A plaque of the Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary under a cross
The Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary is a concept in the Catholic Church referring to the spiritual connection between the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a concept emphasized by Pope John Paul II during his Angelus Address on 15 September 1985. In his address, the Pope stated that the two hearts are interconnected through the enduring bond of love between the Son and His Mother: "...though distinct, they are interrelated by reason of the enduring relation of love that exists between the Son and his Mother."[1]
Following this address, several symposia were organized to further explore the theological foundations and significance of these devotions. Since devotion to the Sacred Heart had already been extensively studied, the conferences primarily focused on the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, examining the scriptural roots and its place within Sacred Tradition.[2]
History
After Pope John Paul II remarked on "the admirable alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary" in 1985, several symposia were held on the concept. According to the Marian Library, "Some Mariologists saw the alliance as a renewal of the older forms of devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart ... However, other Mariologists dismissed the entire concept of the Two Hearts as mere 'devotionalism', having no real value for scientific Marian theology because of its association with private revelation."[3]
Indications of devotion to the Sacred Heart appear in the Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, having developed from the earlier devotion to the Holy Wounds.[4]
In 1765, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was formally approved. Pope Pius IX extended the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to the entire Catholic Church in 1858.[6]
Jean Eudes (1601-1680) was called the "father, teacher and first apostle" of devotions to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary by two popes.
While devotion to the heart of Mary cannot be traced to the early centuries of Christian history, the heart of Mary is mentioned in the Gospel of Luke and in commentaries upon the Scriptures by the Fathers of the Church. Though devotion to the heart of Mary was practiced by some individuals such as Anselm of Canterbury,[8] it was not until the seventeenth century under the influence of Saint John Eudes that this devotion became widespread.[1]
As early as 1643, Eudes and his followers observed February 8th as the feast of the Heart of Mary.[9] Eudes was partly influenced by the writings of Francis de Sales on perfections of the Heart of Mary as the model of love for God.[10] He wrote a Mass and Office for the feast, and composed various prayers.[11] His efforts to secure official approval for an office and feast were unsuccessful. His book "Le Cœur Admirable de la Très Sainte Mère de Dieu" ("The Admirable Heart of the Most Holy Mother of God") is the first book written on the devotion to the Sacred Hearts.[12]
In 1725, Joseph de Gallifet combined the cause of the Heart of Mary with that of the Heart of Jesus in order to obtain Rome's approval of the two devotions and the institution of the two feasts. His proposal was declined in 1729, and in 1765, the two causes were separated to ensure the success of the principal one. In 1799, Pope Pius VI permitted a Feast of the Heart of Mary in Palermo, Sicily, and in 1805, Pope Pius VII extended it throughout the world. In 1855, an Office and Mass in honor of the Most Pure Heart of Mary was permitted for the Catholic Church.[citation needed]
By the beginning of the 19th century the devotion to the Immaculate Heart was sufficiently widespread in Europe for Pope Pius VII to allow a feast to honor it in 1805.[13] Pope Pius XII consecrated the human race to the Immaculate Heart on December 8, 1942 and instituted the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the Catholic Church in 1945.
Saints and the Blessed
Since the 17th century, the devotions to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, individually and jointly, have been promoted and encouraged. While Jean Eudes was a main force in formalizing and promoting the joint devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the efforts of others prepared the environment in which the devotion could flourish. Pope Leo XIII gave Eudes the title of "Author of the Liturgical Worship of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Holy Heart of Mary", and both Pope Leo XIII and Pope Pius X called him the "father, teacher and first apostle" of devotions to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.[14]
In the 18th century Louis Grignion de Montfort was a fervent preacher.[15] In 1830 in Paris, Catherine Labouré reported a vision in which she saw the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Heart of Jesus thorn-crowned and the Heart of Mary pierced with a sword.[16]
The three children who reported the messages of Our Lady of Fátima stated that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be honored together with the Heart of Mary.[17] In 1920, shortly before her death at age 9, Jacinta Marto, one of the three children of the Our Lady of Fátima apparitions, reportedly discussed the Hearts of Jesus and Mary with her 12-year-old cousin Lúcia dos Santos, another one of the three children, and said:
When you are to say this, don't go and hide. Tell everybody that God grants us graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary; that people are to ask Her for them; and that the Heart of Jesus wants the Immaculate Heart of Mary to be venerated at His side. Tell them also to pray to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for peace, since God entrusted it to Her.[18]
Lúcia dos Santos later became a nun called Sister Lúcia of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart.[19]
Popes
Church of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, Southampton, NY
In the 1956 encyclical Haurietis aquas, Pope Pius XII stated, "In order that favors in great abundance may flow on all Christians, nay, on the whole human race, from the devotion to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, let the faithful see to it that to this devotion the Immaculate Heart of the Mother of God is closely joined."[20]
Pope John Paul II stated that "devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary has been an important part of the sensus fidei of the People of God".[1] In his 1979 encyclical Redemptor hominis (item 22), Pope John Paul II said,
"We can say that the mystery of the Redemption took shape beneath the heart of the Virgin of Nazareth when she pronounced her "fiat". From then on, under the special influence of the Holy Spirit, this heart, the heart of both a virgin and a mother, has always followed the work of her Son and has gone out to all those whom Christ has embraced and continues to embrace with inexhaustible love."[21]
At the beginning of the 21st century, he encouraged all nations to "consecrate themselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary".[22][23]
Devotions and prayers
The Miraculous Medal (1830) depicts the two Hearts together below a cross.
Due to the close relationship of Mary and Jesus in the Catholic teachings on salvation, the Heart of Mary is associated with the Heart of Jesus.[24] The Sacred Heart is viewed as the source of God's love and charity, while the devotion to the Immaculate Heart stresses the nature of Mary's love and concern.[25]
A devotional element often associated with the Hearts of Jesus and Mary is the Body and Blood of Christ represented in the Eucharist. The view of the sacraments as gifts to the church positions the Hearts as the primary channel of Christ's love and Mary's compassion.[26]
I offer You my prayers, works, joys, sufferings of this day,...[30]
The relationship between the Hearts of Jesus and Mary is also manifested in various Catholic prayers, such as the conclusion to the private devotion, the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Mary.:
O most merciful God, Who, for the salvation of sinners and the refuge of the miserable, wast pleased that the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary should be most like in charity and pity to the Divine Heart of Thy Son Jesus Christ; grant that we, who commemorate this most sweet and loving Heart, may by the merits and intercession of the same Blessed Virgin merit to be found according to the Heart of Jesus. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.[31]
The Theology of the Alliance of the Two Hearts: Documents of the 1997 International Theological Pastoral Symposium on the Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, edited by Édouard Gagnon, René Laurentin Published by Two Hearts Media Org., 1997 ISBN971-602-047-3
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
