Sacred Heart of Mary

Sacred Heart of Mary

The celebration calls all the faithful to venerate the Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She whose heart perfectly reflects the mercy of God, we can dedicate to her our whole being, confident in her inexhaustible love. Through the heart of Mary, we find  of Jesus's by the intimate bond that unites them. Mary becomes for us a way to meet God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit since she knows better than anyone else the people of the Holy Trinity. Every moment of her life was fufilled in the presence of God, receiving constant grace. The heart of Mary is also one of a mother who intercedes unceasingly for us. St. John Eudes was one of those devoted to Mary, recognizing the love and care she lavishes on each of her sons and daughters.
Marian devotion spread in the seventeenth century thanks to St. John Eudes. The perfect union between the hearts of Jesus and Mary was an important subject of his predilection which led him to establish the worship of the Sacred Hearts. It was through him that Blessed Catherine de St-Augustin developed a special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Mary. He often preached near the Catherine's village, Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, in Normandy. Undoubtedly, young Catherine let grow a tender devotion to the Virgin after her contact with the Jesuit. She nourished a profound love for the Virgin throughout her life. Arriving in Canada, she propagated worship in the country through her teaching to the novices [1]. One of them, Mother Juchereau of Saint-Ignace, who became superior of the General Hospital, asked Monsignor de Saint-Vallier, successor of Bishop François de Laval, to establish a feast in honor of the Sacred Heart of Mary. The celebration, made public, was inscribed in the liturgical calendar of the diocese of Quebec. Catherine is therefore credited with the presence of a Marian cult in Canada. Her love for the virgin has revealed itself in her everyday life, often addressing to the Virgin through  jaculatory prayers and wanting to take her as his model. She wanted "her life to be a living portrait and an image formed on the inner life and spirit that animated the Heart of the Most Holy Virgin [2]."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1]Thérèse Nadeau-Lacour, dir., Carmelle Bisson, a.m.j. Il suffit d’une foi, Québec, 2008, p. 139.

[2] Sacra Congregatio pro causis Sanctorum, Mariae Catharinae a sancto augustino, Positio super introduction causae et virtibus ex officio concinnata, Romae , 1978, LXXVII.

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