Sacred Heart Icon

The first coincidence I remember had a weird, ominous sort of meaning. It was in the early 1950s, when I was a grammar school kid.

I remember crying because I sat on a tall chair facing the corner of two walls and was wearing a dunce cap. My cousin Mary Lou was staring at me from outside the classroom. Maybe she had been notified about something but I never found out.

After that day,  I remember not going to that school. It had burned down and we were forced to attend another school. The church and school that burned down had a common church name, “Sacred Heart.” Christians most likely have seen a prayer card on which Christ Jesus is depicted with a “fiery” Sacred Heart. It was not until decades later that I made a connection between the fire and the icon in the prayer card. I admit the “profound” psychological impact it had is subjective.