There was a rise to devotion to the Passion of Jesus Christ and in particular to practices which honoured the Sacred Wounds - this was due to the revival of religious life and the zealous activity of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and Saint Francis of Assisi in the 12th and 13th centuries. Saint Bernard said that the piercing of Christ's side revealed his goodness and the charity of his heart for us. The devotion is especially concerned with what the Catholic Church deems to be the long-suffering love and compassion of the heart of Christ towards humanity. Several individuals claimed sightings and apparitions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, spanning from the 13th century until the 19th century.Â