Meditation 84
THE HEART OF OUR LADY
1. Excellence of this Devotion.
Let us try to understand better the reasons which should move us to profess a tender and loving devotion to the most Pure Heart of Mary. The first reason is that this is a most excellent devotion. In fact its material object is the very Heart of Mary, that Heart of which the Holy Ghost availed Himself for the work of the Incarnation. From that most Pure Heart there sprung the most Precious Blood which shaped the sacred body of Jesus Christ and even His most Sacred Heart. Thence it was that the Lord took the blood which He was to offer on the Cross for the salvation of mankind.
That Heart was the center and focus of the life of our Heavenly Mother. All its beatings, all its movements took a part in the incalculable merits which She was accumulating all Her life long. Follow the footsteps of Mary and you will find that at Her every step Her Heart was recording Her impressions. Her Heart was moved with emotion on the day of Her Annunciation for She was troubled at the sight of an angel, and his message caused a blush to color Her delicate cheek. What would Her Heart feel on that first Christmas night when She saw the face of the little Jesus for the first time! How would that Heart tighten and feel choked with fear on the way to Egypt! And when old Simeon thrust that sword of sorrow into it, how would the Heart of Mary race! And how would the Pure Heart of Our Mother react to all His sufferings, to His disappearance in Jerusalem, to His Passion and Death. Everything that happened in Mary's life was reflected and recorded in Her Heart. Often, Unless God had miraculously intervened to keep Her in life, Her Heart would have borne it no longer! Do you not think that this consideration alone suffices to render this devotion more amiable and excellent in your sight?
And yet the reasons mount when we see in the Heart of Our Lady the sensitive organ of Her love, the instrument which received all Her impressions and all the messages of Her soul, translating them into love, whose ardent flame kept ever increasing. We can hardly expect to understand this mystery, but we should certainly feel it. Enter into that ardent Heart and entreat Our Lady to likewise set us all on fire, so that our hearts may to some small extent share that love of which the most Pure Heart of Mary is overflowing.
[Excerpted from 'MARIAN MEDITATIONS' Book by Rev. Dr. Ildefonso R. Villar, Salesian Philippine Province, Nihil Obstat; Imprimatur]
Let us try to understand better the reasons which should move us to profess a tender and loving devotion to the most Pure Heart of Mary. The first reason is that this is a most excellent devotion. In fact its material object is the very Heart of Mary, that Heart of which the Holy Ghost availed Himself for the work of the Incarnation. From that most Pure Heart there sprung the most Precious Blood which shaped the sacred body of Jesus Christ and even His most Sacred Heart. Thence it was that the Lord took the blood which He was to offer on the Cross for the salvation of mankind.
That Heart was the center and focus of the life of our Heavenly Mother. All its beatings, all its movements took a part in the incalculable merits which She was accumulating all Her life long. Follow the footsteps of Mary and you will find that at Her every step Her Heart was recording Her impressions. Her Heart was moved with emotion on the day of Her Annunciation for She was troubled at the sight of an angel, and his message caused a blush to color Her delicate cheek. What would Her Heart feel on that first Christmas night when She saw the face of the little Jesus for the first time! How would that Heart tighten and feel choked with fear on the way to Egypt! And when old Simeon thrust that sword of sorrow into it, how would the Heart of Mary race! And how would the Pure Heart of Our Mother react to all His sufferings, to His disappearance in Jerusalem, to His Passion and Death. Everything that happened in Mary's life was reflected and recorded in Her Heart. Often, Unless God had miraculously intervened to keep Her in life, Her Heart would have borne it no longer! Do you not think that this consideration alone suffices to render this devotion more amiable and excellent in your sight?
And yet the reasons mount when we see in the Heart of Our Lady the sensitive organ of Her love, the instrument which received all Her impressions and all the messages of Her soul, translating them into love, whose ardent flame kept ever increasing. We can hardly expect to understand this mystery, but we should certainly feel it. Enter into that ardent Heart and entreat Our Lady to likewise set us all on fire, so that our hearts may to some small extent share that love of which the most Pure Heart of Mary is overflowing.
[Excerpted from 'MARIAN MEDITATIONS' Book by Rev. Dr. Ildefonso R. Villar, Salesian Philippine Province, Nihil Obstat; Imprimatur]
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please no anonymous comments. I require at least some way for people to address each other personally and courteously. Having some name or handle helps.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.