Devotion to our Lady of the Sacred Heart, powerful to obtain graces

Wanting the most merciful and wise God to accomplish the redemption of the world, 'when the fullness of the times came, he sent his Son, made by woman ... so that we might receive adoption as children' (Gal 4: 4S). He descended from heaven for us men and for our salvation was incarnated by the Holy Spirit by the Virgin Mary.

This divine mystery of salvation is revealed to us and continued in the Church, which the Lord established as his Body and in which the faithful who adhere to Christ the Head and are in communion with all his saints, must also venerate the memory first of all of the glorious and ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Lord Jesus Christ "(LG S2).

This is the beginning of chapter VIII of the "Lumen Gentium" Constitution; entitled "The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, in the mystery of Christ and the Church".

A little further on, the Second Vatican Council explains to us the nature and the foundation that the cult to Mary must have: “Mary, because the most holy Mother of God, who took part in the mysteries of Christ, by the grace of God exalted, after Son, above all angels and men, comes from the Church justly honored with special worship. Already since ancient times, in fact, the Blessed Virgin is venerated with the title of "Mother of God" under whose garrison the imploring faithful take refuge in all dangers and needs. Especially since the Council of Ephesus the cult of the people of God towards Mary grew admirably in veneration and love, in prayer and imitation, according to her prophetic words: "All generations will call me blessed, because great things has done in me the 'Almighty "(LG 66).

This growth of veneration and love has created "various forms of devotion to the Mother of God, which the Church has approved within the limits of sound and orthodox doctrine and according to the circumstances of time and place and the nature and character of the faithful. "(LG 66).

Thus, over the centuries, many and many different names have flourished in honor of Mary: a true crown of glory and love, with which the Christian people present a filial homage to her.

We Missionaries of the Sacred Heart are also very devoted to Mary. In our Rule it is written: “Since Mary is intimately united with the mystery of her Son's Heart, we invoke her with the name of OUR LADY OF THE SACRED HEART. Indeed, she has known the unfathomable riches of Christ; she has been filled with her love; it leads us to the Heart of the Son which is the manifestation of God's ineffable kindness towards all men and the inexhaustible source of a love that gives birth to a new world ".

And from the heart of a humble and ardent priest of France, Fr. Giulio Chevalier, Founder of our religious Congregation, who originated this title in honor of Mary.

The booklet that we present is intended above all to be an act of gratitude and fidelity to Mary Most Holy. It is intended for the countless faithful who, in every part of Italy, love to honor you with the name of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and to those who we hope as numerous still wish to know the history and meaning of this title.

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
Let us now go back in time to the early years of our Congregation, and precisely to May 1857. We have kept the record a testimony of that afternoon in which Fr. Chevalier, for the first time, opened his heart to the Confreres on the so that he had chosen to fulfill the vow made to Mary in December 1854.

Here is what can be obtained from the story of P. Piperon the faithful companion of P. Chevalier and his first biographer: “Often, in the summer, spring and summer of 1857, sitting in the shade of the four lime trees in the garden, during in his recreation time, Fr. Chevalier drew the plan of the Church he dreamed of on the sand. The imagination ran free rein "...

One afternoon, after a little silence and with a very serious air, he exclaimed: "In a few years, you will see a large church here and the faithful who will come from every country".

"Oh! replied a confrere (Fr. Piperon who remembers the episode) laughing heartily when I see this, I will cry out to the miracle and call you prophet! ".

"Well, you will see it: you can be sure of it!". A few days later the Fathers were at recreation, in the shade of the lime trees, together with some diocesan priests.

Fr. Chevalier felt ready to reveal the secret he had held in his heart for almost two years. At this time he had studied, meditated and above all prayed.

In his spirit there was now the profound conviction that the title of Our Lady of the Holy Heart, which he "discovered", contained nothing that was contrary to faith and that, indeed, precisely for this title, Maria SS.ma would receive new glory and would bring men to the Heart of Jesus.

So, on that afternoon, the exact date of which we do not know, he finally opened the discussion, with a question that seemed rather academic:

“When the new church is built, you will not miss a chapel dedicated to Maria SS.ma. And with what title will we invoke her? ".

Everyone said his own: the Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of the Rosary, the Heart of Mary etc. ...

"No! resumed Fr. Chevalier we will dedicate the chapel to OUR LADY OF THE SACRED HEART! ».

The phrase provoked silence and general perplexity. No one had ever heard this name given to the Madonna among those present.

"Ah! I understood finally P. Piperon was a way of saying: the Madonna who is honored in the church of the Sacred Heart ".

"No! It is something more. We will call this Mary because, as Mother of God, she has great power over the Heart of Jesus and through it we can go to this divine Heart ".

“But it's new! It is not lawful to do this! ”. "Announcements! Less than you think ... ".

A big discussion ensued and P. Chevalier tried to explain to everyone what he meant. The hour of recreation was about to end and Fr. Chevalier closed the animated conversation by jokingly turning to Fr. Piperon, who more than any other had shown himself, doubtful: “For penance you will write around this statue of the Immaculate Conception (a statuette that was in the garden): Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, pray for us! ".

The young priest obeyed with joy. And it was the first external homage paid, with that title, to the Immaculate Virgin.

What did Father Chevalier mean by the title he had "invented"? Did he just want to add to the crown of Mary a purely external embellishment, or did the term "Our Lady of the Holy Heart" have a deeper content, meaning?

We must have the answer above all from him. And here is what you can read in an article that appeared in the French Annals many years ago: “By pronouncing the name of N. Lady of the Holy Heart, we will thank and glorify God for having chosen Mary, among all creatures, to form in his virginal womb the adorable Heart of Jesus.

We will especially honor the sentiments of love, of humble submission, of filial respect that Jesus brought to his Heart for his Mother.

We will recognize by means of this special title which somehow summarizes all the other titles, the ineffable power that the Savior has given her over his adorable Heart.

We will beg this compassionate Virgin to guide us to the Heart of Jesus; to reveal to us the mysteries of mercy and love that this Heart contains within itself; to open for us the treasures of grace of which it is the source, to make the riches of the Son descend on all those who invoke her and who recommend themselves to her powerful intercession.

Furthermore, we will join our Mother to glorify the Heart of Jesus and repair with Her the offenses that this divine Heart receives from sinners.

And finally, since Mary's intercession power is truly great, we will confide to her the success of the most difficult causes, of the desperate causes, both in the spiritual and in the temporal order.

All this we can and want to say when we repeat the invocation: "Our Lady of the Holy Heart, pray for us".

Diffusion of devotion
When, after long reflections and prayers, he had the intuition of the new name to give to Mary, Fr. Chevalier had not thought at the moment if it was possible to express this name with a particular image. But later, he also worried about this.

The first effigy of N. Signora del S. Cuore dates back to 1891 and is imprinted on a stained glass window of the church of S. Cuore in Issoudun. The church had been built in a short time for the zeal of P. Chevalier and with the help of many benefactors. The chosen image was the Immaculate Conception (as it appeared in Caterina Labouré's "Miraculous Medal"); but here the novelty standing before Mary is Jesus, in the age of a child, while showing his Heart with his left hand and with his right hand he indicates his Mother. And Mary opens her welcoming arms, as if to embrace her Son Jesus and all men in a single embrace.

In the thought of P. Chevalier, this image symbolized, in a plastic and visible way, the ineffable power that Mary has on the Heart of Jesus. Jesus seems to say: “If you want the graces of which my Heart is the source, turn to my Mother, she is its treasurer ”.

It was then thought to print pictures with the inscription: "Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, pray for us!" and its diffusion began. A number of them were sent to the various dioceses, others were spread personally by Fr. Piperon, in a great preaching tour.

A real bombardment of questions turned on the tireless Missionaries: “What does Our Lady of the Sacred Heart mean? Where is the sanctuary dedicated to you? What are the practices of this devotion? Is there an association with this title? " etc. … etc. ...

The time had now come to explain in writing what was required by the pious curiosity of so many faithful. A humble pamphlet entitled "Our Lady of the Holy Heart" was published, published in November 1862.

The May 1863 issue of the "Messager du SacréCoeur" of the PP also contributed to the diffusion of these first news. Jesuit. It was Fr. Ramière, Director of the Apostolate of Prayer and of the magazine, who asked to be able to publish what Fr. Chevalier had written.

The enthusiasm was great. The fame of the new devotion ran everywhere for France and soon exceeded its borders.

It is to be noted here that the image was later changed in 1874 and out of Pius IX's desire in what is known and loved by everyone today: Mary, that is, with the Child Jesus in her arms, in the act of revealing her Heart to faithful, while the Son indicates to them the Mother. In this double gesture, the fundamental idea conceived by P. Chevalier and already expressed by the most ancient type, remained in Issoudun and in Italy as far as we know only in Osimo.

Pilgrims began to arrive from Issoudun from France, attracted by the new devotion to Mary. The ever increasing turnout of these devotees made it necessary to place a small statue: they could not be expected to continue praying to Our Lady in front of a stained glass window! The construction of a large chapel was then necessary.

Growing the enthusiasm and insistent solicitation of the faithful themselves, Fr. Chevalier and the confreres decided to ask Pope Pius IX for the grace to be able to solemnly crown the statue of Our Lady. It was a great party. On September 8, 1869, twenty thousand pilgrims flocked to Issoudun, led by thirty Bishops and about seven hundred priests and celebrated the triumph of N. Lady of the Holy Heart.

But the fame of the new devotion had crossed the borders of France very early and had spread almost everywhere in Europe and even beyond the Ocean. Even in Italy, of course. In 1872, forty-five Italian bishops had already presented and recommended it to the faithful of their dioceses. Even before Rome, Osimo became the main propaganda center and was the cradle of the Italian "Annals".

Then, in 1878, the Missionaries of the Holy Heart, also requested by Leo XIII, purchased the church of S. Giacomo, in Piazza Navona, closed to worship for more than fifty years and so Our Lady of the Holy Heart had her Shrine in Rome, rededicated on December 7, 1881.

We stop at this point, also because we ourselves are not aware of the many places in Italy where devotion to Our Lady has arrived. How many times have we had the happy surprise of finding one (image in cities, towns, churches, where we, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, had never been!