From the book The Devotion To The Sacred Heart by Fr. John Croiset, S.J. [1]:
"Behold this Heart which has so loved men even to exhausting and consuming Itself to testify to them Its love; and in return, I receive from the generality of men nothing but ingratitude through the contempt, irreverence, sacrileges and coldness which they show Me in the Sacrament of My love; but what is still more painful to Me, is that there are hearts consecrated to Me that treat Me thus. For that reason I demand that the First Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi be set apart for a special feast to honor My Heart; that, on this day, reparation be made to It with special solemnity, that the faithful receive Holy Communion in reparation for the indignities which It has received on the altars; and I promise that My Heart will expand Itself to pour out in abundance the treasures of Divine love on those who render It this honor."
Quoted from Catholic Culture [2]:
[T]he third Friday after Pentecost is the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Although the revelations to St. Margaret Mary of Alacoque in the 17th century promoted this devotion, the origins of the honoring of Jesus and His love for man trace back to Scripture and many other saints and sacred writings throughout the history of the Church....The actual feast began only in 1765 as a locally celebrated in Poland and certain congregations, and then in 1856 Pope Pius IX made it a feast for the universal church. In 1899 Pope Leo XIII raised it to a higher rank, and Pius XI elevated the feast even higher, and revised the liturgical texts, which are the basis of the Mass texts used today.
[1] Croiset, Fr. John, S.J. The Devotion To The Sacred Heart. Translated by Fr. Patrick O'Connell, B.D., Second Edition, from the French final edition published in Lyon in 1694. Charlotte, North Carolina: TAN Books, 1988, pages 174-75.
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