To many, the Sacred Heart is a vaguely Irish thing, associated with statuary in appalling taste. Perhaps the Irishry comes partly from the memorable lines in Juno and the Paycock: “Sacred Heart o’ Jesus, take away our hearts o’ stone, and give us hearts o’ flesh!”
Juno’s exclamation takes in a verse from the book of Ezekiel, in which God says: “I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” The play, however, is not at all straightforward, though the Hitchcock film (1930) is surprisingly good.
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