Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)
SATURDAY, June 12th Lk. 2: 41-51 Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
“He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart.”
In her Memoirs Lucia explained: Our Lady told us, in the July secret, that God wished to establish in the world devotion to her Immaculate Heart. Our Lady said, “Jesus wishes you to make me known and loved on earth. He wishes also for you to establish devotion in the world to my Immaculate Heart. I promise salvation to those who embrace it, and these souls will be loved by God, like flowers placed by me to adorn His throne.”
SWEET IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY, BE MY SALVATION Fr. Ed Broom, OMV
The Month of May is the Month of Mary; the Month of October, the month of the Holy Rosary. The Month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Immediately after Pentecost, the Church enters into Ordinary Time until Advent. However, there are three important Solemnities that the Church celebrates after Pentecost (and in this order): The Blessed Trinity, Corpus Christi, and the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The Saturday following the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. How logical and consoling to celebrate these two Liturgical days one following the other. In other words, it is impossible to separate the Hearts of Jesus and Mary; they beat in unison!
The most Sacred Heart of Jesus is closely and intimately related to the Immaculate Heart of Mary biologically, physically, spiritually, emotionally, and totally. Biologically and physically in this real sense: the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus was intimately formed in the most pure womb of His Mother, Mary most Holy, during the course of nine months. Emotionally and spiritually never were there two Hearts so united as the most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Their sentiments, goals, feelings and desires harmonized perfectly! The purity, love, holiness, and humility in these two Hearts radiated like the noonday sun.
In our lives, we are assaulted and attacked by so many dangers from within and without—the devil, the flesh, and the world—to mention just three, that we must seek a sure refuge. Our most secure refuge, harbor of safety, port of salvation must be the two Hearts: The Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Our rest and refuge can only be found in these two Hearts!
Let us meditate briefly on what the saints have said to proclaim the greatness of being devoted and consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. May these great Marian saints spur us on to a greater love and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary!
“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.” (St. Louis de Montfort)
“My heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God.” (Our Lady of Fatima to Lucia)
“Tell everyone that God grants graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” (St. Jacinta Marto)
“Mother dear, lend me your heart. I look for it each day to pour my troubles into.” (St. Gemma Galgani)
“The Immaculate Heart alone has from God the promise of victory over Satan. She seeks souls that will consecrate themselves entirely to her, that will become in her hands powerful instruments for the defeat of Satan and the spread of God’s Kingdom.” (St. Maximilian Kolbe)
What then can we do to cultivate a greater knowledge and love for the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the most pure and Immaculate Heart of Mary?
1. PRAYER TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY.
Try to cultivate the habit of praying this short Fatima prayer to enkindle your love for the Immaculate Heart of Mary: “Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation.” Prayed frequently and fervently during the course of the day enkindles our love for Mary’s Heart.
2. BIBLICAL-GOSPEL VERSES REFERRING TO THE HEART OF MARY.
Actually, twice in the Gospels surface passages that refer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The first is the Shepherds visit; the second is when Jesus is lost and found in the Temple. Both are found in the Gospel of Saint Luke. Once the Shepherds leave after visiting Jesus in the arms of Mary, Our Lady ponders this event in her Immaculate Heart. Again, once Jesus has been found in the Temple after three days of sorrowful search, we find Mary meditating and pondering trying to penetrate the meaning of these events in her Immaculate Heart. Of course Mary serves as a model for all of us: we should strive to meditate daily and ponder the Word of God in our hearts!
3. ENTHRONE THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS AND IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY.
A wonderful practice and devotion that can really serve to unite and fortify families in the modern, paganistic, materialistic and atheistic world is to formally enthrone the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary in your homes. Purchase two beautiful pictures of the two Hearts. Invite the priest to your home. Have your home blessed and then have the priest carry out the formal process of consecrating your entire family to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Make sure that the two Hearts are enthroned in a prominent place in your home, so that all those who enter there have no doubt that Jesus and Mary, symbolized by the love in their Hearts, are the King and Queen of your home; they have dominion over all that goes on in your home.
4. FAMILY PRAYER AND ROSARY IN FRONT OF THE TWO HEARTS.
Vatican II states very clearly that the Family is the Domestic Church, the Church in miniature. Prayer is at times a struggle for all of us, both young and old. However, means or tools that can truly facilitate our growth and perseverance in our prayer life are these two spiritual gems: praying the most Holy Rosary, and praying in front of these beautiful images of the Two Hearts. Therefore, when you bring your family together to pray every evening, come in front of the two images of Jesus and Mary—the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Know that they are looking at you with love. In this way, distractions will be diminished and prayer will be more fervent and pleasing to these two loving Hearts.
5. CONSOLE THE IMMACULATE AND SORROWFUL HEARTS OF JESUS AND MARY.
In a later vision, Sr. Lucia de los Santos of Fatima was given to contemplate an image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. However, in this subsequent vision the Immaculate Heart of Mary was surrounded by big, as well as sharp thorns that were piercing Mary’s Heart. This being said, true lovers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary are called to contemplate this moving scene.
The most clear interpretation of Our Lady’s Heart surrounded by sharp and penetrating thorns would be the suffering that the Hearts of Jesus and Mary experience due to the sins of humanity. Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen defines sin in these words: “Sin is hurting the one you love!”
Therefore, if we truly love the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, let us do all we can to console them for the many sins of the world. Why not transform this meditation into a heartfelt prayer and beg for pardon, mercy, and reparation for the following sins? Make a prayer of reparation and consolation in front of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, especially aware of the thorns piercing both of their loving Hearts.
LITANY OF REPARATION FOR THE SINS AGAINST THE HEARTS OF JESUS AND MARY—LET US REMOVE THE THORNS BY OUR LOVING PRAYERS AND ATTENTION.
1. ABORTION. For the many sins that destroy human life even before it is born, we offer reparation and mercy to the loving Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
2. EUTHANASIA. For the efforts in many parts of the world to legalize and promote Euthanasia—assistance in killing the elderly and infirm, we turn to their loving Hearts for the grace to respect life at all stages, from the moment of conception until natural death.
3. SEXUAL IMMORALITY AND LICENSE. We lift our gaze to the most pure Hearts of Jesus and Mary begging pardon and mercy for the many sins against the true meaning of marital love. Sweet Heart of Mary, be our salvation.
4. SINS OF DESPAIR. For the many in the world who have given up all hope of living due to their pain, suffering and crosses. May the Hearts of Jesus and Mary be their comfort, support and consolation!
5. BITTERNESS, ANGER AND HATRED. For the many individuals who have been hurt in one way or another by others and given in to bitterness, anger and hatred. May the loving and merciful Hearts of Jesus and Mary be their secure refuge of healing.
6. FOR PRIESTS, RELIGIOUS AND BISHOPS. May those who have failed in their promises and commitments as priests, Bishops and Religious be drawn back to faithfulness, fervor, and zeal for the salvation of souls through the Hearts of Jesus and Mary and the prayers of the Apostle Saint John, the Evangelist.
7. FOR COLD, INDIFFERENT AND LUKEWARM HEARTS. For the widespread coldness, indifference and tepidity of so many would-be followers of Christ, may the fire of love that burns in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary enkindle in these indifferent hearts a renewed vigor and enthusiasm for the desires and intentions of these two Loving Hearts.
8. FOR THOSE DYING AND IN MORAL DANGER. For those poor souls who have abandoned the Hearts of Jesus and Mary by embracing an immoral and sinful lifestyle, who are now in their last moments of life. May they seek refuge in the merciful and loving Hearts of Jesus and Mary and thereby attain eternal salvation.
9. FOR THOSE WHO ARE BLIND DUE TO THE FIRE OF THEIR PASSIONS. May the fiery love of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary surrounded by thorns purify their inner vision so they can contemplate the true beauty of Heavenly Realities over the false glimmer and glitter of the seductions of the flesh and the world with its empty promises!
10. FOR THE MULTITUDES OF CATHOLIC-CHRISTIANS WHO HAVE LEFT THE PRACTICE OF THE FAITH. Let us turn to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the huge multitudes of Catholics who have abandoned the practice of their Catholic faith. May God’s grace, through the Intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, bring them back to the harbor of salvation—the Catholic Church.
Friends in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in the midst of so much struggle, toil, uncertainty, and suffering let us calmly and gently lift up our eyes on high to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Let us seek our refuge, our harbor of safety, our security, our peace, and our eternal salvation in these two Hearts. May these short but powerful prayers resound frequently in the depths of our own hearts. “Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.” And, “Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation.”
