I have joined the Movement of Pure Hearts because I consider love to be the highest value in life; and chaste love is the truest form of love. That is what I want to be able to give my “other half.” I have not met that girl yet, but I do believe with all my heart that I shall find her. Please enroll me in the Book of Pure Hearts and send me your blessing so that I can keep my pledge. David, aged 20; Please pray for me that I can walk in the way of the Lord for the rest of my life. I know now that “The Lord is my shepherd. There is nothing I shall want (…) Maggie, aged 22; I have decided to join MPH because I wish to offer my future husband the gift of a pure heart. My life has been empty. I was in a failed relationship. For a while I lost all hope. Later I came to the conclusion that I should be glad of what I had: wonderful parents, brothers and sisters, a warm home atmosphere. But to be completely happy I still lack that one, most important person. This is worth waiting for because it is a beautiful thing. And I know that that one man is also waiting for me. Please pray for me. Justina, aged 20; From today on I want to belong to MPH. I know it will not be easy (because of the state of my soul), but that is exactly why I have decided to join. I know that Jesus’ love has no bounds. Bogdan, aged 25; I would rather forget the last five years of my life. With Christ’s help and with a pure heart I want to start from scratch again. I know that with Him I will surely succeed. Please pray for me that He will once again show me His boundless mercy and help me rid myself of the habit of impurity. Peter, aged 18. I decided I had to do something with my life — start working on myself and grow in God’s love. I thought of MPH, but then I started thinking, “What if I can’t stick with it?” “What if it’s not for me?” Before going to sleep, I entrusted the matter to God. On getting up the next morning I knew Jesus was waiting for me and that He wanted to heal my heart through MPH! I went to Confession, received the Holy Communion I had so hungered for, and entrusted my whole life to God. Kuningas, aged 18.

Dear reader! In deciding to join MPH you agree to undergo a lengthy period of treatment at the hands of the Great Physician Himself — Jesus. The only drug He will prescribe is His love, which you will take daily in the form of prayer and the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist. You will entrust yourself entirely to Jesus, allowing Him to heal your heart, to purify it so as to render it capable of loving. The Movement of Pure Hearts is the greatest heart clinic in the world, the world’s top school of love; and it admits everyone without exception. For Jesus there is no person too seriously wounded or enslaved by sin. There are no untreatable cases. It is never too late to start treatment — a treatment that is at the same time the most exhilarating spiritual adventure, for it means maturing in love, freedom and eternal life. But be warned: Christ’s treatment is not without pain and effort. It demands your cooperation, wholehearted trust, walking the way of the Cross and dying to sin. It goes hand in hand with self-education, discipline, a dose of asceticism and a great amount of patience and perseverance. It is a real mountain climb, a scaling of a spiritual Everest (Love) with Jesus as your Sherpa guide. In the process, Jesus will bestow upon you the gift of a free and pure heart.   

Saint Faustina observed: “The Lord gave me to know how very pleased He is with a pure and free heart. I felt that it is God’s delight to look into such a heart… But such hearts are knightly hearts; their life is a constant battle” (Diary, 1706). So expect to wage a constant struggle with your weaknesses and the powers of evil. Saint Peter warns us: “Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith!” (1 Pet 5: 8-9). If we are united with Jesus, if every day we walk the way of faith, getting up every time we fall (by going immediately to confession!), Satan can do us no harm. True, he will remain a “roaring lion” — but locked within his cage. He cannot hurt us so long as we do not place ourselves in harm’s way by coming too close to the bars. We must therefore exercise great caution, be demanding of ourselves and disciplined in carrying out our daily duties. It is very important to plan our day in such a way as to make time for concrete prayer (the rosary, chaplet of divine mercy, scripture reading, Eucharistic adoration, etc.), solid work (or study) and adequate rest. Sports and physical exercise are also very important, for they help to build character. Entrust yourself every day to Jesus through Mary. Every day “cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you” (1 Pet 5:7).

Before Jesus can heal and make your heart free and pure, He must have your consent and cooperation. Moreover, as John Paul II reminds us in his Letter to the Youth of the World (1985), nothing can happen “unless each one of you (…) undertakes the work of your own education.” The Holy Father stresses that Christ’s dictum, “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” is essentially a program. “Young people,” he observes, “have an inborn ‘sense of truth.’ And truth must be used for freedom: young people also have a spontaneous ‘desire for freedom.’ And what does it mean to be free? It means to know how to use one’s freedom in truth — to be ‘truly’ free. To be truly free does not mean doing everything that pleases me, or doing what I want to do. Freedom contains in itself the criterion of truth, the discipline of truth. To be truly free means to use one’s own freedom for what is a true good. Continuing therefore: to be truly free means to be a person of upright conscience, to be responsible, to be a person ‘for others.’

“All this constitutes the very kernel of what we call education, and especially what we call self-education. Yes, self-education! For an interior structure of this kind, where ‘the truth makes us free,’ cannot be built only ‘from outside.’ Each individual must build this structure ‘from within,’ build it with effort, perseverance and patience (which is not always so easy for young people). And it is precisely this structure which is called self-education. The Lord Jesus also speaks of this when he emphasizes that only ‘with perseverance’ can we ‘save our souls.’ (cf. Lk 21:19) ‘To save our souls’ — this is the fruit of self- education.”

The Holy Father goes on to warn us: “Some of you may be tempted to take flight from responsibility: in the fantasy worlds of alcohol and drugs, in short-lived sexual relationships without commitment to marriage and family, in indifference, in cynicism and even in violence. Put yourselves on guard against the fraud of a world that wants to exploit or misdirect your dynamic and powerful search for happiness and meaning. I write all this to you in order to express my great concern for you. For if you must ‘always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you,’ then everything that works against this hope must cause concern.”

And for all those who profit from the systematic corruption our youth, the Holy Father has especially stern words. “I must remind them of the words of Christ with which he speaks about scandal and those who cause it: ‘Woe to him by whom temptations to sin come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.’ Grave words! Especially grave in the mouth of him who came to reveal love. But whoever carefully reads these words of the Gospel must feel how deep is the antithesis between good and evil, between virtue and sin. He must even more clearly perceive what importance the youth of each one of you has in the eyes of Christ. It was precisely his love for young people that caused him to utter these grave and severe words” (John Paul II, Letter to the Youth of the World, 1985).

For the benefit of those considering joining MPH, here are answers to the following frequently asked questions:

Who can join the Movement of Pure Hearts? Anyone who desires to walk with Jesus and learn from Him how to love with a pure heart.

What are the expectations? You have to strive to keep the promises contained in the Prayer of Consecration.

What if I fail to keep one of the promises? Though we are but sinners, we have to be prepared to take our decisions seriously. No point in doing something on a trial basis. Why try something if you are going to quit as soon as the first difficulty crops up? In joining MPH you agree to pick yourself up the instant you fall. If you commit a serious sin you will immediately go to sacramental confession and make your peace with Jesus. Never give up the fight! People who have it all together do not join MPH. The movement is only for those who are prepared to put up a good fight. And with Christ on your side, how can you fail!

When can I join the Movement of Pure Hearts? Anytime! All you have to do is go to Confession, receive Holy Communion, and say the following prayer of consecration:

Lord Jesus, I am thankful that You love me with a love that rights the greatest wrongs and heals the most hurtful wounds. I offer You my memory, my mind, my soul, my body, my sexuality. I promise not to engage in sexual acts until I am united with my spouse in the Sacrament of Marriage. From this day on, I will not read, buy or watch pornographic materials. I solemnly promise to meet You every day in prayer, scriptural meditation, frequent reception of Holy Communion and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. I also pledge to avail myself regularly of the Sacrament of Penance, not to give in to discouragement, and to pick myself up immediately after every sin. Dear Jesus, teach me to work systematically on myself, to control my sexual desires and emotions. Give me the courage to go “against the current” in my daily walk through life. Help me avoid everything that weakens and enslaves the will: nicotine, alcohol and drugs. Teach me to place love at the center my life. Mary, my Mother, guide me in faith, to the very source of Love, to Jesus, that I may trust and believe in Him alone. After the example of Servant of God, John Paul II, I desire to entrust myself entirely to you: Totus Tuus, Mary! Blessed Karolina, procure for me the gift of a pure heart.

Amen!

If you decide to join MPH, please inform us in writing of this great event. Send us your address, date of birth, and also the date that you joined the MPH community. This way we can send you a special blessing and enroll you in our Book of Pure Hearts, which will serve as a living monument in honor of our dearly departed John Paul II.

Please continue to send us your testimonies. It is Christ’s wish that you help others in this way to embark on a life of faith and join the fight for a pure heart. Assuring you of our constant prayers here are the editorial office, we greet and bless you all.