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Hearts of Jesus and Mary- Saints |
Heart of Mary, Mirror of
God's Strength and Purity
St.
John Eudes
In
this chapter I shall show how Mary's Heart bears a striking
resemblance to divine purity and sanctity. The most
pure and holy Heart of Our Lady is a living image of those two
adorable perfections, which are one and the same, for St. Dionysius
tells us that sanctity is perfect purity, (1) purity meaning freedom
from the slightest imperfection.
The
most holy Heart of Mary is indeed an excellent image of divine
purity and holiness. Not only was her most pure and holy Heart
always far removed from every kind of sin, but it was entirely free
from attachment to created things, and intimately united to God by
its pure and holy love for Him together with the eminent practice of
all the other virtues which Mary's Heart possessed in so high a
degree. The Queen of Virtues is called by St. John Damascene "the
abode and the sanctuary of all virtues." (2) Even though Our Lady
dwelt for years in this world full of filth and abomination,
poisoned by the venom of sin, her most holy Heart never contracted
the least stain or blemish, was never attached by an inordinate
affection to any creature nor even to God's gifts and graces. The
Blessed Virgin remained always intimately united to God, as though
nothing else existed save God and herself. Thus were the divine
words most perfectly fulfilled in her divine Heart: "Let my heart be
undefiled in thy justifications," (Ps. 118:80) that is, let my heart
be immaculate by its union and adherence to Thy divine Will, which
justifies, sanctifies and even deifies the hearts that love it and
perfectly follow it.
The
most holy Heart of the Queen of all Saints remained forever
immaculate, preserved in eminent purity and holiness, and entirely
filled with the purity and sanctity of God Himself. Her being was
transformed and submerged in divine purity and holiness, to the
surpassing extent that her Heart merited to obtain the world's
salvation. As St. Anselm expresses it: "The pure sanctity and holy
purity of Mary's devout Heart, surpassing by far the purity and
sanctity of all other creatures, merited for her the sublime dignity
of becoming the Restorer of the world wrapped in perdition." (3)
If
you would find a place in the sanctuary of Mary's admirable Heart,
which so perfectly mirrors the purity and sanctity of the Most High,
you must purify your heart and realize the meaning of the words:
"This is the will of God, your sanctification." (1 Thess. 4:3) These
words are not meant just for souls specially consecrated and set
apart. You must apply them to yourself, you who bear the name and
imprint of Christ and membership in His mystical Body. The
sanctification of your spirit, heart and body is more than a
commandment; it is a privilege, a participation, granted to you
through the purity and sanctity of the heart of Mary, Mother of the
Redeemer and your own Mother.
Strength and Power of God Mirrored in the Admirable Heart of Mary
The
principal and most common appellations given to God in Sacred
Scripture are the words strong and mighty. He says of
Himself: "I am the most mighty God" (Gen. 46:3) and "I am God
Almighty" (Gen. 35:11).
If
you should ask how these two attributes differ from each other, I
would answer that in God power and strength are one and the same
perfection; yet there is some difference between their effects. It
belongs to all-powerfulness to work great and admirable wonders and
the characteristic of strength is to accomplish all things easily,
without pain or fatigue.
Let
us now see the strength and power operate in the Heart of our august
Queen. I visualize their image engraved on her pure Heart most
perfectly. Consider the power which the Heart of the Mother of the
Almighty exerts over Him Who has chosen to obey her as His Mother:
"And he was subject to them." (Luke 2:51) The maternal authority and
power God has given Mary over Himself will never be separated from
her divine maternity, for the Son of Mary will never relinquish the
nature He assumed in His Beloved Mother's womb and never will He
withdraw the privileges He once conferred upon her.
If
the heart of the faithful Christian, who believes in Jesus Christ,
finds everything possible according to His holy word: "All things
are possible to him that believeth," (Mark 9:22) what can be
impossible for the maternal Heart of Mary who conceived the Son of
God in her sacred womb, gave Him birth, nourished Him, took care of
Him in childhood, accompanied Him in all labors and sufferings, and
loved Him more than all the hearts of Heaven and earth put together?
"If
all things are possible to him who believes, how much more must this
be true of her who loves Him?" says Gerson. "And of her who bore
Him," adds St. Bernardine of Siena.
If
the Apostle St. Paul says that he can do all things "in him who
strengthened me," (Phil. 4:13) what must be the power of the
maternal Heart of the Queen of Apostles bearing eternally within
itself Him who is called in Sacred Scripture, "Christ, the power of
God" (1 Cor. 1:24)? Her Heart is filled and animated by the power
and strength of the Most High. Cannot we then say that her virginal
Heart is all-powerful in Him who is her strength and power, as He is
her soul and her spirit?
Hers
is the Heart of the valiant woman spoken of by Solomon, always
inspired with vigorous and manly virtue, through which she
accomplished all things with sovereign perfection and without the
least defect. This valiant woman's Heart bore the sharpest pain and
the most violent anguish with marvellous constancy and unshakeable
fortitude. Her intrepid Heart crushed the infernal dragon's head,
that is, sin, prefigured by Holofernes, and the powers of hell fear
the Immaculate Heart even as an army in battle array (Can. 6:3)
because Our Lady fought courageously against all God's enemies and
obtained a glorious victory.
But
what is more, she vanquished, so to speak, the Almighty Himself. For
I hear an angel saying to Jacob: "Thou shalt no longer be called
Jacob, but thy name shall be Israel," which means according to St.
Jerome and the Septuagint "strong against God." (Gen. 32:28) This
interpretation agrees with the Angel's own explanation, for after
having said: "Thy name shall be Israel," he adds; "for if thou hast
been strong against God, how much more shalt thou prevail against
men?" Jacob had overcome only an angel, but that angel represented
God; hence he was told he had overcome God Himself.
Jacob's holy daughter, the worthy Mother of Christ, has, in a way
really overcome God Himself. How often has she not, through the
efficacy of her prayers and merits, and by the power of her love,
disarmed the anger of God and arrested the torrent of His
indignation, which would otherwise have flooded and destroyed the
world because of its innumerable crimes? How many times has Our Lady
besought divine vengeance to lay aside the thunderbolts ready to be
hurled against criminal mankind? How often has her Heart's
incomparable charity clasped the hands of God's terrible justice and
stopped Him from punishing men as they deserve? "How powerful is her
love," says Richard of St. Victor, "since it overcomes the
Almighty." (12) Yes, the love and charity of Mary's Heart are
powerful, and have as it were vanquished God Himself!
History is filled with instances where Our Lady has shown her
incomparable power on behalf of those who invoke her protection,
manifesting publicly to armies and nations the strength that she
also extends to each Christian in his own inner struggle against
sin. But her strength is for those who invoke, love, honor and
venerate her heart.
O
Glorious Queen of the World, make us sharers in the divine power
which fills thy holy Heart and give us strength against the enemies
of thy Divine Son, who is all and does all in thee!
This article was excerpted from St. John Eudes, The Admirable
Heart of Mary, Part Four, Chapters III-IV, and edited by the Order
of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts of Jesus and Mary, at
www.heartsofjesusandmary.org.
Notes
(1)
De divinis Nominibus, cap. 12, sect. 2.
(2)
Virtutum omnium domicilium. De fide orthodoxa, lib. 4 Cap.
15.
(3)
Pura enim sanctitas et sanctissima puritas piissimi Pectoris ejus,
omnem omnis creaturae puritatem sive sanctitatem transcendens,
incomparabili sublimitate hoc promeruit, ut Reparatrix perditi orbis
benignissimi fieret. De excell. B. Virg. Cap. 9.
(4)
De gradibus Caritatis. O quam potens est amor ejus, qui vincit
Omnipotentem. (St. John Eudes does not give the complete
reference)
This page is the work of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
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