Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,
Every year we celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the Saturday after the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Although these 2 feasts became prominent through apparitions, visions and miracles, they have significantly different histories and purposes.
On the cross, where Christ was hung, He suffered the direct blows of human cruelty and in His heart, He bore the sins of the world. In the Sacred Heart we see the wounds of sin inflicted upon Christ’s Heart; and in return for our sins, is the outpouring of His love for us. However, right below the cross of Christ was another Heart which according to Simeon was a heart pierced with a sword. Mary. Mary although was not struck physically, bore the same sufferings of Christ on the Cross, in her heart. Hence the Immaculate Heart also bears the pains and sorrows of mankind.
The Immaculate Heart became significant when in 1917 our Lady appeared to three children named Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco in a small village in Fatima, Portugal. Our Lady revealed to them the secrets in which the Fires of Hell was shown to them. To avoid hell, she asked for the Communion of Reparation on First Saturdays so that souls may be saved. She also asked for the consecration of Russia and of the entire world to be made to the Immaculate Heart of Mary so that “Russia will be converted, and there will be peace in the world”.
Let us listen to what Our Lady has to say concerning Communion of Reparation:
“all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep Me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making Reparation to Me.”
We go to Mary in times of need knowing that Our Lady of Perpetual Help will never fail us. By the help and graces we constantly receive, we are also encouraged in turn to give ourselves to God through Mary. This we could do by consecrating ourselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the salvation of our souls and that of the world. Through regular Confession, receiving Holy Communion, praying and meditating on the Rosary mysteries and making sacrifices, we draw ourselves closer to God and witness the fulfillment of the promise of peace in our world.
On this Feast Day of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, let us pray to Mary.
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