The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are two flames of love

"St John Eudes was perhaps the first to speak of the 'Sacred Hear of Mary.' He was born in France in 1601, forty six years before St Margaret Mary Alacoque. He had a major role in the unfolding of God's plan for consecration to the Two Hearts. He composed the Mass and office of the Immaculate Heart and the Mass and office of the Sacred Heart. And he joined the Two Hearts. He spoke of them as one.

Also in the beautiful prayer taught by God the Father to Mother Eugenia, we say: 'I come to You with Jesus and Mary to ask...' And then after making petitions, we say: 'In union with Their Hearts, I offer You sacrifices, etc.'

The words may give us pause. But the reality, when experienced, is transcendentally beautiful. It is the realization that the Hearts of Jesus and Mary are two flames which God has joined together into one great flame of love for Him and for men. And we, poor creatures, can plunge the little love we have into that great flame where it, too, becomes one with it.

When we grasp this, we no longer pause. We take the leap of love. We are no longer worried about speaking of the Sacred Hearts as one. We know this does not mean that the Two Hearts are equal. Indeed, one is human and the other Divine. It merely means that the flames of Their love are as one flame. And we, as humans, identifying ourselves with the human heart of Mary, enter into that Flame of Love to be truly one with the Heart of Our Savior.

The words of Our Lord to St John Eudes seem to say it all: 'I have give you this admirable Heart of My dear Mother to be one with yours, so that you might have a heart worthy of Mine.'

This is not a matter of our choice, but of God's choice. This is not a matter of our planning as the way to become intimate with our Father God, but of His.

We deserve chastisement. God's final effort to save us is through love."

-- God's final effort by John M Haffert

The Immaculate Heart of Mary

"What man, unless secure in a divine oracle, may presume to speak with impure, indeed with polluted lips, anything little or great about the true Parent of God and of man, whom the Father before all ages predestined a perpetual Virgin, whom the Son chose as his most worthy Mother, whom the Holy Ghost prepared as the dwelling place of every grace?  With what words shall I, a lowly man, give expression to the highest sentiments of the virginal Heart uttered by the holiest mouth, for which the tongues of all the Angels do not suffice?  For the Lord saith: A good man bringeth forth good things from the good treasure of his heart; and this word can also be a treasure.  Among pure mortals who can be conceived of as better than she who was worthy to be the Mother of God, who for nine months had as a guest in her heart and in her womb God himself?  What better treasure than the divine love itself, which was burning in the Heart of the Virgin as in a furnace?

And so, from this Heart as from a furnace of divine ardour the blessed Virgin brought forth good works, that is, words of the most ardent charity.  For as from a vessel full of the richest and best wine only good wine can be poured; or as from a furnace of intense heat only a burning fire is emítted; so indeed from the Mother of Christ no word can go forth except of the greatest and most intense divine love and ardour.  It is also the mark of a wise woman and matron to speak few words, but words  that are effective and full of meaning; and so seven times, as it were, seven words of such wonderful meaning and virtue are read as having been uttered  by the most blessed Mother of Christ, that mystically it may be shewn she was full of the sevenfold grace.  To the Angel twice only did she speak; to Elizabeth also twice; with her Son likewise twice, once in the temple, and a second time at the marriage feast; and once to the attendants.  And on all those occasions she always said very little; with this one exception that she spake at length in the praise of God and in thanksgiving, namely, when she said: My soul doth magnify the Lord.  But here she did not speak with man, but with God.  Those seven words were spoken in a wonderful degree and order according to the seven courses and acts of love; as if they were seven flames from the furnace of her Heart."

-- From a sermon by St Bernardine of Siena

** The Traditional Liturgical Calendar observes this feast day in honor of Our Lady today.

Mater Immaculata, ora pro nobis!

Litany of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Litany of the Immaculate Heart

Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord have mercy on us. Christ hear us. Christ graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, favorite Daughter of God the Father, pray for us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of God the Son, pray for us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, pray for us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, redeemed in a sublime manner by the merits of thy Son, pray for us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother and Model of the Church, pray for us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, excellent exemplar in faith and charity, pray for us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, who conceived the Word of God in Thy heart before thy did in thy womb, pray for us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, who gave precious Blood to the Son of God in His human nature, pray for us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, conceived free of Original Sin, pray for us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, who embraced God's saving will with a full heart, impeded by no sin, pray for us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, whose sweet soul a sword pierced beneath the Cross, pray for us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, given to us as Mother by Jesus as He hung dying on the Cross, pray for us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, who accepted us as sons as thou stood beneath the Cross, pray for us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, all pure and holy, pray for us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, exalted by Divine grace above all Angels and men, pray for us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mediatrix of grace, pray for us.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

V. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray

O Immaculate Heart of Mary, bearing with love for all thy children upon earth, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Show to Our Heavenly Father the Wound in the Heart of Thy Son and at the same time offer again the sword that pierced thy Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart as thou suffered by compassion with Thy Divine Son for the redemption of the world. By thy intercession, through the merits of Jesus Christ, bring us to salvation. Amen.

O Immaculate Heart of Mary, bearing with love for all thy children upon earth, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Show to Our Heavenly Father the Wound in the Heart of Thy Son and at the same time offer again the sword that pierced thy Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart as thou suffered by compassion with Thy Divine Son for the redemption of the world. By thy intercession, through the merits of Jesus Christ, bring us to salvation. Amen.

Act of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart

"Most Holy Virgin and our beloved Mother, we listen with grief to the complaints of the Immaculate Heart, surrounded with the thorns which ungrateful men place therein at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. Moved by the ardent desire of loving thee as our Mother and of promoting a true devotion to thy Immaculate Heart, we prostrate ourselves at thy feet to prove the sorrow we feel for the grief that men cause thee and to atone by means of our prayers and sacrifices for the offenses with which men return thy tender love. Obtain for them and for us the pardon of so many sins. A word from thee will obtain grace and forgiveness for all.

Hasten, O Lady, the conversion of sinners that they may love Jesus and cease to offend God, already so much offended, and thus avoid eternal punishment. Turn thine eyes of mercy towards us so that henceforth we may love God with all our heartwhile on earth and enjoy Him forever in Heaven. Amen."

Act of Consecration Immaculate Heart of Mary

"Hail, Mary, most beloved daughter of the eternal Father; hail, Mary, most admirable mother of the Son; hail, Mary, most faithful spouse of the Holy Spirit; hail, Mary, Mother most dear, Lady most lovable, Queen most powerful! Hail, Mary, my joy, my glory, my heart and soul. You are all mine through God’s mercy, but I am all yours in justice. Yet I do not belong sufficiently to you, and so once again, as a slave who always belongs to his master, I give myself wholly to you, reserving nothing for myself or for others.

If you still see anything in me that has not been given to you, please take it now. Make yourself completely owner of all my capabilities. Destroy in me everything that is displeasing to God. Uproot it and bring it to nothing. Implant in me all that you deem to be good; improve it and make it increase in me.

May the light of your faith dispel the darkness of my mind! May your deep humility take the place of my pride. May your heavenly contemplation put an end to the distractions of my wandering imagination. May your continuous vision of God fill my memory with his presence. May the burning love of your heart inflame the coldness of mine. May your virtues take the place of my sins. May your merits be my adornment and make up for my unworthiness before God. Finally, most dearly beloved Mother, grant, if it be possible, that I may have no other spirit but yours to know Jesus and his divine will. May I have no soul but yours to praise and glorify the Lord. May I have no heart but yours to love God purely and ardently as you love him.

I do not ask for visions or revelations, for sensible devotion or even spiritual pleasures. It is your privilege to see God clearly in perpetual light. It is your privilege to savor the delights of heaven where nothing is without sweetness. It is your privilege to triumph gloriously in heaven at the right hand of your Son without further humiliation, and to command angels, men, and demons, without resistance on their part. It is your privilege to dispose at your own choice of all the good gifts of God without any exception.

Such, most holy Mary, is the excellent portion that the Lord has given you, and which will never be taken from you, and which gives me great joy. As for my portion here on earth, I wish only to have a share in yours, that is, to have simple faith without seeing or tasting, to suffer joyfully without the consolation of men, to die daily to myself without flinching, to work gallantly for you even until death without any self-interest, as the most worthless of your slaves. The only grace I beg you in your kindness to obtain for me is that every day and moment of my life I may say this threefold Amen:

Amen, so be it, to all you did upon earth; Amen, so be it, to all you are doing now in heaven; Amen, so be it, to all you are doing in my soul. In that way, you and you alone will fully glorify Jesus in me during all my life and throughout eternity. Amen."

-- St Louis Marie de Montfort