What the ‘Hearts up!’ Practice is
An ancient command to orient your entire self - mind, body, spirit - toward God’s presence, used for 2,000 years at the Eucharist and available to you every moment of every day.
Lift up your hearts’
We lift them to the Lord’
It’s our orientation towards God.
Why ‘Hearts up!’ matters today
1. Your Soul Needs a Workout
We live in a world constantly pulling us downward:
To our worries
To our phones
To our tasks
To our anxieties
To our responsibilities
‘Hearts up!’ is a call to turn ourselves upward:
Towards God
Towards light and life and love
Towards our salvation and eternal life
2. It’s spiritual stretching
At a physical gym, you warm up. You stretch, get your heart rate up, start with a few lighter movements.
It’s the same for your soul.
When we say ‘Hearts Up!’ we’re participating in what the early Christians called ‘the ascension of the heart.’
We’re not just thinking about God - we’re internally climbing. Our soul is reaching upward to join the heavenly liturgy, the worship happening around God’s throne.
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. - Colossians 3:1-2
We’re aligning ourselves with actual spiritual reality.
3. It reorients your whole self
‘We live in a world constantly pulling us downward: to our worries, our phones, our tasks, our anxieties, our responsibilities.
‘Hearts up!’ is a call to turn ourselves upward:
towards God
towards light and life and love
towards what matters.
It is not just a suggestion. It’s a summons.
‘Lift up your hearts,’ God says.
’Hearts up!’, we reply.
Here we are, God.
5. It’s resistance
St. Cyprian understood: saying ‘Hearts up!’ is an act of resistance against spiritual distraction.
The devil is constantly prowling during prayer, seeking to induce distraction and earthly concern.
Every time you decide you ‘don’t have time’ to pray. Every time anxiety overrides faith.
The ‘prowling devil’ is ancient language for the things that distract us from our life with God.
‘Hearts up!’ is our defense.
6. It prepares us for Communion
In the Eucharistic liturgy, ‘Hearts up!’ is the beginning of the Eucharistic prayer.
The priest says: ‘Lift up your hearts.’
The community responds: ‘We lift them to the Lord.’
This sequence is not accidental.
The community must lift their hearts before they can properly offer thanksgiving. They must be spiritually prepared before they can approach the mysteries of Christ’s body and blood.
This also reminds us that regardless of our tradition or denomination - and regardless of whether we even go to church - Communion is the most basic form of worship in the Christian faith. We are preparing for the sacrament - even if we don’t receive it.
Some of our earliest saints - including Vibia Perpetua - did the same.
7. The more you practice, the more you grow
as we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall run on the path of God’s commandments, our hearts overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love.
St. Benedict called religious life a ‘school for the Lord’s service’.
We can’t think your way into deeper relationship with God. We have to practice.
Learning small, repeated actions helps you do this.
The more we practice, the more we stretch and strengthen our souls. The more peace, connection, grounding, and JOY we feel.
The Complete ‘Hearts up!’ Practice
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