Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Part 1)

By tradition, the Church dedicates August to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is linked with devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  The Sacred Heart shows Christ's love for mankind, while the Immaculate Heart represents the Blessed Virgin's desire to lead all people to Christ.

In 1944, Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to be celebrated on August 22nd, and replacing the traditional octave day of the Assumption.  In 1969, Pope Paul VI, intending to associate the celebrations of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus more closely, moved the celebration of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to the Saturday immediately after the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  Thus, the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is no longer celebrated in August, but on the day before the third Sunday after Pentecost.  In 2011, the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was celebrated on July 2.

However, Pope Paul VI also moved the celebration of the Queenship of Mary from May 31 to August 22, bringing it into association with the feast of her Assumption.

Throughout the month, we will be considering two texts which bear significantly on devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary; “True Devotion to Mary,” by St. Louis de Montfort, and “The Immaculate Heart of Mary,” by Fr. John Peter Pinamonti, SJ.

From “True Devotion to Mary;”

[O]ne must say in truth with the saints: De maria nunquam satis:  Mary has not yet been praised, exalted, loved or served nearly enough; she is still deserving of more praise, honor, love and service.

Pro Deo et Patria (cont.)

                                         "The Angel of the Battlefield"


Courtesy of McNamara's Blog, profiles of John Dooley, SJ, Fr. William Elliott CSP and "The Angel of the Battlefield," all of whom served bravely in the Civil War.

"The Blessed Virgin compared to the Air we Breathe"

“Virgin and Child with Saints Agnes and Martina,” by El Greco

From Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ's poem:

I say that we are wound

With mercy round and round

As if with air: the same

Is Mary, more by name.

She, wild web, wondrous robe,

Mantles the guilty globe,

Since God has let dispense

Her prayers his providence

Nay, more than almoner,

The sweet alms’ self is her

And men are meant to share

Her life as life does air.