One of the most beautiful devotions we have in the
Catholic Faith is the practice of Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. As
we have seen in our studies this month, everything connected with Jesus is
connected in some way to His Mother. Catholic Churches have Mary altars near the
main altars to show that wherever Jesus is, Mary is right there next to Him,
even in our own lives. Jesus gives us Himself and His Mother at the same time. We
adore the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and we venerate the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Why? Jesus is our Lord and Savior. Mary is the model of purity, love, meekness
and devotion to her Son. We pray to the Immaculate Heart of Mary so that our
hearts may become like hers: filled only with love for Jesus. It is said that
Mary first conceived Jesus in her heart, and then in her womb. We must give
birth to Jesus in our hearts before we can bring that love into the world. Why
do we emphasize her heart? There are several Scripture references to the Heart
of Mary in the New Testament. In Luke 2:19 we read “Mary treasured all these
things and reflected on them in her heart.” Again in Luke 2:35: “And thy own soul a sword shall
pierce, that, out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed.” Luke 2:51: “His mother meanwhile kept all these things in
her heart.”
What is devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the
Immaculate Heart of Mary? It is explained that :Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus focuses
mostly on His divine love for mankind and encourages our humility, gratitude,
obedience, and adoration; devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary focuses on
Mary's love for God and encourages our emulating her humility, gratitude, obedience, and adoration. Mary as loving
Mother of Jesus Who suffered for us; Mary as Mother of the Church; Mary as
obedient daughter, Mary as our Gevirah (Queen Mother of Israel) -- we ponder
her interior life in each of these roles, consecrate ourselves to
Jesus through her, make reparations for offending her as our Mother, ask
her intercession for us with her Son, and emulate her as the model of Christian
perfection.
How did this
devotion spread throughout the Church? Many early saints promoted devotion to
the Heart of Mary. These include St. Anselm (d.1109), St. Bernard of Clairvaux
(d.1153, St. Bernardine of Siena (d. 1444) and St. John Eudes (d. 1680).
Devotion to Mary’s Heart spread rapidly after Mary appeared to St. Catherine
Laboure in 1830 and manifested to her the “Miraculous Medal.” Mary herself reinforced this devotion when,
on July 13, 1917, she appeared to the three little Fatima children and told
them, “To save poor sinners, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to
my Immaculate Heart.” On the twenty-fifth anniversary of Fatima, in 1942, Pope
Pius XII consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and assigned
August 22 as its feast day. After Vatican II, the feast was moved to the “day
following the Feast of the Sacred Heart” which is always the Saturday after the
second Sunday after Pentecost (based on information found on http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/meditations/DevImacc.html?newwindow=true
What does devotion
to the Immaculate Heart of Mary include? …in 1925, Mary appeared to one
of the visionaries -- Lucia, who'd since become a nun -- and requested
reparations for the various ways in which her Immaculate Heart was offended --
such as attacks against her Immaculate Conception, virginity and divine
maternity, and for those who teach their children contempt of Mary or who
insult her by desecrating her. To make
these reparations, she asked that we do 5 things, all with the intention of
making reparation to her Immaculate Heart:
·
recite at
least Five Decades of the Rosary every day
·
wear the
Brown Scapular
·
make Five
First Saturdays of Reparation to Her Immaculate Heart (see below)
·
The Pope,
in union with all the bishops of the world, must consecrate Russia to Her
Immaculate Heart. Russia would be converted through this means and a period of
peace to be given to the world. If this is not done (and it hasn't been done),
Russia will "spread her errors throughout the world." This
consecration must be of Russia --
not "the world," but Russia by
name.
The "First
Saturdays of Reparation" was not a new devotion, but it was even more
popularized after Our Lady appeared at Fatima. It consists of, on the first
Saturday of each month for five consecutive months:
·
"Keeping
her company" for 15 minutes while meditating on all of the Mysteries of
the Rosary with the intention of making reparation to her. This can be done by
reading Scripture or other writings relevant to the Mysteries, meditating on
pictures of the Mysteries, or simple meditation.
The promise given
by Mary to those who make the First Saturday devotion is her assistance at the
hour of their death. http://www.fisheaters.com/ih.html
I end with a sweet
reflection from our dear friend of this week, Fr. H. O’ Laverty in his book, “The
Mother of God and Her Glorious Feasts”: When will people learn that it is
very easy to secure the friendship of Mary and that her protection destroys all
the wiles of the devil. The friendship of Mary is not passing, like so much
worldly friendship, which is based often on love of self rather than on love of
others. Our Blessed Lady only wishes to bestow graces upon us and to bring us
within the Sacred Heart of Jesus. So many wish to be children of the world and
children of Mary at the same time…. She does not ask her children to give up
the world unless they are called to the religious life. She only wishes them to
live interior lives in the midst of all their worldly occupations. This is very
easily accomplished by purity of intention and by fervent and frequent prayers.
For many years Mary performed only the ordinary duties of domestic life, but
these years were all sanctified by her conformity with God’s will. It mattered
not to her if she remained in the Temple or cooked a meal, so long as she did
God’s will. She offered all to God, and she sanctified all her works by prayer….If
parents would only consecrate their children to Mary, they would find that this
sweet Mother would not desert them during their lives….The Immaculate Heart of
Mary will so watch over them that they will become holy almost in spite of
themselves. “O Mary, my Mother, so tender, so true, in all my afflictions, I
hasten to you; your Heart is so gently, so loving so mild, you cannot reject
your poor suppliant child.” (Tan Publishers, 1987).
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