Saturday, June 8, 2013

Jesus' first tabernacle

Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
 

O Mary, Immaculate Virgin, Pure crystal for my heart,
You are my strength, O sturdy anchor!
You are the weak heart's shield and protection.

O Mary you are pure, of purity incomparable;
At once both Virgin and Mother,
You are beautiful as the sun, without blemish,
And your soul is beyond all comparison.


Your beauty has delighted the eye of the Thrice-Holy One.
He descended from heaven, leaving His eternal throne,
And took Body and Blood of your heart
And for nine months lay hidden in a Virgin's Heart.


O Mother, Virgin, purest of all lilies,
Your heart was Jesus' first tabernacle on earth.


~ St Faustina Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament

 
Mary's heart is mentioned three times in Luke 2: twice when she "ponders" the events unfolding around the child Jesus "in the heart" (verses 19, 51) and once when Simeon prophesies, "thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed" (verse 35).  In the 17th century, at the same time as the growing worship of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, St. John Eudes and other Roman Catholics promoted a parallel devotion to Mary's heart.  This devotion led to an iconographic type in which Mary shows the viewer her heart, burning with love and pierced by the sword of Simeon's prophecy.  It was referred to sometimes as the Sacred Heart of Mary, sometimes as the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

In the 20th century Roman Catholic interest in the Heart of Mary, now firmly fixed to the "Immaculate" epithet, was stimulated by the visions of the three children at Fatima, one of whom reported that Mary had told her,
"Jesus wants you to make me known and loved. He wants to establish in the world the devotion to my Immaculate Heart." 

Because the focus in the 19th and 20th centuries was less on Mary's suffering than on her love and her dignity as the virgin mother of Christ, lilies and a chaplet of roses around the heart came to be added. 
Source: EWTN

Immaculate Heart of Mary, cause of our joy,
pray for us!   


ORDAINED to the Holy Priesthood of Jesus Christ TODAY
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Oh, day of Love Divine, all loves excelling!
An Old German saying:
It is worth wearing out a pair of shoes to walk
to receive a priest's First Blessing!
Rev Mr Brendon Bartlett ~ Archdiocese of Arlington (Virginia)
Rev Mr Nicholas Barnes ~ Archdiocese of Arlington
Rev Mr Jason Burchell ~ Archdiocese of Arlington
Rev Mr Thomas Cavanaugh ~ Archdiocese of Arlington
Rev Mr Christopher Hayes ~ Archdiocese of Arlington
Rev Mr Michael Isenberg ~ Archdiocese of Arlington
Rev Mr Eric Shafer ~ Archdiocese of Arlington
Cathedral of St Thomas More ~ 11 AM
Rev Mr Mark Bentz ~ Archdiocese of Portland (Oregon)
Rev Mr Paolo Dayto ~ Archdiocese of Portland
Rev Mr Aniceto Guiriba ~ Archdiocese of Portland
Rev Mr James Herrera ~ Archdiocese of Portland
Rev Mr Peter Nhat Hoang ~ Archdiocese of Portland
Rev Mr Charles Holden ~ Archdiocese of Portland
Rev Mr John Marshall ~ Archdiocese of Portland
Rev Mr Chrispine Otieno ~ Archdiocese of Portland
St Mary's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception ~ 11 AM

Let us hold them in prayer and offer thanksgiving for their 'YES'!
"O wonderful dignity of the priests,"  cries out St Augustine;
"in their hands, as in the womb of the Blessed Virgin,
the Son of God becomes incarnate."

2 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for this beautiful reflection. I am consecrating myself to Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary this very day, and I cannot stop crying out of a sense of my own unworthiness but also out of profound gratitude and love. What a gift this consecration is. Thanks be to God.

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  2. OH, happy and precious day!! You sound perfectly prepared - emptied and ready to receive! I will remember you at Mass this morning, Gloria. What a gift is the consecration, yes - and what a gift are you!

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