The Solemnity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary


Today is a very special day for me and my husband. It was on this feast day (celebrated on June 27 that year) 15 years ago that Bill and I exchanged vows in the sacrament of Holy Matrimony, which makes this feast very memorable for me.

Throughout the history of this devotion different titles have been used for the Immaculate Heart of Our Blessed Mother such as "the Maternal Heart of Mary" and also the "Sacred Heart of Mary." Sacred means holy, it does not mean divine.

St. John Eudes (d. 1680) wrote of "the Admirable Heart of Mary."

In St. Luke (2:51) we read of Our Lady pondering all these things—about Her Son Jesus—in her Heart. Also from St. Luke (2:35) we see that Simeon at the Presentation prophesied that Our Lady’s Soul would be pierced with sorrow. This is depicted by showing a sword piercing the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The early theologians of our Faith, the Fathers of the Church, such as St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) and St. Epiphanus (d. 403) referred to Our Lady’s Heart. St. John Damascene (d. 749) explained that the Immaculate Heart of Mary "lives solely on the contemplation and the love of God." In the Middle Ages St. Bernard (d. 1153) wrote that at Calvary, "as Jesus died in Body so Mary died in Heart."

St. Thomas a Becket (d. 1170), the English Martyr, had a special devotion to the joys of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Our Blessed Mother appeared to him and promised to help those who also have this devotion, especially at the hour of death.

St. Gertrude the Great (d. 1302), the German mystic, was granted a vision of three rays of light coming from the Most Holy Trinity and entering the Immaculate Heart of Mary and then returning to God with great speed, to the Source from which they came. The rays represented Power, Wisdom and the Gifts bestowed upon Mary by the Most Holy Trinity.

St. Bridget of Sweden (d. 1373) was told by Our Blessed Lord, "the Heart of my Mother was like mine. Therefore I can affirm that we worked together for the salvation of the world. I, by the sufferings endured by My Body, She by the sorrows and love of Her Heart." And Our Lady told St. Bridget, "When my Son suffered, I felt as though my Heart endured the sufferings also. When my Son was scourged and torn with whips, my Heart was scourged and whipped with Him. His Heart was my Heart. My Beloved and I redeemed the world as with one Heart."

St. Bernadine of Siena (d. 1444), the Italian Franciscan, is especially known for his devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He wrote that the Immaculate Heart of Mary was "a fiery furnace of Holy Love."

St. John Eudes, a great Apostle of Devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, prayed to both the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary by saying "AVE COR," or Hail Heart in the singular, to show the unity of these Two Hearts.

St. Margaret Mary (d. 1690), the great Apostle of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, explained that "the most efficacious way to have devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is through the Immaculate Heart of Mary." And St. Margaret Mary’s spiritual director, St. Claude de la Colombiere stated: "I turn to Mary and ask her to obtain for me the grace to imitate Our Lord’s Heart. I saw how perfectly her Heart copied His."

St. Louis de Montfort (d. 1716), the great Apostle of devotion to Our Lady, tells us, "If you put all the love of all the mothers into one heart it still would not equal the love of the Heart of Mary for her children."

The Venerable Father Francis Liberman (d. 1852), a Jewish convert wrote: "You do not know what a treasure the Holy Heart of Mary is. Jesus Christ has placed in it so great a fullness of grace and favors that they would be sufficient to satisfy not merely the whole world but a hundred thousand worlds and much more."

At Fatima, Our Blessed Mother revealed her Immaculate Heart to the three shepherd children. We saw then that Our Mother’s Heart was surrounded by thorns—the thorns of sin. We were then asked to make reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by prayer and sacrifices—to console her Motherly Heart—to remove those thorns. Also at Fatima Our Lady requested that Russia be consecrated to her Immaculate Heart saying, "In the end My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me and she will be converted and a period of peace will be granted to the world."

She also told them: "Jesus wishes to establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world. I promise salvation to those who embrace it. Tell everybody that God grants graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and that they must ask them from her. Tell them that the Heart of Jesus wishes that by His side should be venerated the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Tell them to ask peace through the Immaculate Heart of Mary; God has placed it in her hands."

For more information on the history and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary via a video, go here.

For even more information on this special feast day, go here.

~ Excerpted in part from the Monks of Adoration.

Related Post:
-

Comments

  1. EC Gefroh6/16/07, 7:32 PM

    Happy Anniversary to you and your dear husband, Jean! God bless you both abundantly!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jean Heimann6/16/07, 9:56 PM

    Thanks, Esther. We like to celebrate a little on this feast day, but June 27th is the main day we celebrate. Our wedding rehearsal was the feast of the Sacred heart. It's interesting how the Lord and his mother arranged this for us.

    God bless you!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Comments are moderated and are published at the blogger's discretion.

Blog Archive

Show more

Popular posts from this blog

The Spirituality and Miracles of St. Clare of Assisi

Image
August 11 is the memorial of St. Clare, one of my favorite saints. She was the first woman to follow the life of radical poverty practiced by St. Francis of Assisi and is the co-founder of the Poor Clares. Although I am not a Franciscan, I have had Franciscan friends, clergy, and spiritual directors instruct me on the beauty of St. Clare's spirituality. I have also learned a great deal from reading about her over the years. Clare and Francis (2007) is a film which depicts the fascinating story of her dramatic conversion and surrender to the will of God. St. Clare is the patron saint of television. She is also the patron of eye disorders, embroiderers, good weather, and telephones. The Contemplative Life The Lady Clare was born into a noble family in Assisi in 1193 and was admired for her great beauty. When she heard Francis of Assisi preach his Lenten homilies at the Church of San Giorgio, she was captivated by his words. At age eighteen, she heard him say: "When the...
Read more

Saint Michael de Sanctis: Patron of Cancer Patients

Image
Today is the feast of Saint Michael de Sanctis, also known as St. Michael of the Saints, a Spanish Discalced Trinitarian priest, the patron of cancer patients. Michael Argemir was born on September 29, 1591 at Vic, Catalonia, Spain. At age 6, he told his parents that he planned to become a monk and began modeling his life after Saint Francis of Assisi. Michael’s parents died when he was about ten years old. He then served as an apprentice with a local merchant. During this apprenticeship, he continued his fervent devotion to the Lord, especially to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. At the age of 12, he joined the Trinitarian Friars at Barcelona, taking his vows at St. Lambert’s monastery in Saragosa four years later.  Shortly afterwards, Michael expressed a desire to join the reformed group of Trinitarians and was given permission to do so. He went to the Novitiate at Madrid and, after studies at Seville and Salamanca, he was ordained a priest. Twice he served as Superior of the...
Read more

St. Raymond Nonnatus, Patron of Expectant Mothers, Midwives, and Newborn Babies

Image
The saint of the day for August 31 is St. Raymond Nonnatus. He is the patron of expectant mothers, midwives, obstetricians, infertile couples, and newborn babies. Raymond was born at Portella, Catalonia, Spain in 1204, the son of wealthy parents. He was delivered by cesarean section when his mother died in childbirth. Hence his name non natus (not born). In his childhood, he seemed to find pleasure only in his devotions and serious duties. His father, sensing that Raymond was drawn to religious life, ordered him to manage one of the family farms. Raymond readily obeyed but spent his time with the shepherds and workers, studying and praying until his father abandoned the idea of making his son a worldly success. Raymond later joined the the Order of Our Lady of Mercy or the Mercederians, which was founded by St. Peter Nolasco, who devoted to ransoming Christians captured by the Moors. He succeeded Peter as chief ransomer and went to Algeria to ransom slaves. He remained as h...
Read more