IHS
Third Sunday of Lent—24 March AD 2019
Ave Maria![Ordinary of the Mass]
[English Mass Text]
[Latin Mass Text]
[Lenten Observance]
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Devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary
If you have been in
this parish very long, you have heard me lament the generally poor
attendance at the First Friday and First Saturday Masses. A few months ago
I had a conversation with a man who claimed to be a “cradle Catholic,” but
who also claimed that he had never heard a sermon about the need to make
reparation to the hearts of Jesus and Mary on first Fridays and Saturdays.
It helps somewhat to
understand the origin of these devotions, in order to understand what their
object might be:
Saint John, in his
Gospel, tells us that one of the Roman soldiers, in order to insure that
Jesus was dead on the Cross, took his lance and “opened His side . . . and
immediately there came forth blood and water.”
We can't tell for sure if this soldier is the same one identified in the
other Gospels, but at least one soldier was heard to say at this moment,
“Truly this man was the Son of God.” We might say that this event brought
the first convert to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
And, it was an event
that would be often commented upon by the spiritual writers of later ages.
This gushing forth of blood and water is often used to represent the
cleansing waters of Baptism, and the powerful flowing of God's graces in the
Sacraments. It often evokes memories of the Old Testament paschal lamb, and
the cleansing of the Israelites in the blood of the sacrificial lamb. Saint
Augustine and Saint John Chrysostom wrote stirring accounts of the
significance of this wound of our Lord, and the out-flowing of His Precious
Blood.
In the middle ages,
pious writers explored the idea of our Lord's sacred humanity, mentally
entering into the wound of the lance to probe the Sacred Heart—the symbol of
God's burning love for His children; of the willingness of Jesus Christ to
lay down His life for His people. People like Saint Bernard and Saint
Bonaventure, like Saint Gertrude or Saint Mechtilde—they never lacked an
audience for what they had to say about the loving Heart of Jesus. And
about us loving that Heart.
In later years, as the
so-called “Enlightenment” spread false ideas throughout Europe, saints like
John Eudes and Margaret Mary Alacoque were raised up to counter both the
rationalism which denied God and His love, and also the over reaction that
insisted God's love was limited to only a select few members of the human
race.
Saint John Eudes is of
particular interest, for he seems to be one of the first to urge devotion to
the Immaculate Heart of Mary along with devotion to the Sacred Heart of her
Son. Devotion to Mary was not new —Saturdays had been dedicated to Mary for
as long as anyone could remember—but John Eudes seems to have been among the
first to suggest that Mass should be offered in honor of the Hearts of Jesus
and Mary.
Margaret Mary Alacoque
seems to have been asked by our Lord Himself to carry on where John Eudes
left off, receiving the promise that those who devoutly received Holy
Communion on nine consecutive First Fridays would die in the state of
grace. She also worked for liturgical recognition of the Sacred Heart.
And, indeed, in 1765
Pope Clement XIII approved a Mass in Honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and
in 1799 a Mass in honor of the Most Pure Heart of Mary. Both of these
Masses were offered optionally—only in places where there was sufficient
interest. Only in the twentieth century were they extended to the entire
Church, by Pius XI and Pius XII. In a way, that's sad—particularly when we
think of how these devotions originated. They started out as acts of love.
In the middle ages, Christian people truly loved Jesus and Mary. But in our
times, so many people have lost that love. They have had to be reminded of
their duty: 1912 Pius X offered a plenary indulgence for First Saturday
reparations for blasphemies against the Blessed Virgin. 1917 Our Lady at
Fatima again reminded us of the need for reparation for sin, and gave us a
promise of final perseverance for only five First Saturdays. In the 1930s
Pius XI ordered an act of reparation to be recited each year on the feast of
the Sacred Heart,
and another on the feast of Christ the King.
In 1942 Pius XII asked reparation for the atrocities of war.
The message is really
quite clear. At the very minimum, we are called to do penance and make
reparation. We should become conscious of the need for frequent Confession,
to devoutly receive Holy Communion, to pray the rosary, and all of the other
things which honor the love of Jesus and Mary.
And, none of this
should be done with the legalistic mentality of keeping 9 First Fridays or 5
First Saturdays and then stopping! This is not a numbers game, and it is
hard to believe that 900 First Fridays would help a person who is just
trying to “score points,” without having a genuine devotion.
And, devotion, of
course, is the ultimate issue. We need to do penance, we need to make
reparation—but none of this will do any of us much good, if in the long run
we don't wind up loving Jesus and Mary.
