Meditations for the Feast and Octave: of the Holy Heart of Mary: The Vigil of the Feast (2): The Holy Heart of Mary is the Principle of All the

The Holy Heart of Mary is the Principle of All the

Greatness of the Blessed Virgin

There is another very special obligation embodied in these words of the Holy Ghost: "All the glory of the king's daughter is within" (Ps. 44, 14). All the glory, all the grace, all the sanctity, and all that is great and worthy of honor in the Queen of Heaven takes its origin from within, from her Heart, because it was by the profound humility, the peerless purity and burning love of her virginal Heart, that she, the Virgin of virgins, won the Well-beloved of the Eternal Father, that is His Only Son, whom she drew down to her heart and caused to dwell within her. In consequence she has been raised to the sublime dignity of eldest Daughter of the Father, the Mother of the Son, Spouse of the Holy Ghost, the Sanctuary of the Blessed Trinity, the Queen of the Universe, and has, moreover, been given to us as our Mother and our Sovereign. For this reason we ought not only to honor the most holy Virgin Mary in some of her mysteries or qualities, or in certain of her actions, nor even in her exalted person alone, but we ought first and chiefly to honor in her the source and origin of the dignity and sanctity of all these mysteries, qualities and actions, and even of her person; that is to say, her love and charity, for love and charity are the measure of merit and the principle of all sanctity.

It was the love and charity of her Heart, so full of both that sanctified all the thoughts, words, actions and sufferings of our Saviour's most holy Mother; sanctified also her memory, understanding, will and all the faculties of both the superior and inferior parts of her soul. This love adorned her whole interior and exterior life with such m a rvelous holiness; containing in itself, to a sovereign degree, all the virtues, gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, which rendered her worthy to bear and nourish Him who supports the whole world, and Who is

the life of all living things. It was the love and charity of Mary's Heart that exalted her to a place i n heaven above all the Seraphim and established her on a throne of incomparable glory, grandeur, happiness and power in proportion to her unsurpassable dignity as Mother of God.

Add to this that our Lady's most gracious Heart is an inexhaustible source of gifts, graces, favors and blessings for all who love this Mother of Beautiful Love, and devoutly honor her most lovable Heart. In short, we have unspeakable obligations, both in number and quality, to the royal and maternal Heart of our great Queen and dearest Mother, on which account we can never sufficiently honor, praise and glorify her.

Ejaculatory prayer:

"Infinite, boundless, eternal thanks be to the most loving Heart of Mary." Gratias infinitas, immensas, aeternas, amantissimo Cordi Mariae.

245-

Fifth Day of the Octave

Further Reasons for Honoring the Holy Heart of Mary

The Holy Heart of Mary is a Living Gospel

THE virginal Heart of the Mother of God is the faithful depository of all the mysteries and marvels of our Saviour's life, according to the testimony of St. Luke: "And his mother kept all these words in her heart" (Luke 2, 51). Her Heart is a living book, an eternal Gospel, in which the Holy Spirit has inscribed that wonderful life in letters of gold. It is this book of life we should incessantly study i n order to understand perfectly and love ardently the beauty of all the Christian virtues, whose practice imparts true life. Above all, we ought to study the wondrous excellence of holy humility, as well as the way of prac. tising it and ridding our hearts entirely of the accursed canker- worm of pride and vanity which works such terrible havoc, not only in the souls of the children of perdition, but even in the hearts of the children of God.

0 Mother of Goodness, what obligations we have to honor thy most lovable Heart in which thou hast preserved such precious treasures, for which be thou blessed for all eternity. Cause our names to be written in that book of life, we beseech thee, and help us to study deeply the beauteous truths and holy maxims inscribed therein.

The Holy Heart of Mary Carefully Watched Over

The Saviour of the World

Who can describe the burning love for her Son Jesus, which filled the incomparable Heart of the Mother of God? How studiously watchful she was in caring for Him whom she nurtured, clothed and tended in order to give Him to us as our Saviour, for which we owe her a debt of gratitude beyond all power to conceive!

The Holy Heart of Mary Suffered Intense

Pains for Us

Who could enumerate the intense sorrow and cruel wounds that lacerated the maternal Heart of the Mother of Jesus throughout her whole life, especially at the time of her Son's Passion, and above all when, at the foot of the Cross, it was transpierced with a sword of sorrow? "In the Heart of the Blessed Virgin," says St. Lawrence Justinian, "was clearly mirrored the Passion of her Son Jesus, and a perfect representation of His death." "It was then," says Richard of St. Laurente, "that those inspired words were accomplished in this virginal Heart: 'The sadness of the heart is every plague"' (Ecclus. 25, 17), that is, there was no part of this afflicted Mother's Heart that was not pierced through and through with a thousand darts of anguish.

Now, it was we who brought upon her all these sorrows by our sins; therefore, we are obliged to render her all the honor and glory we possibly can, in order to repair in some measure the agony and grief we have caused her.

Ejaculatory prayer:

"0 Jesus, by the most loving Heart of Thy holy Mother, transpierced with a sword of sorrow, have mercy on us." Per Cor amantissimum sanctissimae Matris tuae doloris gladio transfixum, miserere nobis, Jesu.

247-

Sixth Day of the Octave

Other Reasons Which Bind Us to Have a Special Devotion

to the Holy Heart of Mary

The Holy Heart of Mary is the True Altar of

Holocausts

THE devout and learned Gerson likens the loving Heart of our Saviour's Mother to the bush seen by Moses, ever burning with the flames of most ardent charity but never consumed. Gerson says that i t is the true altar of holocaust on which the sacred fire of divine love glows day and night. The sacrifice most pleasing to God and most beneficial to the human race, after the self-immolation of Our Lord on the Cross is the divine holocaust which the Blessed Virgin offered to the Eternal Father on the altar of her Heart, when she so frequently and with so much love offered to God in sacrifice that same Jesus, her Only Son so dearly beloved. We may add that He was sacrificed only once on the Cross, but was immolated a thousand upon a thousand times in the Heart of His holy Mother, that is, as many times as she offered Her Divine Son to the Eternal Father for us.

0 holy Altar, what veneration is thy due, and what praises all creatures owe thee! Mother of Love, take our hearts and unite them with thy Well-beloved Son as a holocaust and sacrifice to Our Heavenly Father.

The Holy Heart of Mary is the Principle of

Jesus' Life

What veneration we owe to the august Heart of the Mother of God, which was the principle of the life humanly divine and divinely human .of the Infant Jesus while He dwelt within her! At that time, the Heart of the Mother is as much the source of her child's life as of her own, the one depending on it as much as the other.

What praise and respect are therefore due to the loving Heart of Mary on which the Infant Jesus chose that His life should depend, to that Heart which was the principle of two lives both so holy, so precious, to that Heart on which the adorable Babe so often reposed when in His Mother's arms! That Heart, most noble and revered organ of that virginal body gave a Body to the Eternal Word to be for all eternity the object of the adoration and praise of all celestial and blessed spirits. The Heart of our Lady being the principle of the life of our Head and consequently of His members, and being the principle of life to Jesus and Mary, is also that of the lives of their children. "Vitam datam per Virginem, Gentes redemptae plaudite:' 0 Mother of Goodness, may the hearts of all the faithful unceasingly bless and love thy maternal and devoted Heard May it be the heart of my heart, the soul of my soul and the life of m y life.

Ejaculatory prayer:

"0 Mary, my life, my sweetness and my dearest hope!" 0 Maria, vita, dulcedo, et spes mea carissima.

249-

Seventh Day of the Octave

Three Additional Reasons for Honoring the Holy Heart

of Our Blessed Mother

The Holy Heart of Mary is the Temple of

The Holy Trinity

THE admirable Heart of Mary is the august temple of the Divinity, a temple built by the hand of the Almighty, a temple consecrated by the continual indwelling of the Divine Spirit, a temple dedicated to eternal love, a temple never profaned either by the smallest sin, or taint of the spirit of the world, or by love of self or any other creature. Our Lady's Heart is the temple in which, after the Divine Heart of Jesus, the Most Holy Trinity is more perfectly adored, loved and glorified than in any other temple, material or spiritual, in heaven or on earth. Within this temple, 0 glorious Virgin, thy spirit ever dwelt in seclusion and recollection, offering to God a continual sacrifice of praise, honor and fervent love. It is there that I desire unceasingly to adore, bless and love the Creator of all hearts who made and sanctified it for His glory, wherein He will be eternally glorified in a higher degree than in all the empyrean heavens.

The Holy Heart of Mary is the Paradise of Delights

Of the New Adam

This wondrous Heart is to the new Adam, that is, to Jesus Christ Our Lord, a veritable Paradise of delights, of which He is the real

Tree of life, planted in the midst of this Paradise where neither the serpent nor sin have ever entered, whose gates have always been carefully guarded, not by a Seraph only, but by the very King of the Cherubim and Seraphim.

What delight the Divine Son of Mary found in that motherly Heart which loved Him more ardently than He had ever been loved, even by the purest spirits in the heavenly Paradise! What ajoy it was to thy Divine Babe, 0 Blessed Mother, when He reposed on thy virginal breast, and thou wast wholly filled, penetrated and possessed by His holy spirit and His divine love, which utterly transported and absorbed thy whole soul, spirit and heart.

0 Mother of Fair Love, obtain for me that I may have no other Paradise or pleasure in this world to love, serve and honor Jesus, the Son of Mary, and Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

The Holy Heart of Mary is the King of Hearts

After the adorable Heart of Jesus, the Sovereign Monarch of heaven and earth, the august Heart of Mary, the Queen of Angels and the Mother of the King of kings, is the eternal King of all hearts which were created to adore and love God. Therefore, all men are bound to pay homage to the holy Heart of Mary as to their Sovereign.

0 royal Heart of my loving Queen, I wish to honor and revere thee as the true king of m y heart. Exercise thy power over my most unworthy heart that thou mayest destroy everything that displeases thee and establish in it the reign of thy love and of all thy virtues.

Ejaculatory prayer:

"May the Heart of Jesus and of Mary live and reign in my heart for ever." Vivat et regnet Cor Jesu et Mariae in corde meo in aeternum.

251-

Ninth Meditation

Octave Day of the Feast

The Holy Heart of Mary Is the Heart of the Mother

of Fair Love and Charity

The Holy Heart of Mary is a Furnace of the

Love of God

WE should contemplate and honor the most lovable Heart of our Lord's Mother as a furnace of the love of God.

It is a furnace of love because sin, worldly affection, self-love have never had part therein, because it has always been replete and aflame with the fire of Divine love.

It is a furnace of love because it has never loved aught but God, and His holy will, which i t sought in Him and for His sake.

It is a furnace of love because our Blessed Lady always loved God with her whole Heart, with her whole soul and with her whole strength. All her actions were done from the purest love of God, nor had she ever any other intention in all her thoughts, words and sufferings but to please Him, doing everything "Corde magno et animo volenti," with a great heart and all possible perfection, i n order to give all possible pleasure to His divine majesty.

Mary's Heart is a furnace of love not only because it willed always exactly what God willed, and never deflected from His holy will, but because she ever placed all her happiness and joy in the most lovable Will of God.

It is a furnace of such burning love that not even the torrents and floods of bitter sorrows that deluged her soul were ever capable, I will not say of extinguishing, but of cooling in the smallest degree the glowing flames of that fire.

It is a furnace of love in which the Holy Spirit, who is a consuming fire, enkindled His divine flame in her virginal Heart at the first moment of its existence, and never ceased to increase it more and more, from moment to moment, up to the last breath of her life.

0 sacred fire and flame of this holy furnace, come and consume our hearts.

The Holy Heart of Mary is Burning with Love for Jesus

The Heart of the Mother of Fair Love is a furnace of love in which the Only Son of God, who i s also the only Son of Mary, ever dwelt and will continue to dwell eternally, He who is the essence of love, called in Holy Scripture, "a consuming fire" (Deut. 4, 24). Judge from this what burning flames, what glowing heat He generated in His holy Mother's Heart, where He found no obstacle to His designs. It is as if the Beloved Son of Mary existed in the Heart of His holy Mother as an immense furnace of divine love in the centre of another furnace all on fire with that same love, and from it the flames reached to the inmost being of the Seraphim to inflame them more and more and even to the subject of the Eternal Father's infinite felicity, His Well-beloved Son, who, inspired by the love of Mary, was drawn from His Father's bosom down to her virginal breast.

0 holy furnace, blessed arc they who approach thy sacred fire! Still more happy they who are enkindled by thy heavenly flames, and happiest of all those who cast themselves into that divine brazier to be wholly consumed therein.

0 furnace of love, spread thy flames throughout the entire universe so that my Saviour's desire may be accomplished which He expressed, saying that He came to cast fire on the earth, and desired that it might be enkindled in the hearts of all men (Luke 12, 49)

Whoever wishes to burn with this holy fire must strive to extinguish within himself the flames of love of the world and self. He must study to love God alone, with his whole heart and to perform each and all his actions for love of Our Lord and to do them well, having no other intention, at any time, except to please Him, and for love of

Him to place all his joy in the fulfilment of His holy will and in the acceptance of all possible crosses.

0 Mother of Love, obtain by thy prayers that this transformation may be accomplished in us.

The Holy Heart of Mary is a Furnace of Charity

Towards Men

The pure Heart of the Mother of Jesus is a furnace of charity towards mankind; a furnace i n which there has never been a single thought or sentiment contrary to virtue; a furnace of such burning charity for even the greatest enemies that she sacrificed for them her Only and Dearly Beloved Son at the very time they were cruelly putting Him to death, and piercing her maternal heart with a thousand darts of anguish.

It is a furnace of charity for her beloved children, whom she loves so ardently that if the love of all fathers and mothers past, present and future were united in one heart, it would be but a spark in comparison with the furnace of love burning in the Heart of our heavenly Mother.

It is a furnace on fire with such charity and zeal for souls, that she would have willingly suffered all the torments of hell to help to save a single soul. Moses, St. Paul, St. Catherine of Siena and several other saints have been ready and willing to do so, but how much more the Queen of all Saints, who was more filled with love for souls than all the saints together.

Return thanks, then, to the Divine Son of Mary for having so inflamed her Heart with that fire of divine charity for us, with which His own is burning. Thank her also for all she has accomplished in her charity for the human race. Desire earnestly to imitate your holy Mother in the practice of that virtue. Examine the faults you have committed against charity in the past, in order to humble yourself and beg pardon of God, offering Him the most lovable Heart of our Lady in reparation.

Also offer your own heart to the most holy Virgin, begging her to

destroy in it all that is contrary to charity, and engrave instead a perfect image of her charity towards her enemies, her friends, and the souls of all mankind. Ejaculatory prayer:

"0 Heart of Jesus and of Mary, burning with love, may our heart be for ever immersed in you." 0 Cor Jesu et Mariae, fornax amoris, in te cor nostrum demergatur in aeternum. 255-

Eight Other Meditations on

The Holy Heart of Mary IS Our Sun,

Our Treasure, and Our Refuge

The Holy Heart of Mary is Our Sun

OUR loving Saviour has given us the very benign Heart of His Blessed Mother as a divine sun to clear the shadows of this earth, to warm us in the wintry cold of this mortal life, to gladden and to console us in earthly sadness and sorrows, and to vivify and fortify us in the lethargy and weakness of human fragility. Infinite thanksgiving be to the adorable Sun of eternity, Jesus Christ, for the gift of this sun!

0 Mother of Fair Love, since your Well-beloved Son has given us your maternal heart to be our sun, enlighten our minds with your celestial radiance so that in knowing Jesus Christ, we may render the service, honor, and love that we owe Him. Illuminate our hearts so that in knowing the horror of sin we may have a hatred for it, in knowing the world we may detach ourselves from it, and in knowing ourselves we may have scorn for self. Make us participants in the celestial warmth of thy saintly charity so that we may love God above all things and our neighbor as ourself. Console us in our desolation, fortify us in our weakness. May thy shining Heart be the true sun of our hearts.