In the midst of the second world war Pope Pius XII put the whole world under the special protection of our Savior’s Mother by consecrating it to her Immaculate Heart, and in 1944 he decreed that in the future the whole Church should celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This is not a new devotion. In the seventeenth century, St. John Eudes preached it together with that of the Sacred Heart; in the nineteenth century, Pius VII and Pius IX allowed several churches to celebrate a feast of the Pure Heart of Mary. Pius XII instituted today’s feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the whole Church, so as to obtain by her intercession “peace among nations, freedom for the Church, the conversion of sinners, the love of purity and the practice of virtue” (Decree of May 4, 1944).

The attention of Christians was early attracted by the love and virtues of the Heart of Mary. The Gospel itself invited this attention with exquisite discretion and delicacy. What was first excited was compassion for the Virgin Mother. It was, so to speak, at the foot of the Cross that the Christian heart first made the acquaintance of the Heart of Mary. Simeon’s prophecy paved the way and furnished the devotion with one of its favourite formulae and most popular representations: the heart pierced with a sword. But Mary was not merely passive at the foot of the Cross; “she cooperated through charity”, as St. Augustine says, “in the work of our redemption”.

It is only in the twelfth, or towards the end of the eleventh century, that slight indications of a regular devotion are perceived in a sermon by St. Bernard (De duodecim stellis).

Stronger evidences are discernible in the pious meditations on the Ave Maria and the Salve Regina, usually attributed either to St. Anselm of Lucca (d. 1080) or St. Bernard; and also in the large book De laudibus B. Mariae Virginis (Douai, 1625) by Richard de Saint-Laurent.

In St. Mechtilde (d. 1298) and St. Gertrude (d. 1302) the devotion had two earnest adherents. A little earlier it had been included by St. Thomas Becket in the devotion to the joys and sorrows of Mary, by Blessed Hermann (d.1245), one of the first spiritual children of St. Dominic, in his other devotions to Mary, and somewhat later it appeared in St. Bridget’s Book of Revelations.

St. Ambrose perceived in her the model of a virginal soul. St. Bernardine of Siena (d.1444) was more absorbed in the contemplation of the virginal heart, and it is from him that the Church has borrowed the lessons of the Second Nocturn for the feast of the Heart of Mary. St. Francis de Sales speaks of the perfections of this heart, the model of love for God, and dedicated to it his Theotimus.

In the second half of the sixteenth century and the first half of the seventeenth, ascetic authors dwelt upon this devotion at greater length. It was, however, reserved to St. Jean Eudes (d. 1681) to propagate the devotion, to make it public, and to have a feast celebrated in honor of the Heart of Mary, first at Autun in 1648 and afterwards in a number of French dioceses.

In 1799 Pius VI, then in captivity at Florence, granted the Bishop of Palermo the feast of the Most Pure Heart of Mary for some of the churches in his diocese. In 1805 Pius VII made a new concession, thanks to which the feast was soon widely observed. Such was the existing condition when a twofold movement, started in Paris, gave fresh impetus to the devotion. The two factors of this movement were first of all the revelation of the “miraculous medal” in 1830 and all the prodigies that followed, and then the establishment at Notre-Dame-des-Victoires of the Archconfraternity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Refuge of Sinners, which spread rapidly throughout the world and was the source of numberless graces. On 21 July 1855, the Congregation of Rites finally approved the Office and Mass of the Most Pure Heart of Mary without, however, imposing them upon the Universal Church.

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13 COMMENTS

  1. immaculate heart of mary sna po mtpos n problema ko s mga gmot risdin rivotril syclop xanor serenace akineton zyproc sandoz altrox sna wg n po un gmulo s isip ko pls sna wla n bmulong kalain bakekang panget pg umiinom ako gmot umaga at gabi pls sna wg n tmambay s lbas cla gami aldrin chris kalbo pls sna tmhmk n pristina pls sna wg n kmi mgkailangan ni pyt wg n rn sna sya mglakwatsa sna umuwi n sya maaga plgi pls sna wg nko mlagsan ngipin pls sna wg nko mhilo mtrnta matense kht kelan pls sna wg nko guluhin ng taong nkkslmuha ko pls sna mklipat nko trece nxt yr pls sna mkbyd kmi monthy trece pls sna mgnda araw ko plgi pls sna mkuha ng lakers c kevin durant pls sna mlkas mkuha ng lakers s draft sna mkbwi cavs nxt game pls sna mtpos n summer sna pasok mode n mga tao d2 pristina sna mgswa nmn kkalakwatsa cla pyt at manas pls sna tmhmk n pristina pls ptwd po s mga kslanan ko tnx amen

  2. Mamma Mary we pray for peace among all nations, freedom for the Church, conversion of sinners, love for purity and practice of your virtues.

  3. Please lord Jesus deliver me from my internal pain. Oh lord forgive me and wash me clean. Jesus I ask forgiveness and mercy. I ask most of all for peace of mind. I ask this in Jesus name.
    Amen

  4. HEART OF MARY, PLEASE HELP EVERY ONE IN NEED. PLEASE HELP THEM SEE THE LOVE OF YOUR SON JESUS, WE ALL NEED IT, AND WE CANT BE WITH OUT HIS LOVE. AMEN

  5. Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us. Intervene for my parents, who married on this day in 1953, that if they are still experiencing purification in Purgatory, that you take them both by the hand this day and escort them personally through the gates of Heaven and present them to your beloved Son. Heart of Jesus, hope of those who die in You, have mercy on us. Amen.

    If they’re already enjoying the beatific vision, please accept my perpetual unconditional gratitude for prayers answered.

  6. Dear Immaculate Heart of Mary: Please pray for all of us now during this coronavirus, which has sent a scourge around the world. Please pray for those who have died from it, and those who have suffered from it. Please intercede for all of us at this time. Thank you for your blessed heart and your cares for the whole world.

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