Dear Friends and Benefactors,

From this month of August 2020, we are going to speak about the object of our devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary according to the spirit of St. John Eudes, “the wonder of his age,” missionary, founder, reformer of the clergy of the seventeenth century. For him the science of theology found its chief field of usefulness in the practice of virtue and in the acquisition of sanctity which is the principle of the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

St. John Eudes was a Doctor after the manner of the Apostles, the Fathers of the Church, St. Francis de Sales and St. Alphonsus de Liguori. The “Complete Works of Venerable Jean Eudes”, ran into twelve volumes of great value. These writings constitute a complete summa of ascetic and pastoral theology. Volumes VI, VII, and VIII contain the entire writings of the Saint on the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. The work is entitled: The Admirable Heart of the Most Holy Mother of God. It comprises twelve books covering the complete theology of the devotion to the Sacred Hearts. Eleven books discuss the theory, history, and practice of the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The first part of “The Admirable Heart of the Most Holy Mother of God” explains the

OBJECT OF OUR DEVOTION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God wishes us to honor his Holy Mother as He honors her and to love her as He loves her. We must be animated by His Spirit; we must follow His inspirations, walk the path He has traced, and continue, as it were, His life on earth by practicing the virtues which were His own. It follows therefore that our devotion to His Holy Mother must be a continuation of His devotion to her. We must be filled with the Sentiments of respect, submission and affection which He
entertained for her on earth and still entertains in heaven.

The Divine Mary always held and will hold forever the first place in the Sacred Heart of her Divine Son; she always was and will never cease to be the first object of His love after the Eternal Father; and so, He wishes that, next to God, she should be the principal object of our devotion. For this reason, after the veneration we owe to the Divine Majesty of God, we cannot render a greater service to Jesus Christ or do anything more pleasing to Him than to serve and honor His most worthy Mother.

The human will is not moved to love someone unless the intellect first knows what renders him worthy of respect and esteem. The infinite zeal with which the Son of God is inflamed for all that concerns His dear Mother, has urged Him to reveal to us through the inspired words of Sacred Scripture and through the writings of the Fathers some small measure of the perfections with which He has enriched her. The reality far surpassing our knowledge of her in this vale of darkness will be revealed only in heaven.

Among the divinely inspired passages of Sacred Scripture, the twelfth chapter of the Apocalypse, is a compendium of all the great things that can be said or thought of our marvellous Queen. “A great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” (Apoc. 12, 1) What is this great sign? Who is this miraculous woman? St. Epiphanius, St. Augustine, St. Bernard and many other holy doctors agree that the woman is the Holy Mary, the Queen among women, the Sovereign of angels and men, the Virgin of virgins. She is the woman who bore in her chaste womb the perfect man, the God-Man. “A woman shall compass a man” (Jer. 31, 22).

Mary appears in heaven because she comes from heaven, because she is heaven’s masterpiece, the Empress of Heaven, its joy and its glory, in whom everything is heavenly. Even when her body dwelt on earth, her thoughts and affections were all wrapped in heaven. She is clothed with the eternal Sun of the Godhead and with all the perfections of the Divine Essence, which surround, fill and penetrate her to such an extent that she has become transformed, as it were, into the power, goodness and holiness of God.

She has the moon under her feet to show that the entire world is beneath her. None is above her, save only God, and she holds absolute sway over all created things. She is crowned with twelve stars that represent the virtues which shine so brightly in her soul. The mysteries of her life are as many stars more luminous by far than the brightest lights of the sky. The privileges and prerogatives God has granted to her, the least of which is greater than anything shining in the firmament of heaven, as well as the glory of the saints of Paradise and of earth, are her crown and her glory in a much fuller sense than the Philippians could be said to be the crown and joy of St. Paul. (Phil. 4, 1)

But why does the Holy Ghost call Mary “a great sign”? It is simply to tell us that everything in her is wonderful, and that the marvels that fill her being should be proclaimed to the entire world, so that she may become an object of the admiration for the inhabitants of heaven as well as for mankind on earth, and so that she may be the sweet delight of angels and men.

This is likewise the reason why the Holy Ghost inspires the faithful throughout the world to sing in her praise: Mater admirabilis. “0 Mother Most Admirable.” Moreover, according to the testimony of several trust, worthy authors, (like Reverend Francis Poire) a holy Jesuit who once asked the Mother of God to reveal to him which of the many titles in her Litany was most pleasing to her received this same answer: Mater admirabilis!

Mary is truly admirable in all her perfections and in all her virtues. But what is most admirable in her is her virginal heart. The heart of the Mother of God is a world of marvels, an abyss of wonders, the source and principle of all the virtues which we admire in our glorious Queen: “All the glory of the king’s daughter is within” (Ps. 44:14). It was through the humility, purity and love of the most holy Heart that she merited to become the Mother of God and to receive the graces and privileges with which God enriched her on earth. These same sublime virtues of the immaculate Heart have rendered her worthy of the glory and happiness that surround her in heaven, and of the great marvels that God has wrought in and through her.

Do not be surprised to admit that the virginal Heart of this Mother of Fair Love is an admirable Heart indeed. Mary is admirable in her divine Maternity because as St. Bernardine of Siena says, “to be Mother of God is the miracle of miracles”. But the august Heart of Mary is also truly admirable, for it is the principle of her divine Maternity and of the wonderful mysteries this privilege implies.

Let us live the consecration to the Immaculate of Mary, that we may become great saints!

Fr. Pancras Raja
Spiritual Director
August 1, 2020

P.S. If you would like to be added to our subscription list, please reply to the general email below with your phone number, contact information, and what major city you are near as well.
(Ourladyofmtcarmelusa@gmail.com)

Featured Sermon
Bishop Pfeiffer Sermon & Tonsure Minor Orders Subdeacons Deacon July 31, 2020

https://youtu.be/DNz-Rr3YKlA

Consecration of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel to Immaculate Heart of Mary
https://ourladyofmountcarmelusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Consecration-to-Immaculate-Heart-by-Our-Lady-of-Mt.-Carmel-SSPX-Marian-Corps.pdf

Posted in Newsletters and tagged