Future Triumphs of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
based on a vintage holy card

This print was a holy card was souvenir for the building of Sacre Coeur Basilica in Paris which was facing grave obstacles-physical, political, and financial-in its construction.

The Basilica of Sacre Coeur is today one of the most famous and beautiful in Paris, but at the time of this card (1881) they had almost nothing to show for progress in building it even though they'd been working at it since 1875. They couldn't even finish the foundation until 1884 because of the engineering problems at the top of the soft dirt hill they were building on.

Politically, the Paris City Council opposed the construction. Even after it was built, they seized the land in front of the church and installed a bronze statue of a Freemason as a way of showing their contempt for the house of God. The statue stood there for a long time.

Yet facing all these trials, including the burden of the expense, the people remained faithful that the Sacred Heart would triumph. The church was conceived in 1870 by the Bishop of Nantes who wanted France to atone for the country's loss of morals and devote themselves to the Sacred Heart.

Likewise, we believe this card can be a rallying point for us, inspiring confidence that God's purposes in our life will be fulfilled.

The words above the Sacred Heart on the front of the card mean, Future Triumphs of the Sacred Heart. The words at the bottom of the card mean the crowning of a contest winner. It might refer to the Sacred Heart himself, or it might refer to some fundraising event. The date, June 26, 1881, was the Sunday after the Feast of the Sacred Heart, which had been on the previous Friday, June 24th. Montmartre is the name of the hill the church was built on.

Trust in the Lord and in his Future Triumphs! Have confidence in the power of our Lord and the care he gives to your life!

The holy card version of this card may be found at:


** IMPORTANT ** THE IMAGE IS SMALLER THAN THE PAPER. We do not print to the edge of the paper. There is a white border around the image. About 1/2" for 5x7", 1.3" for 8.5x11", 1.6" for 11x14" and 13x17", 2" for larger sizes.

- Acid-free paper
- Archival pigments, rated to last for generations.
- Cardboard backer
- Above story of the art
- Enclosed in a tight-fitting, crystal clear bag.

Thanks for your interest!
Sue & John

"In order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ, the Church needs art." ~ St. Pope John Paul II

Original image is out-of-copyright. Descriptive text and image alterations (hence the whole new image) © by Sue Kouma Johnson - Classic Catholic Art.

Picture of the Sacre Coeur Basilica today is by the photographer Tonchino via Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. We are grateful for their letting us use this picture.