Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary
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- Patronage:
- Feast Day: June 8th
The
Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a devotional name used to refer to the
interior life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her virtues and hidden excellent, and
above all, her virginal love for God the Father, her Great love for her son
Jesus, and her compassionate love for all human. Two elements are
essential to the devotion, Mary’s interior life and the beauties of her soul.
According to Roman Catholic theology, soul and body are necessary to the
constitution of man. It was in 1855, that the Mass of the Most Pure Heart
of Mary formally became a part of the Catholic practice. Traditionally,
the heart of Mary in artwork is depicted with seven wounds or swords, in homage
to the seven sorrows of Mary. Also, roses or another type of flower may
be wrapped around the heart. Veneration of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
generally coincides with the worship of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
However, there is a difference that explains the Roman Catholic devotion to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary. The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is
especially directed to the “Divine Heart”, as overflowing with love for
humanity. In the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, on the other
hand, the attraction is the love of her Immaculate Heart for Jesus and for God.
A second difference is the nature of the devotion itself. In devotion to
the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Roman Catholic venerates in a sense of
love, responding to love. In devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
love is formed from study and imitation of Mary’s yes to God as the mother of
Jesus. In this devotion, love is more the result, than the “object” of
the devotion; the object being rather to love God and Jesus by uniting one’s
self to Mary for this purpose and by imitating her virtues, to help one achieve
this.
History of the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary; this is connected in many ways to that of the Sacred Heart
of Jesus. Christians were drawn to the love and virtues of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary, and this paved the devotion from the beginning. Early
Christians had compassion for the Virgin Mary, and the Gospels recount prophecy
delivered to her at Jesus’ presentation in the temple, and that her heart would
be pierced with a sword. The image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary with
the pierced heart is the most popular representation. St. John’s Gospel
further invites us to the attention of Mary’s heart with its depiction of Mary
at the foot of the cross at Jesus’ crucifixion. St. Augustine tells us
that Mary was more blessed in having born Christ in her heart, than in having
conceived him in the flesh.