DEVOTION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
Messenger of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 1876
The object of the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is twofold, material and spiritual; the former secondary, the latter primary. The material object is the material heart of the Mother of the Word Incarnate. The spiritual object is her spiritual heart, that is to say, the ardent charity with which she was inflamed for God, as well as that which she bore towards men. There is neither distance, separation nor opposition between these two loves; it is precisely because she loves God that Mary loves us, and the more perfectly she loves God the greater her affection for us.
The love which Mary bears us is similar to that manifested towards us by her Divine Son when, while on earth, he sought sinners rather than the just; our condition as sinners, far from opposing an obstacle, is rather a claim upon her. In this point, as in all others, Mary walks faithfully in the footsteps of her Son and model, and if she loves the just with a love of complacency because of their virtues, the love of compassion and mercy which she feels for sinners is still greater, not because they are worthy of it, but because of their greater necessities. Finally the material heart of Mary, by means of which we should raise our thoughts to the spiritual, is ordinarily represented not only with New flames escaping from it, which figure her love, and crowned with flowers, emblems of her virtues, but also pierced with a sword, to call our attention to her sorrows.
The end proposed by devotion to the Immaculate Heart, is to urge us to a greater love towards Mary; for this object we are invited to consider her heart which is the most perfect master-piece which nature and grace combined have ever formed of a simple creature;--besides this, in our regard, it is the heart of the most tender of mothers who loves us far better than we love ourselves. In these two considerations is to be found her claim upon our love; can we refuse it? This general end contains several partial ones, some of which it will be well to indicate: such as gratitude towards Mary, confidence in her, lively compassion for her sufferings, and imitation of her virtues.
The love of Mary for us merits our gratitude. The efficacy of this love is shown in the blessings she heaps upon us. The graces we are constantly receiving are, it is true, the fruit of the merits of Jesus; but these graces He has deposited in the hands of Mary, constituting her the treasurer and dispenser thereof. She is the channel by which God's favors are conveyed to us. When we call to mind all that we owe to the loving heart of Mary, it will surely be sufficient to excite in us the liveliest feelings of gratitude towards her.
When we picture to ourselves an image of this Immaculate Heart, we are irresistibly moved to confidence in it. We can hardly fitly express the tender affection of Mary for all men, but especially for sinners; if therefore she loves us so much, why should we hesitate to put our trust in her? Does not the Church address her: "Spes nostra, Salve." She can and will obtain for us all that we need. If in the natural order we see mothers every day accomplishing so much for their offspring, what may not the heart of Mary in Heaven obtain, through her intercession with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, for us her children, especially when there is question of our eternal salvation, of snatching our souls from Hell, or opening to us the gates of Heaven?
The Holy Fathers and Doctors and the Liturgy of the church have assigned to Mary the title of Queen of Martyrs; let us not refuse her the tribute of our compassion. The martyrdom of Mary was more cruel than the torments of all the martyrs put together, for she suffered not in the flesh but in heart and in soul; it was also longer in duration; for from the moment of the prophecy of Simeon until her death, it had no respite. Moreover it exceeded all others in intensity, for her incommensurable love for her Son and for us was the executioner that tortured her; and this it was which caused her to experience something analogous to what our Lord Himself suffered. For this reason, in order to express the sorrows of Mary, we use the word compassion, which signifies suffering shared, endured in common, though in a lesser degree, with the King of Martyrs.
Can we remain insensible while contemplating the Heart of Mary pierced with a sword of sorrow? Shall we not compassionate, that is associate ourselves with the sufferings of the Mother of God, who is at the same time our Mother? But let not our sympathy remain sterile. We cannot, it is true, dry up the source of Mary's tears, but we can take from them something of their bitterness. Mary weeps over the outrage done to God by our sins and the misfortunes which sinners draw down upon themselves by their impenitence. Do we wish to comfort her? Let us be zealous in carefully avoiding the smallest faults ourselves; let us endeavor to save souls by our prayers, by our example and our sacrifices, and thus bring back to God and to happiness so many sinners whose disorders deprive Him of His glory and condemn them to frightful torments in the life to come. This is the kind of compassion which Mary expects from us and which alone is agreeable to her.
The instinct of love is imitation; someone has called it a painter, who in all the figures which his pencil traces upon the canvas, reproduces unconsciously the features of the object which has captivated him. The imitation of Mary is inseparable from the love which we should bear her. It is true that there is a more perfect model proposed to us, no less than Christ Himself, Whom we should strive to resemble; but the superhuman sanctity of the Word Incarnate, although it excites our admiration, while considering it, at the same time is apt to intimidate our weakness or dampen our courage, when there is question of imitating it. In presenting to us Mary by the side of Jesus, God has had pity on us and has come to our assistance. In the person of Mary, a daughter of Adam like ourselves, God sets before us an accomplished model, but one more adapted to our weakness, at the same time that it is only a faithful copy, an exact imitation of Jesus.
Let us therefore courageously strive after the virtues which adorn the Heart of Mary; her purity, her humility, her patience, her recollection, her spirit of prayer,--let us endeavor like her, to be humble, obedient, faithful to grace, a friend of labor, of poverty, of silence; let us have, like her, a firm faith and an unbounded trust in Providence; a hope which nothing can shake, an ardent love of God and our neighbor, let us spare no effort to approach as near as possible to that high and sublime sanctity which, increasing each moment that she lived upon the earth, has established her today Queen of Heaven, as much by her merits as by her dignity of Mother of God. The motives which should attach us to devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary are, proportionately the same as those which recommend that towards the Sacred Heart of Jesus; namely, that our Lord Himself desires it, that it recommends itself by its solidity, its opportuneness, and the advantages to be derived from it.
The wish of our Lord that we should honor the heart of His mother was sufficiently manifested by the circumstances under which this devotion, already in existence, although for some time dormant, was suddenly revived among us. Nothing can be more solid or better founded than this devotion to the immaculate heart. The heart of Mary is the noblest part of the body of the most privileged of creatures, the queen of angels and of men. It is this heart which furnished the blood that flowed in the veins of Jesus and which became the ransom of the world; this heart is the organ of the purest, the greatest, the holiest soul, after that of Jesus, which ever has existed or ever can exist; it is the instrument of the greatest love which God has ever received from any creature, and from which He derives the most complete glory. It is the most august sanctuary inhabited by the Holy Spirit, and enriched with a profusion of His most perfect gifts. In a word, the heart of Mary most closely resembles that of Jesus, and is so agreeable to Him, that He prefers it, not only to any other one, but to all others collectively.
After all, devotion towards the Immaculate heart is but one method of acquitting ourselves of our duty to Mary. And why should we fear to go too far? Is our heart so precious that we might do too much in consecrating it to her? Tradition does not understand it so, nor did he who cried out: "De Maria nunquam satis! " God Himself has invited us to honor her by His example; the love which He has shown for Mary, and the glory with which He has surrounded her, have placed her in a position high above all other creatures. Shall we then be blamed for paying her reverence?
The heart of Mary brought us forth in sorrow at the foot of the cross of her Son; her heart is that of our Mother, and God Himself has recommended us not to forget the groaning of her from whom we have received our life; it is at the same time that of the Mother of our God, hence, devotion towards her, instead of diminishing the worship of God, is its complement and perfection, because it all refers to Him. Can God take it amiss that we are full of respect and veneration for her from whom He has received life? Would He not on the contrary have reason to complain if we showed only coldness and indifference for His Mother?
The opportuneness of this devotion is sufficiently apparent. When was this world ever so truly called the "Valley of tears" as now? Do we not see sorrow and distress on every side; eyes that weep and hearts broken by affliction? Is not our greatest need to be consoled and helped? And where shall we find this, if not in the heart of Mary? The world is full of such consolers as tried the patience of Job; they irritate the wounds of the soul instead of healing them. The heart of Mary is that of the model woman of whom the Scripture says: "When the woman is absent, the sick man sighs without assistance." Religion alone possesses the art of consoling, but no one to such a degree as she who is invoked as the "Consoler (Comforter)of the Afflicted."
The heart of Mary will console us because it is capable of deep commiseration. The sources of pity are dried up in the heart by egotism, the germ of which was deposited in the soul by original sin, and developed by subsequent faults; innocence, on the contrary, preserves the treasures of the heart and is prepared to pour them out upon all unfortunate objects worthy of compassion. The heart of Mary being Immaculate from the beginning, is especially predisposed to be moved in our favor. The heart of Mary will console us, because it has suffered so much. Whoever has not wept himself cannot wipe away the tears of others. Who can bind up the wounds of his neighbor, who has not first healed them in himself? Mary knows sorrow by experience; from Bethlehem to Calvary, her life was one long agony, so that she is justly called the " Queen of Martyrs." She will not only console us, but she will finish her work by delivering us from the evils which surround us. We are stricken down because we have drawn upon ourselves the anger of God by our sins; we acknowledge ourselves guilty, but we do not dare to address ourselves to God directly, so much are we in awe of His justice. Who will obtain a reconciliation? Ah! let us turn to the "Refuge of Sinners," she will make our peace with God, her heart has not been, charged to uphold the interests of justice, but only to extend the domain of mercy. She is all-powerful with Jesus.
As to the advantages which this devotion will procure for us, it is true we have no special guarantees for them, but we do not complain of this, since we have something better than any promise, in the realization of all the blessings we could hope to obtain. Promises relate to something in the future; but they are superfluous when we are already in possession of the good desired. We know that this devotion to the Immaculate heart has been in the past, as it continues to be in the present, a means of obtaining the most signal favors from heaven. What more can we desire?
In embracing this devotion we acquire a new claim upon Mary, who has made manifest her wish that her heart should receive our homage. If we accept her invitation she is so beneficent, so generous, that she will come to our assistance without waiting for us to ask her; if she sees us docile to her voice and animated with respect, love and confidence towards her heart, there will be no limit to her bounty. She will not allow herself to be outdone in generosity, but will repay us a hundred fold for what we do for her.
Let it not be forgotten that devotion to Mary, and consequently to her amiable heart, is a pledge of abundant blessings, is characteristic of the elect, is a token of predestination, according to the Doctors of the Church. In fine how happy for us if we could flatter ourselves that devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus had taken full and firm possession of our souls! To obtain this grace from Heaven there is no means more sure, more prompt and easy than recourse to the heart of Mary, which will conduct us infallibly to Jesus. These two hearts are never separated; he who finds one finds the other. Mary disposes of the Heart of Jesus, inclines it to whom she pleases, exercises over it the greatest influence.
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