Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary can be traced to the Gospel of St Luke: “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19), and the words of the Prophet Simeon: “And a sword will pierce your heart, too” (Luke 2:35).
Everything there was to know and to love about her Son Jesus, Mary held within her Heart as a treasure. In her Heart is every memory and sign of Her love for Jesus. Mary's heart is inflamed by the same fire of love which belongs to her Son, yet also surrounded by roses, pricked by thorns, and pierced with a sword. Devotion to the Heart of Jesus and Mary developed slowly over the centuries. With the French priest Saint John Eudes (1601-1680) devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary gained some popularity among French Catholics, though not until the apparition at Rue du Bac in Paris and the revelation of the “Miraculous Medal” to Catherine Labouré in 1830, that devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary caught fire. The place of the apparitions, the Church of Our Lady of Victories soon became destination for pilgrims seeking miracles through Mary's intense love for her Son, her Immaculate Heart is united to the agony of our Lord's Sacred Heart.
Our Lady revealed the sorrow of her Immaculate Heart on June 13, 1917 at Fatima, Portugal. There and then Mary revealed to Lúcia that due to the ingratitude of men, Jesus wished to establish in the world the devotion to Her Immaculate Heart, to make reparation for the sins of humanity, and to grant the children of light a place of refuge in the times to come: “My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God.” Her Heart, therefore, is a refuge for sinners and a refuge from the evil one. We, therefore, unite our hearts to Mary's Immaculate Heart, who in turn presents our hearts to her Son's Most Sacred Heart. Then, God the Father will lift us up and make us lie down in the abyss of the Holy Trinity, where we shall be kept hidden and safe from the attacks of the world, and where our restless hearts shall find rest in God – even in the land of the living.
May the Special Protection of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart be your place of refuge this Advent, so you will spend these four weeks close to Jesus.
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