Jesus and the Cross (Part 6): Good Friday Darkness
Consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary (Concl)
Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash
The organization of “Star Our Lady” (etoile Notre dame” teaches that the image of the two Hearts of Jesus and Mary speaks to us of their infinite love for Man, for each parish, for each family, for everyone. Their love for sinful humanity is revealed by the birth of Jesus in the stable of Bethlehem and by his death on the cross of Golgotha. Their love is so admirable especially because it is crucified.
Through their love, Jesus and Mary desire to guide us towards selfless love for God and for neighbor, which is the essence of holiness, to which we are all called. As they love us, they desire to save us, lost human beings. The message of Fatima tells us about this. It is necessary to believe in their love, to have full confidence in them and to rely entirely and unreservedly on them. Once our hearts are transformed, we will begin to think, speak, act and love like them. Jesus promised St. Mary Margaret Alacoque that indifferent Christians would become fervent and soon attain the highest degree of perfection if they venerated the Sacred Heart of Jesus and confidently relied on Him.
They pose the rhetorical question; Why the simultaneous consecration to the two Hearts?
Until our time, it was customary to practice consecration to the two Hearts separately, first to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and then to the Heart of Mary. The consecration of the universal Church and of the world by the Pope marks its apogee.
Thus, in 1899, Pope Leo XIII consecrated the Church and the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in 1942 Pope Pius XII dedicated by a similar act the Church and the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Pope John Paul II repeated this same consecration in 1984 and 2000.
Jesus and Mary are inseparable. That is why we dedicate ourselves and rely on both Hearts simultaneously. In the litanies of the Sacred Heart we pray:
"Sacred Heart of Jesus, formed by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mother."
Within the Virgin, under the impulse of the Holy Spirit, Jesus became man with a human heart. From the beginning, the two Hearts were united in an adorable way.
It was the Heart of Mary who was the first to venerate the Heart of Jesus and to grasp the depths of his love. Mary, mother and educator, formed the human heart of her son. At the moment when the spear of the Roman soldier pierced the heart of Jesus crucified, Mary’s heart was also pierced with the sword of sorrows. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is the very reflection of the Heart of his Mother.
In the Church, devotion to the Heart of Mary and devotion to the Sacred Heart evolved simultaneously. The day after the Feast of the Sacred Heart, we remember the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which testifies to the exceedingly high degree of connection between the two devotions.
In 1916, during the three apparitions of the angel at Fatima, the angel of peace spoke of both the Heart of Jesus and that of Mary. The Mother is always with her Son! In 1916, during the three apparitions of the angel at Fatima, the angel of peace spoke of both the Heart of Jesus and that of Mary. The Mother is always with her Son! At the second apparition of the Virgin at Fatima, on June 13, 1917, Lucia received the mission to spread the worship of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, guaranteeing the salvation of the world. At the time, devotion to the Heart of Jesus was already well practiced and enhanced.
To renounce absolutely and conscientiously the sin and the attractions of evil and the Malignant, to rely without any reservation on the Heart of Mary and through her on the Sacred Heart of Jesus in response to their love for us, this is in short the essence of consecration. Through this consecration, one consciously renews and deepens one's baptismal vows.
We all belong to Jesus as men, He is our Creator and Redeemer. Being Christians, we all belong to Him through the sacrament of baptism. We should affirm and reaffirm our attachment to Jesus by a personal decision. The well-prepared consecration to the Heart of Jesus makes our decision more authentic and noble. We belong to jesus as well as to Mary. It is that she is our spiritual mother. Whoever entrusts herself to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mary will entrust it to the Heart of Jesus, because she intercedes with Him for us, she is our mediator, our shortcut to Jesus.
The motto of St Louis Grignion de Montfort invites us: "Through Mary to Jesus!"
One can only consecrate oneself fully to God, to Jesus then, because he is not only true Man, but also true God. Consecration to the Virgin, on the other hand, must be understood in a broader, analogous sense. Therefore, in accordance with the recent directives of the Apostolic See, in this case it is preferred to use the verbs "to recover" or "to give oneself" instead of "to consecrate oneself".
Possibly the most powerful, and intense, prayer to the hearts of Jesus and Mary is the following;
O United Hearts of Jesus and Mary, You are all grace, all mercy, all love. Let my heart be joined to Yours, so that my every need is present in Your United Hearts. Most especially, shed Your grace upon this particular need... (State your need here.) Help me to recognize and accept Your loving will in my life. Holy and Sacred Wounds of the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary, answer my prayer.
Amen.
