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 The eminent Dominican, Fr. Bertrand Wilberforce, O.P. (1839-1904) was the grandson of Lord Wilberforce the anti-slavery
campaigner. Amongst his writings was a 'Treatise on the Mystical Life'. In Cecil Kerr's Teresa Helena Higginson (1926) he
wrote a memorandum, considering the devotion worthy of the principles of St Thomas Aquinas, from which the following two extracts
are taken:
[I]"In the devotion now being considered,
when the Sacred Head is being honoured, the Person is honoured and as the Person is divine, the honour due to the Sacred Head
is divine (Vid. St. Th. Sum.,
Pt. iii, Qu. XXV., Art. 2).
This being as above stated, in strict analogy to the worship of the Sacred Heart, needs no further proof to show
its perfect harmony with the Catholic Faith. We may therefore conclude that the devotion to the Sacred Head as the Shrine
of the Divine Wisdom can be defended theologically and is in harmony with the teaching of the Catholic Church".
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[II]
“From this we may rightly proceed to conclude that a most fitting object of special devotion for man after being
redeemed, is that very Wisdom by whom the Redemption has been accomplished. Now the Shrine
of that Wisdom, its earthly Tabernacle, is the Sacred Head of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The devotion
therefore, in itself, is most congruous and fitting.”
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[III] "Moreover, a fervent devotion to the Divine
Wisdom and its earthly Shrine will bring down on the faithful, we most confidently hope, a special grace to preserve their
faith intact and to spread that 'precious gift' among many still out of the fold. We may then conclude that this devotion
is thoroughly theological, in strict harmony with the devotion, already so solemnly and frequently approved, of the Sacred
Heart, most congruous in itself, and lastly peculiarly suited to the special needs of the age in which we live."
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