Saturday 8 June 2013

The Immaculate Heart of Mary


Blessed_Virgin_Mary.jpg

The Immaculate Heart of Mary (also known as The Sacred Heart of Mary) is a devotionalname used to refer to the interior life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love for God the Father, her maternal love for her son Jesus, and her compassionate love for all persons. [1] The consideration of Mary's interior life and the beauties of her soul, without any thought of her physical heart, does not constitute the traditional devotion; still less does it consist in the consideration of the heart of Mary merely as a part of her virginal body. The two elements are essential to the devotion, just as, according to Roman Catholic theology, soul and body are necessary to the constitution of man. In 1855 the Mass of the Most Pure Heart formally became a part of Catholic practice.
Eastern Catholic Churches occasionally utilize the image, devotion, and theology associated with the Immaculate Heart of Mary. However, this is a cause of some controversy, some seeing it as a form of liturgical latinisation. The Roman Catholic view is based on Mariology, as exemplified by Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae[2] which builds on the total Marian devotion pioneered by Louis de Montfort.
Traditionally, the heart is depicted pierced with seven wounds or swords, in homage to theseven dolors of Mary. Also, roses or another type of flower may be wrapped around the heart.

Learning From Mary to Keep the Word of God


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(Vatican Radio) Like Mary, we must learn to receive and keep the Word of God safe 
in our hearts. Marking the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary 
at morning Mass Saturday, Pope Francis pointed out that Mary read her life with the 
Word of God and this is what safekeeping means.


Astonishment and safekeeping: Pope Francis developed his homily around these two

 themes starting from the Gospel of the day, which recounts the astonishment of the 
teachers in the Temple listening to Jesus and Mary’s keeping the Word of God safe in 
her heart. Astonishment, the Pope observed, "is more than joy: it is a moment in which
 the Word of God comes, is sown in our hearts. " But, he warned, "we cannot always live in wonder", this should be “kept in our hearts” 
throughout our lives. And this is precisely what Mary does, when she is "astonished" and keeps the "Word of God" in her heart:

"Keeping the Word of God: what does this mean? I receive the Word, and then I take a bottle, I put the word in the bottle and I 

keep it? No. Keeping the Word of God means that our heart opens, it is open to that Word just like the earth opens to receive the 
seed. The Word of God is a seed and is sown. And Jesus told us what happens with the seeds: some fall along the path, and the 
birds come and eat them; this word is not kept, these hearts do not know how to receive it”.

Others, he said, fall into a stony soil and the seed dies. Jesus says that they "do not know how to keep the Word of God because they are not 

constant: When a tribulation comes they forget." The Pope repeated that the Word of God falls into a soil that is unprepared, not kept, full of
 thorns. And what are the thorns? Jesus pointed them out, when He speaks of '"attachment to riches, vices”. Pope Francis said “keeping the 
Word of God means constantly meditating on what this Word says to us and what happens in our life." And this “is what Mary did”, she 
“pondered and questioned” it. This, said Pope Francis, "is a truly great spiritual work":

“John Paul II said that, because of this work, Mary had a particular heaviness in her heart, she had a fatigued heart. But this is

 not the same as tired, it is fatigue, this comes from effort. This is the effort of keeping the Word of God : the work of trying to find


 what this means at this moment, what the Lord wants to say to me at this time, this situation of questioning the [meaning of ]the 
Word of God is how we understand. This is reading our life with the Word of God and this it means to keep".

Pope Francis added that memory also safeguards God's Word. “It helps us to preserve it, to remember everything the Lord has done in my 

life". He continued : “it reminds us of all the wonders of salvation in His people and in my heart. Memory safeguards the Word of God. 
" The Pope concluded his homily urging everyone to think "about how to keep the Word of God in our hearts, how to safeguard this 
astonishment, so that it is not eaten by the birds, suffocated by vices":

"We would do well to ask ourselves: 'With the things that happen in life, I ask myself the question: what is the Lord saying to me

 with His Word, right now?'. This is called keeping the Word of God, because the Word of God is precisely the message that the
 Lord gives us in every moment. Let us safeguard it with this: safeguard it with our memory. And safeguard it with our hope. 
We ask the Lord for the grace to receive the Word of God and keep it, and also the grace to have a heart that is fatigued in this 
effort. So be it. "
Saturday morning Mass was attended by staff from Caritas Internationalis, accompanied by the secretary general, Michel Roy.






 






Text from page http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/08/pope_at_mass:_learning_from_mary_to_keep_the_word_of_god/en1-699623
of the Vatican Radio website