Devote yourself to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In this excerpt, you will learn the Scriptural basis of the Immaculate Heart devotion and meditate on four pivotal events in the life of the Virgin Mary.
What exactly is the Immaculate Heart of Mary devotion? This is what we will try to answer here.
What Is the Immaculate Heart Devotion?
The Immaculate Heart of Mary devotion refers to the Catholic spiritual practice of focusing on the interior life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, both her joys and her sorrows, as well as her virtues and intimate connection with her Son. The goal of the devotion is to enter into her heart, into her interior life, to help us imitate her and unlock the mysteries of God’s Word. In summary, the chief aim of the devotion is to journey to Christ through Mary’s heart, to love God and Jesus better by uniting us to Mary, who is so united to the Blessed Trinity.
Why do we believe there are treasures stored up in Mary’s heart? Scripture gives us our answer.
Scriptural Basis
The Nativity
Twice in the second chapter of Luke’s Gospel, Mary’s heart (which we call “Immaculate” because she is most pure and free from all sin) is referenced. The first is when the shepherds visit in Bethlehem shortly after the birth of Christ. “And they went in haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child; and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Lk 2:16–19).
The Finding of Jesus
The second is when Jesus is lost and found in the Temple. “‘How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ And they did not understand the sayings which he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart” (Lk 2:49–51).
What wonders we will find inside Mary’s heart when Divine Revelation has told us that she, who was so intimately united to the life of Christ, pondered these mysteries and held them in her heart. We have only to ask our Mother Mary to help us meditate on and contemplate these mysteries through her eyes and heart, and she will open up to us the wisdom, sorrows, and joys of life with her son Jesus, both God and man.
The Presentation
At another point in the same chapter of Luke’s Gospel, we have yet another reference to Mary’s heart, or her soul, depending on which translation you read (but the point is the same, for the soul is of course a reality of the interior life). When Mary and Joseph present Jesus at the Temple, the holy and aged Simeon utters his famous prophesy of a sword piercing Mary’s heart/soul. “And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed’” (Lk 2:33–35).
The Prophecy of Simeon
Simeon here spoke of the agony that would assail Mary at her Son’s crucifixion. Though Jesus physically had the lance thrust through His heart, opening up His side and thereby spilling out His precious blood and water, seen as symbols for the Church’s sacraments, so Mary would suffer a similar piercing of her heart, spiritually and emotionally. This means that within her Immaculate Heart, we will find the wounds of her Son’s passion, and there are unspeakable treasures united with those who unite themselves to this event and console their sorrowful mother.
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\This article is taken from a chapter in Compendium of Marian Devotions by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV which is available from TAN Books.
