Devotion to the Sacred Heart

Fr. Henry Hoheisel was our first, full-time pastor and served from 1897 to 1939. During that time he oversaw the expansion of the first church, the building of the second and starting our school in-between. Fr. Hoheisel was not a fan of the name "St. Columbkille" as it made no sense to him that a parish made up of mostly Germans would be named after an Irish Saint. But he did have a deep devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus which is why he named the school "Sacred Heart Academy."

The school was renamed after St. Columbkille in 1979 to make clear the connection between the parish and the school. But one of the few statues in the church is of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

As early as the 11th century there was devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but it was a private devotion. It was in 1670 that Fr. Jean Eudes encouraged the spread of the devotion but it really took off after St. Margaret Mary Alacoque had a "great apparition" where Jesus asked that the Feast of the Sacred Heart be celebrated on the Friday after the octave (eighth day) of the Feast of Corpus Christi in reparation for the ingratitude of humanity for the sacrifice that Christ made them.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus does not simply represent His physical heart, but His love for all of mankind. It is a day where we can ask if we are truly grateful for Christ's sacrifice.