Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary - August 22nd

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The following is gratefully reprinted from the Oratory of the Sorrowful Heart of Mary Bulletin [click here to subscribe]. 
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The Immaculate Heart of Mary
Feast Day - Today, August 22nd

“God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart ... I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. 

If what I ask is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace.” - July 1917

Today is the Octave Day of our Blessed Lady's Assumption and we celebrate the sublime feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In 1942, Pope Pius XII instituted this festival by entrusting the world to the Blessed Virgin, through a public, solemn Act of Consecration to her Immaculate Heart. Although the consecration was not done in accord with Our Lady’s specific request, this papal solemnity did obtain very special graces.

Even the Church's relatively recent institution of today's great feast is highly significant, for Almighty God wills the devotion to His Mother's Heart as a final remedy for our modern, apostate world. The Immaculate Heart is heaven's special gift; a sure refuge to protect and guide souls through the diabolical confusion which afflicts us all.

As the perfect reflection of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Mary's Immaculate Heart is more closely united to her Son’s Divine Heart than any two things which exist. According to St. Peter Damian, this perfect union with God is the true source of immense grace and merit whereby the Blessed Virgin's perfection stood apart from all creation. Simply put: any grace that God freely gives us, is through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is most fitting then, that Holy Mother Church crowns our Blessed Lady's triumphant Assumption into heaven, with the festival of her Immaculate Heart.

At the dawn of the Twentieth Century, the Immaculate Heart's greatest manifestation in history took place at Fátima when the Blessed Virgin presented her Heart encircled by thorns which were piercing it from all sides. The young children seers understood that this was the Immaculate Heart of Mary, afflicted by all the sins of the world, which demanded reparation. Our Lady explained to them:

“Jesus wishes to use you to make me known and loved. He wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. To whoever embraces this devotion I promise salvation; these souls shall be dear to God, as flowers placed by me to adorn His throne.”

God wishes to grant us certain special graces so vital and so necessary today, so to strengthen, sustain and preserve our holy Catholic Faith - whole and entire. This is why He wants our love and devotion to the Heart of His Mother. This is why He established the First Saturdays Communion of Reparation. Because it is through reparation to the Immaculate Heart, a devotion especially reserved and prescribed for these apostate times, that so many will be saved. If only souls would practice this simple devotion as Our Lord so lovingly wills for them to do, then, just as the little Fátima seers, they too will find that sure refuge and the way that leads them to God. 


THE LAST REMEDY

After the Immaculata's revelations at Fátima, the eldest seer, Lucia, entered the convent and lived to become a fervent apostle for the Immaculate Heart. Throughout her mission, there were many difficult hours for Sr. Lucia. Most especially as the time passed, and the Immaculate Heart's message became more ignored and suppressed by Church authorities; a tragic disregard that is the root cause of our present-day confusion and apostasy.

In Sr. Lucia’s last public interview, she explains how Our Lady told her that the very last means God gives to the world for its salvation are the Holy Rosary and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

This important interview took place in 1957 with her nephew, Fr. Augustín Fuentes. What is most intriguing is that immediately after its publication, the Vatican refused permission for any further interviews with Sr. Lucia, and she was effectively silenced.

In retrospect, it is clear that with this interview, Sr. Lucia was warning souls about an imminent revolt against God and His Church. How the decisive battle between the Woman and the Serpent would be cunningly waged; about the satanic plan of attacking first of all, the consecrated souls of priests and religious; and the necessity for the faithful to do penance without waiting for the call from the Holy Father or their diocesan bishops.

In other words, just three years before the Fátima Third Secret was meant to be revealed, and plans for the modernist revolution by way of the Second Vatican Council were well under way, Our Lady's Messenger sounds the alarm and foretells the great Crisis of Faith we currently endure.

Read Sr. Lucia’s Last Interview

“Jesus wishes to establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart. To whoever will embrace this devotion, 

I promise salvation. These souls will be dear to God, like flowers placed by me to adorn His throne”

Let's jump back a minute and think about these astounding words from our Blessed Lady. We're told that devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the will of Her Divine Son. If this is a condition for obtaining salvation, who would still dare to say that heaven is too hard to gain?

Since heaven's key has been entrusted to the Immaculata, how vain and perilous it would be to want to enter through any other door. Furthermore, to disregard this last excess of Our Lord's mercy would mean to simply ignore the offers of the Immaculate Heart of His Mother. What a great insult to God!

Since Our Lord has decided to attach such important promises to His Mother’s Heart, the greatest sin in His eyes would be a lukewarm indifference, or even scorn towards this merciful devotion; through which the Blessed Trinity wishes to grant us the greatest of blessings; the grace of final perseverance in our holy Catholic Faith.

Besides being one of the last remedies God offers us, devotion to the Immaculate Heart also stands out as the surest and most rapid road to sanctity. The lives of the three young shepherd seers are a striking and fascinating proof of this.

Still, some will say, what if I do not have this devotion? Understand first, that there is nothing extraordinary in acquiring the devotion; but it doesn’t come just of itself. Like all graces, it can be obtained by prayer - especially the Rosary. We can also obtain this grace by answering Our Lord’s request for reparation to His Mother’s Heart, by making the Five First Saturdays.

However, the surest means of obtaining a tender and true devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is by making a personal Act of Consecration. This is truly the best solution!

It is also the secret to interior peace, tranquility, and confidence amidst the diabolical confusion which currently surrounds us on virtually every level. It has been well documented that those who are consecrated (be they individuals, cities, or even whole nations) are preserved from countless dangers, no matter how grave, dire, or desperate the situation may be. The protection that our Blessed Mother gives to those who entrust themselves to her Immaculate Heart is what she means by “your refuge, and the way which will lead you to God.”

From a purely practical point of view, the Mother of God wants us to consecrate ourselves to her Immaculate Heart for two reasons:

• To protect us and our families in the momentous days ahead
  
• To gain help from us to save sinners from the fires of hell
  

When we consecrate ourselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we are, in effect, placing ourselves, our homes and our families under Our Lady's protection; admitting that we need her help in all things - be they spiritual or temporal. At the same time, we give to her all the merits of our prayers, sacrifices, and good works, so that she may use them to help save many souls, including our own.

And depending upon how completely we live this entrustment, all our thoughts, words and deeds; all our prayers, crosses and turmoil; even our good works and the fulfillment of our daily duty, take on a stupendous increase in merit and virtue. Thus, Our Lady can use our total consecration as the means of obtaining the grace of salvation for many other souls.

In living our consecration, we might not see any change, but we will definitely notice the effects it has on our souls. For, just as Our Lady assures us, she is able to transform our hearts, and powerfully enhance all we give her both for our salvation and the conversion of sinners.

The question now becomes, how does one consecrate oneself to the Immaculate Heart?

St. Louis de Montfort created the most effective method of both preparing for and making the consecration. He tells us that, when we consecrate ourselves to Our Lady, we really consecrate ourselves to Jesus through Mary - ad Jesum per Mariam.

Now, there are many good souls who do not like the idea of going to Jesus by way of Mary! They want to go directly to "headquarters" - to Jesus, Himself - with their petitions and offerings. But such souls don't seem to realize that, when they approach Our Lord directly, they are going on their own merits alone; and no matter how good they may be, their prayers and offerings cannot possibly have the same value as would be the case if they were offered to Our Lord by way of His very own Mother.

And who but Our Lady knows more about the best way to the Sacred Heart of her Son? In proportion to a soul's love and devotion, Mary purifies their prayers and offerings with her own special merits, then presents them to her Son; knowing what is necessary to make them most pleasing and acceptable to His Divine Heart. And likewise, if we have ever received any grace from God, we can be certain that it first passed through the Heart of our Immaculate Mother.

This then, is the essence of devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is the underlying reason why Our Lady said that God wishes for it to be established. This is THE devotion God wills for souls to practice today; especially given to us for these days of confusion and apostasy. For along with the daily recitation of the Rosary, it's our last remedy.

Total Consecration: To Jesus Through Mary

St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary explains simply and completely what consecration and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is all about. In this short book, the saint spells out the best way to live our consecration, so that it will make our devotion both sincere and fruitful.

From the list of Marian feast days, choose a consecration date that is meaningful. Begin the 33-day Preparation on the appropriate date. Then, make your personal Act of Consecration on the feast day selected.

Once we have given ourselves to Jesus through Mary, it is helpful to remind ourselves of this dedication by renewing it with short, sincere and even daily aspirations. Another good reminder is to have a certain special picture or statue of Our Lady displayed in our home or room. Finally, wearing the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel is a constant and visual sign of our consecration; a reminder that we have given ourselves to the Immaculate Heart of our Mother and Queen; and that we especially enjoy her powerful intercession and protection.

Our Lady, herself, best describes what total consecration to her Immaculate Heart is like in her words to Juan Diego at Guadalupe, Mexico:

"Hear and let it penetrate into your heart, my dear little son: let nothing discourage you, nothing depress you; let nothing alter your heart or your countenance. Also, do not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety or pain. Am I not here who is your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not your fountain of life? Are you not in the folds of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else that you need?"



Recommended Reading

Consecration To The Immaculate Heart of Mary
by Rev. Fr. Nicholas A. Norman

Published in 1949, Father Norman was the founding Director of the Confraternity Mary Queen of All Hearts, an association especially dedicated to the Marian spirituality of St. Louis de Montfort. This concise little booklet explains better and, in less space, the principal reasons and motives for consecrating ourselves to the Immaculata using St. Louis de Montfort's method. He also perfectly summarizes the Fátima message on Consecration to the Immaculate Heart. An absolutely beautiful little paperback that’s a very quick read. An invaluable reference resource for any Catholic library. 

Available from TAN Books