Category Archives: Immaculate Heart Saturdays

Mary, Queen of Heaven

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For this Immaculate Heart Saturday, I’ll connect Mary’s title of “Queen of Heaven” to tomorrow’s Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. According to Wikipedia:

The Catholic teaching on this subject is expressed in the papal encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam, issued by Pope Pius XII in 1954. It states that Mary is called Queen of Heaven because her son, Jesus Christ, is the king of Israel and the heavenly king of the universe; indeed, the Davidic tradition of Israel recognized the mother of the king as the queen mother of Israel.

To me, that makes perfect sense. Pius XII said,

Hence it is not surprising that the early writers of the Church called Mary “the Mother of the King” and “the Mother of the Lord,” basing their stand on the words of St. Gabriel the archangel, who foretold that the Son of Mary would reign forever, and on the words of Elizabeth who greeted her with reverence and called her “the Mother of my Lord.” Thereby they clearly signified that she derived a certain eminence and exalted station from the royal dignity of her Son.

In that encyclical, the Piux XII wrote,

We are instituting a feast so that all may recognize more clearly and venerate more devoutly the merciful and maternal sway of the Mother of God. We are convinced that this feast will help to preserve, strengthen and prolong that peace among nations which daily is almost destroyed by recurring crises. Is she not a rainbow in the clouds reaching towards God, the pledge of a covenant of peace?

The Heart is the emotional center of our consciousness. It was often said in Scripture that Mary ‘pondered’ in her heart something about her Divine Son, Jesus. Mary was contemplative; pondering in her Immaculate Heart the teachings of her Son as well as what others were saying about Him. We can take this as an example: in our moments and times of prayer, just ponder, or meditate on Jesus. Think of something from the Gospels, or an inspiring homily you have heard, or whatever. As always, ask Mary’s help, for she more than anything wants to lead you to her Son.

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Novena to the Miraculous Medal

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For today’s Immaculate Heart Saturday post I will offer a reminder for the Miraculous Medal Novena, which begins today (for it to end on the day before, or it can begin onn Suday the 19th if you forgot; then it will end on the Feast of the Miraculous Medal, November 27th.)

Here is one: EWTN Miraculaous Medal Novena . This is the same as the popular ‘Perpetual Novena to the Miraculous Medal.’

 

Miraculous medal

 

The pierced Immaculate Heart appears next to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, thus manifesting their union. Devotion to Mary is ALWAYS bound up with devotion to Jesus.

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My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Immaculate Queen of Peace

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I was looking around for what to write about for today’s Immaculate Heart Saturday post (because I still haven’t been taking heed of the numerous reminders I set during the week to plan ahead and maybe get these and the Sacred Heart Friday posts out a few hours earlier) when I found this Prayer for the Immaculate Queen of Peace.

Most holy and immaculate Virgin, Mother of Jesus and our loving Mother, being his Mother, you shared in his universal kingship. The prophets and angels proclaimed him King of peace. With loving fervor in our hearts, we salute and honor you as Queen of Peace.

We pray that your intercession may protect us and all people from hatred and discord, and direct our hearts into the ways of peace and justice which your Son taught and exemplified. We ask your maternal care for our Holy Father who works to reconcile the nations in peace. We seek your guidance for our President and other leaders as they strive for world peace.

Glorious Queen of peace, grant us peace in our hearts, harmony in our families, and concord throughout the world. Immaculate Mother, as patroness of our beloved country, watch over us and protect us with your motherly love. Amen.

Courtesy: Catholic Online

Since today is November 11, the date the Armistice was signed ending World War I (the “War to End All Wars”) I thought it was appropriate to share this, especially with the world getting deeper and deeper into armed conflict and the words ‘World War 3” are coming up more often.

This is connected to the Immaculate Heart of Mary; she predicted the end of  WWI when she appeared to the three Portuguese peasant shepherd children at Fatima in 1917. However, she also predicted a worse one would break out if certain warnings weren’t heeded. They weren’t and WWII did. But, she also promised that “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will Triumph.”

So, it looks like we have more suffering before there’s peace. 

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The Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Holy Souls

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For today’s Immaculate Heart Saturday post, I will continue along the theme from yesterday’s post on the Sacred Heart and Holy Souls.

“I am the Mother of all the souls in purgatory, and I am Mother of Mercy to these my children who are in the greatest need ​of my assistance, since in their torments they cannot help themselves.”

– Our Lady to St. Bridget

By studying her words we can discern her Immaculate Heart at work in her queenly patronage of the Suffering Souls in Purgatory. Therefore, we can also use the devotion to the Immaculate Heart in service to relieve the Holy Souls of their suffering. We can apply the Five First Saturdays Devotion to relieve them. Although that devotion intends to make reparation for offenses committed against Our Lady, it may be possible, at least in November, to offer up the reparations for those Holy Souls who, during their life, may have offended Our Lady. 

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The Immaculate Heart and the Little Way

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For this Immaculate Heart Saturday, I’d like to post a thought-piece that’s like a companion to yesterday’s post. This time on the relationship between the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Little Way of St. Therese of Lisieux.

The Immaculate Heart of Mary is the purity of Mary’s love for her children (and we are her chidren; we became so when we were baptised and joined her Son’s Mystical Body) and our refuge from the travails of this valley of tears. Her Immaculate Heart is also the center of Christian contemplative prayer as we read in this passage from Luke 2:19, But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart.

The Devotion to the Immaculate Heart is centered around the Five First Saturdays. These are intended to make reparation for offenses against the Immacuate Heart. (See this post for details.)

As I noted yesterday:

“the Little Way of St. Therese is the act of doing little things with great love. Her Little Way is described as the ‘easy’ path to Heaven. We needn’t worry about doing mighty deeds or being great evangelists and so forth. If we just focus on doing our daily tasks but doing them with love, that may go a great way toward sanctifying ourselves and others. How? By doing ‘little things’ with great love, be it sweeping the floor, picking up something a person dropped, or whatever, we conquer our pride and self-love. These are the great sources of sin.”

We can apply the Little Way to our Immaculate Heart Devotion. In adddition to the Five First Saturdays, we can dedicate specifis ‘little actions’ or ‘tasks’ to repair the offenses of others against Our Lady. Yes, this similar to the Sacred Heart reparations, but  I’ve posted a dozen times on the ‘Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary,’ so actions towards one is like an action for the other.

So, working out the Little Way can augment the Immaculate Heart practices. Like I said yesterday,

“It’s like a devotional ‘two-for,’ two sanctifying or reparative practices in one!”

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My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Queen of Heaven and Earth

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Due to a variety of circumstances within my control, I haven’t come up with anything substantive for this week’s Immaculate Heart Saturday.

So, here are two images, the first is a pretty one of Mom as the Immaculate Heart.

Immaculate heart of mary

The next is one of Mom being crowned Queeen of Heaven and Earth. In these days of war, and most likely World War, it is important to know who is in charge (God) and any problems regarding the stewardship of Earth and its society and environment are related to sin (our turning away from God’s will and preferring our own) and our penchant for wanting to dominate other people and nature. Mary, as Our Queen, is our mediatrix between us and Jesus (yes, there is only one Mediator – Jesus; but Mary aids us in going to Him.)

So, you may want to start praying extra rosaries. This does give me ideas for next week’s IHS!

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Fra Angelico, “The Crowning of Mary”, ca. 1435 (photo: Public Domain)

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

St.Jerome and the Immaculate Heart of Mary

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For this Immaculate Heart Saturday, I found some connections to the saint whose feast day today is. September 30th is the feast of St. Jerome, a Doctor of the Church and the translator of the Bible into 4th Century vernacular Latin. It was he who said, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”

That’s not the connection, but I can make it to be one. Since St. Jerome essentially said that to know the Bible is to know Christ, and since the Church teaches that Mary brings us to Christ (the essence of Consecration) then we can use a type of Sacred reading by which we ask Mary to ‘open Scripture for us,’ that is, when we prayerfully read Scripture, we pray beforehand to the Blessed Virgin to open our eyes and mind to what Scripture might be telling us. 

The other connection I found was after I searched for “St. Jerome and the Immaculate Heart.” One of the first hits was this  article: “10 Things to Know About the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

2. Does the Bible Foretell Mary’s Triumph?

Have you ever seen a statue or painting of the Virgin Mary stepping on a snake? What’s that all about? It is a reference to Genesis 3:15, in which God warns Satan of his ultimate defeat: “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel” (Gen 3:15). While Protestants suggest that the Hebrew text says “he shall crush your head,” the Catholic interpretation may be closer to the truth.

In simple terms, one Hebrew translation (the medieval Masoretic text) says “he” and two other ancient manuscripts say “she.” St. Jerome (347-420), translator of the Bible into Latin, rendered it as “she.” He was not alone in this interpretation; three of the most respected Jewish scholars of all time, Philo Judaeus (c. 20 B.C.-50 A.D.), Josephus (c. 37-100 A.D.), and Moses Maimonides (1138–1204), all insist that it should be interpreted as “she.” In other words, a woman will crush Satan’s head.

Fast forwarding to the end of the Bible, we find a mysterious confrontation between a woman, ‘clothed with the sun,’ and a great red dragon in the book of Revelation (Rev 12:1-6, 13-17). The dragon pursues the woman who is to give birth to a child who will rule the nations with a ‘rod of iron.’ In the end, the woman is victorious and the dragon is cast down to hell.

A ‘triumph’ suggests a victory over an enemy. These biblical references become more sensible in light of Mary’s prediction at Fátima. Furthermore, it is understood that it is the ultimate humiliation for Satan to be defeated by a woman. In his rage, he makes war “on the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus.” (Rev. 12:17) In the end, the devil is squashed under Mary’s heel.

The entire article is rather interesting; while I don’t completely accept the conclusions, especially since it quotes heavily from an unapproved apparition (Fr. Gobbi and the ‘Marian Movement of Priests’,) the part I did quote from is as far as I know, free of error.

Item No. 8 in the article is good: “What Are Ways to Prepare for the Triumph and New Era?”

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

St. Padre Pio and the Immaculate Heart of Mary

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Just like yesterday, I am going to ‘cheat’ a little for today’s Immaculate Heart Saturday post and direct your attention an article posted on the EWTN Library on St. Pio of Pietrelcina, popularly known as ‘St. Padre Pio.’ His feast day is today, September 23. 

For today, please read “Padre Pio and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

Thank you!

NOTE: I may do this from time to time, rather that write something of my own, direct you to a useful resource or article from elswhere. 

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

The Angel of Peace at Fatima: the Alliance of the Two Hearts of Jesus and Mary! Part 11

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Three days ago on the 13th of September was the 106th anniversary of the penultimate Apparition of Our Lady at Fatima. Our Lady promised a miracle at her next visit in October. This post has nothing to do with that, but I thought I’d bring it up anyway. 

However, for this Immaculate Heart Saturday post, I’ll continue along with the series I began last week: the Apparitions of the Angel of Peace to the little shepherd children in the Summer of 1916. The children had finished pasturing their sheep and were resting when the Angel appeared and said to them:

“What are you doing? Pray, pray very much! The Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy on you. Offer prayers and sacrifices constantly to the Most High.”

Lucy asked: “How are we to make sacrifices?”

“Make of everything you can a sacrifice, and offer it to God as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is so offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners. You will thus draw down peace upon your country. I am its Angel Guardian, the Angel of Portugal. Above all, accept and bear with submission the suffering which the Lord will send you.”

 Again we see the Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. In this case, their mutual intent is having ‘designs of mercy’ on the children. It seems as if the children are to be channels of mercy for the world. These merciful designs are tied to sacrifices the children must make for sinners, especially those who grievously offend God, and also for their country, Portugal. 

The idea of making sacrifices became a major theme of the Fatima Message. Our Lady also made this request for ‘making sacrifices’ for sinners in her August 1917 Apparition. Making sacrifices for sinners was the apostolate of the short lives of  Sts. Jacinta and Francisco Marto, two of the seers. 

And finally, the Five First Saturdays are all about making reparation for the sins of others. It may not seem like it, but trying to fulfill the conditions of the devotion can seem like making a sacrifice. The actual devotion is really quite simple to fulfill, but if you find difficulty in doing it, that’s Satan just trying to interfere.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

The Angel of Peace at Fatima: the Alliance of the Two Hearts of Jesus and Mary! Part 9

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For today’s Immaculate Heart Saturday post, I will bring up something from the Apparitions of the Angel of Peace to the young shepherd children of Fatima in the Spring of 1916.

In the first apparition of the Angel, he taught them what was to be the first of the “Fatima Prayers:” “My God, I believe, adore, hope and love You! I ask pardon of You for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love You.”

They were told to recite it three times. 

The Angel then said, “Pray thus. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications.” (Emphasis mine.)

This means that the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary are united in listening to your prayer requests, but especially in regards to practicing the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity of which this first prayer recalls. 

Ponder that. “The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive…” They are united (‘allied’ as per the title of this series) in their attentiveness to our prayers. This brings me tremendous comfort. Which brings up another point I thought of after Confession earlier this week.

“The Power of the Hail Mary in the Alliance of the Two Hearts” 

When you pray the Hail Mary; it seems to me that you’re not just asking for Our Lady’s help. Because Mary is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, and remains so for all eternity, the Holy Spirit is also the recipient of the prayer. And then when you add the whole Hypostatic Union of the Trinity, meaning where one member is the other two are present, the entire Trinity is listening in on the prayer. 

Now, keeping that in mind, take another look at the “Hail Mary:”

Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with you. 

Blessed are you among women,

and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus,

 

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, 

Now, and at the hour or our death,

AMEN

The first section of the Hail Mary closely links Mary with Jesus. She is referred to twice in relation to her Son in words that strongly imply that Jesus is the cause of her blessedness and grace-filledness. Or rather, her union (‘alliance’) with Jesus! So, when you pray the Hail Mary, you’re praying to Jesus, too. (Just recall the Hypostatic Union reference a few paragraphs up. You’re essentially praying  to the entire Trinity, and not just our Blessed Mother.)

On the next two lines in the prayer, I wrote these a few years ago: On the meaning and impact of prayers (re: ‘Pray for us sinners) and   Now and at the hour of our death, amen, both posts highlight the importance of a prayer that because of its frequent repetition by faithful, its significance may be surprisingly overlooked.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)