Newsletter #39 – Our Lady of Mount Carmel USA

Dear Friends and Benefactors,

We are speaking about the object of our devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary according to the spirit of St. John Eudes, In this newsletter let us examine the various meanings of the word “heart” in Sacred Scripture.

The word “heart,” first, signifies the material and corporeal heart which beats within
our breast, the noblest part of the human body. It is the principle of life, the first organ to begin to
live and the last to be stilled in death; it is the seat of love, hatred, joy, sadness, fear and every
passion of the soul. Of this heart does the Holy Ghost speak when He says: “With all watchfulness keep
thy heart, because life issueth out from it.” (Prov. 4, 23)
“Heart” is also employed in Scripture to signify the memory. This is, no doubt, its meaning
in these words of Our Lord: “Lay it up therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before how you shall
answer. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall not be able to resist
and gainsay.” (Luke 21, 14) That is, remember when you arc brought before kings and judges for my name’s sake, not to prepare an answer for your enemies because I will give you wisdom, which your enemies will not be able to gainsay.
It likewise “heart” denotes the intellect, with which we meditate. Meditation is, in fact, discursive
reasoning on the things of God, tending to persuade and to convince us of the truth of Christian
doctrine. This is the heart alluded to in the words: “The meditation of my heart (is) always in thy
sight.” (Ps. 18, 15) In other words, “my heart, that is, my intellect, is always occupied in meditating and
contemplating thy glory, mysteries and works.”
The word “heart” expresses the free and rational part of the soul, the queen of the other faculties, the root of good and evil, and the mother of virtue and of vice. Our Lord refers to this heart when He says: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth that which is evil. (Luke 6, 45) Here, “a good heart” means the righteous will of the just man, from which all kinds of good can come; and “an evil heart” is the bad will of the wicked, which is a source of all kinds of evil.
We must also understand by the word “heart” that highest part of the soul which theologians
call the point of the spirit. It is the seat of contemplation, which consists in turning the mind directly
toward God and viewing Him in all simplicity, without discursive reasoning or multiplicity of
thoughts. The Fathers of the Church apply to this power of the soul those words which the Holy Ghost
puts in the mouth of the Blessed Virgin Mary: “I sleep, and my heart watcheth.” (Cant. 5) According to St. Bernardine of Siena and several other writers, sleep and rest of the body did not prevent Mary’s holy
Heart, that is, the highest part of her mind, from being always united to God in sublime contemplation. (Sermon 51, art. 1, c. 2.)
At times “heart” stands for the whole interior life of man, the spiritual life, as indicated by these words spoken by the Son of God to the faithful soul: “Put me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm,” (Cant 8, 6) that is, stamp the image of my interior and exterior life in your interior and exterior life, in your soul and in your body, by a perfect imitation of Me.
The word “heart” can also signify the Holy Ghost, the veritable Heart of the Father and the
Son, Whom They desire to give us for our own mind and heart. “And I will give you a new heart, and
put a new spirit within you.” (Ezech. 36, 26)
The Son of God is called the Heart of the Eternal Father in Sacred Scripture, and it is of this
heart that the Father speaks to His Spouse, the Blessed Virgin, when He says to her: “Thou hast
wounded my heart, my sister, my spouse,” (Cant. 4, 9) or according to the Septuagint: “Thou hast ravished my heart.” And the Son of God Himself is called in Scripture “The breath of our mouth,” (Lam. 4, 20) that is, the soul of our soul and our heart’s very heart.

All these hearts are to be found in Mary the Mother of Fair Love, and they form in her one
single heart, because all the faculties of the superior and the inferior part of her soul were always
harmoniously united. Moreover, Jesus, who is the heart of His Father, and the Holy Ghost, who is the
heart of the Father and the Son, were given to Mary to be the soul of her soul and the heart of her
heart.

Let us live the consecration to the Immaculate of Mary, that by following the desires of her heart, we may reflect the holiness of the saints , the angels, and the blessed Virgin Mary and thus to become great saints!

Fr. Pancras Raja
Spiritual Director
October 14, 2020

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

Featured Sermon
Given By His Excellency Bishop Pfeiffer

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