起，我要更緊密地與你結合。」
翌年的8月10日，吾主滿身寶血地向納德展視祂肋旁的聖傷，說：「我被世人拒絕，向我揀選的靈魂尋求安慰。」
1732年，納德向神師透露：「我感到我心內的所有都歸向天主，像鐵塊被磁石緊緊吸扣著一樣。我心只渴望天主，只尋求天主，只盼望天主。」
1733年5月4日，耶穌給了納德清晰的使命：「我想你能在整個西班牙傳揚我聖心的敬禮。」納德頓時完全浸淫在基督的聖心當中。他筆錄道：「由那刻開始，我完全被聖心所沉浸和吸納。至於飲食、睡眠、學習和其他一切，我的靈魂仿佛不能認出任何東西，但只有心所愛的那一位的聖心；當我在聖體內的主前，衪特恩洪流奔放湧出。」
5月14日，納德從耶穌聖心獲得「大許諾」。耶穌明言：「這常是我憩息的地方。我將在此作居所 ── 我所盼望和揀選的地方。我將在西班牙統治比在其他地方更得尊敬。」1733年6月12日，納德源用五十年前聖高隆汴（聖女瑪加利大的神師）寫下的禱詞，把自己奉獻給耶穌聖心。
自始，納德傾力廣傳聖心的敬禮。他聚集意同道合的人，一起傳遞聖心敬禮的認識，派發祈禱單張，組織很多恭敬耶穌聖心的善會。
1735年1月2日，納德晉鐸，但不足一年，他罹患斑疹傷寒病終。
2010年4月18日，納德在西班牙被尊為真福聖人。聖類斯、聖達義.葛思佳、聖若望.伯爾各滿和真福納德.方濟.奧約斯，被譽為耶穌會的「四少聖」，他們是貞潔的典範。其實，納德的轉禱為對抗不潔之罪十分有力；他對耶穌聖心毫無保留地愛是不潔的解毒劑。