Eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Pope Pius XII established the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on August 22, the Octave Day of the Feast of her glorious Assumption into Heaven. In honor of her glorious Heart, we present the following. How we should love this Immaculate Heart, the masterpiece of God's creation from which He drew His Sacred Humanity!
Of Mary' 's Charity towards God.
St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Glories of Mary
Saint Anselm says, that ' wherever there is the greatest
purity, there is also the greatest charity.' The more a heart is pure, and
empty of itself, the greater is the fullness of its love towards God. The most
holy Mary, because she was all humility, and had nothing of self in her, was
filled with divine love, so that ' her love towards God surpassed that of all
men and angels,' as Saint Bernardine writes. Therefore, Saint Francis de Sales,
with reason called her: 'the Queen of love.' God has indeed, given men the
precept to love Him with their whole hearts: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with thy whole heart." But, as Saint Thomas declares, 'this
commandment will be fully and perfectly fulfilled by men in heaven alone, and
not on earth, where it is only fulfilled imperfectly.' On this subject, blessed
Albert the Great remarks, that in a certain sense, it would have been unbecoming
had God given a precept, which was never to have been perfectly fulfilled. But
this would have been the case had not the Divine Mother perfectly fulfilled it.
The Saint says: 'Either someone fulfilled this precept, or no one; if any one,
it must have been the most Blessed Virgin.' Richard of Saint Victor confirms
this opinion, saying, ' The Mother of our Emmanuel practiced virtues in their
very highest perfection. Who has ever fulfilled, as she did, that first
commandment, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole
heart?" In her, Divine love was so ardent, that no defect of any kind
could have access to her.'
'Divine love,' says Saint Bernard, 'so penetrated
and filled the soul of Mary, that no part of her was left untouched ; so that
she loved with her whole heart, with her whole soul, with her whole strength,
and was full of grace.' Therefore Mary could well say: ' My beloved has given
Himself all to me, and I have given myself all to Him: "My beloved to me,
and I to Him."'' 'Ah! well might even the Seraphim,' says Richard, 'have
descended from heaven to learn, in the heart of Mary, how to love God.'1 (rod,
who is love, came on earth to enkindle in the hearts of all, the flame of His
Divine love; but in no heart did He enkindle it so much as in that of His
Mother; for her heart was entirely pure from all earthly affections, and fully
prepared to burn with this blessed flame. Thus Saint Sophronius says, that '
Divine love so inflamed her, that nothing earthly could enter her affections;
she was always burning with this heavenly flame, and, so to say, inebriated
with it.'
Hence, the heart of Mary became all fire and flames, as we read of
her in the sacred Canticles: " The lamps thereof arc fire and
flames;" fire burning within through love, as Saint Anselm explains it ;
and flames shining without, by the example she gave to all in the practice of
virtues. When Mary then was in this world, and bore Jesus in her arms, she
could well be called: ' fire carrying fire,' and, with far more reason than a
woman spoken of by Hippocrates, who was thus called, because she carried fire
in her hand. Yes, for Saint Ildephonsus said, that 'the Holy Ghost heated,
inflamed, and melted Mary with love, as fire does iron ; so that the flame of
this Holy Spirit was seen, and nothing was felt but the fire of the love of
God.' Saint Thomas of Villanova says, that the bush seen by Moses, which burnt
without being consumed, was a real symbol of - Mary's heart. Therefore with
reason, says Saint Bernard, was she seen by Saint John clothed with the sun:
" And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the
sun;" 'for,' continues the Saint, 'she was so closely united to God by
love, and penetrated so deeply the abyss of Divine Wisdom, that, without a
personal union with God, it would seem impossible for a creature to have a
closer union with Him.'
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