16 June 2013 The mystery of the Sacred Heart In many passages of the Gospel, we discover the wealth of the Sacred Heart of Jesus which give us a glimpse of the quality of his Sacred Heart and its holy affectivity. In these passages our Lord directly discloses the life of his Sacred Heart and grants us an insight into this most intimate holy secret. We are granted a glimpse of the wounds inflicted on his heart by the infidelity of his disciples, by the insipidity of Jerusalem and of the elected people. We are privileged to divine his tender love for his disciples, his underlying outlook at his supreme sacrifice, his anxieties, his loneliness. We are even granted a glance into an incomparably more sublime secret of his Sacred Heart: the motions directed to his heavenly Father, his abandonment to God, his supreme sacrifice, his infinite love. In these intimate revelations of his heart, Christ’s human nature certainly manifests itself in a specific fashion. And yet we are confronted with the great mystery that precisely in these manifestations of his Sacred humanity by which his divinity is revealed most intimately. It is the mystery that his Heart is substantially united to the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. Ref: D von Hildebrand, “The Sacred Heart”, p145 Purity of the Heart of Jesus The Heart of Jesus, formed out of the blood of an Immaculate Virgin, was itself immaculate, always free from any hint of sin. Our Lord even offered a proof to his calumniators. “... from the heart come forth” all kinds of sins, and demanded: “Which of you will convict me of sin?” (Jn 8:46) They did attempt to do so on the day of his Passion, but failed and Pilate was compelled to publicly proclaim, “I find no cause in him” (Lk 23:22). He was incapable of sin by virtue of the hypostatic union of the humanity with the divinity. It was impossible that the breath of sin should even for an instant smear the perfect purity of his most adorable Heart. How different are our hearts from the pure and immaculate Heart of Jesus! Ours, stained with the guilt of original sin; more deeply stained afterwards by so many personal sins daily. Seemingly little in our eyes, but in the just judgment of God, these stains can only be effaced by penance in purgatory. Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, p320 Humility of the Heart of Jesus manifested in His acts The whole life of our Lord on earth was only a series of humiliations. He endured them voluntarily to make amends for the insulted Majesty of his Father, pay the debt of our pride, and give us an example of humility. He was born in a stable; lived for thirty years unknown to the world. During the three years of his public ministry he allowed envy and calumny to accuse him of being a seducer, an impostor, and possessed by the devil. He was crucified as a criminal between two thieves. Could he have abased himself more? We, too, should act thus, if we are truly ‘humble of heart’. Instead of seeking praise and honors, we must be hidden from men, that we may please God alone. To shut ourselves out from the world, that our hearts may be free for God only. At least we should not be troubled if we are spoken against, reproved, or humbled. Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, p324 · “We will discover the Heart of Jesus when we contemplate the Heart of Mary.” -- St John Eudes Ref: C Maggioni in “Alliance of the Two Hearts”, pp181-2 At Garabandal, Spain On this day in 1965, vistors flocked to Garabandal to see the visionaries. It had been foretold months before that an apparition would occur on this date. True enough, the Archangel Michael delivered to Conchita (one of four visionaries) a message in Our Lady’s name. ‘As my message of 18 October 1961 has not been complied with and has not been made known to the world, I am advising you that this is the last one. Before, the cup was filling up. Now it is flowing over. Many cardinals, ... bishops and ... priests are on the road to perdition and are taking away many souls with them. ‘Less and less importance is being given to the Eucharist. You should turn the wrath of God away from yourselves by your efforts. If you ask Him forgiveness with sincere hearts, He will pardon you. I, your Mother, through the intercession of St Michael, the archangel, ask you to amend your lives. ‘You are now receiving the last warnings. I love you very much and I do not want your condemnation. Pray to us with sincerity and we will grant your requests. You should make sacrifices. Think about the passion of Jesus.’ (In 1986, Bishop Del Ballo of Santander declared these messages to be authentic and reliable.) Ref: Fr Edgardo M Arellano, “20th Century Apparitions”, pp104-5 Mother of Mercy “The motherhood of Mary in the order of grace”, as the Second Vatican Council explains, “lasts without interruption from the consent which she faithfully gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without hesitation under the Cross, until the eternal fulfilment of all the elect. In fact, being assumed into heaven she has not laid aside this office of salvation; but by her manifold intercession she continues to obtain for us the graces of eternal salvation. By her maternal charity, she takes care of the brethren of her Son who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until they are led into their blessed home.” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church “Lumen Gentium”, 62: AAS 57 [1965], p63) Ref: “Dives in Misericordia”, Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II, 1980, 50-51 • Apparition of Our Lady to St Agnes of “Monte Pulciano”, with whom, it is said, she left a small cross which is still shown with great solemnity on the 1st of May. — Chronicle of St. Dominic, part. i, lib. i, c. 72. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com) • Apparition of Our Lady to St. Agnes of Mount Pulciano, Italy. (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html) (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html); (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.htm); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm) • Our Lady of Mount Pulciano. (http://mariedenazareth.com) • Our Lady of “Aix-la-Chapelle”, built by Charlemagne, and consecrated by Leo III, in the year 804, where there were assembled three-hundred and fifty prelates. Charlemagne gave to this church two tunics of Our Lady, in the year 810, from which Charles the Bald took one, sixty-five years afterward, to give it to the church of Chartres. — Ferreolus Locrius, lib. v., Mariae, Aug., c. 17. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com) • Our Lady of “Aix la Chapelle” (Germany, 804). (www.divinewill.org/feastofourlady.htm); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html); (http://mariedenazareth.com); (www.starharbor.com/santiago/m feasts.html) • Our Lady of Pious Schools (celebrated by Piarists). Moveable feast -- Third Sunday in June [16th, 2013]. (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html); ; (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html) • Our Lady of Pious Schools. Celebrated by the Piarists (also known as Poor Clerks of the Mother of God or “Ordo Clericorum Regularium Pauperum Matris”), an educational Order. Moveable feast -- Third Sunday in June [16th, 2013]. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)