Saint Jerome, Father and Doctor of the Church

“Even while living in the world, the heart of Mary was so filled with motherly tenderness and compassion for men that no-one ever suffered so much for their own pains, as Mary suffered for the pains of her children.”

visit St. Michael's Parish, Remuera, Auckland, New Zealand

In the midst of the second world war Pope Pius XII put the whole world under the special protection of our Savior's Mother by consecrating it to her Immaculate Heart, and in 1944 he decreed that in the future the whole Church should celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This is not a new devotion. In the seventeenth century, St. John Eudes preached it together with that of the Sacred Heart; in the nineteenth century, Pius VII and Pius IX allowed several churches to celebrate a feast of the Pure Heart of Mary. Pius XII instituted today's feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the whole Church, so as to obtain by her intercession "peace among nations, freedom for the Church, the conversion of sinners, the love of purity and the practice of virtue" (Decree of May 4, 1944).

Oremus . Let us pray

Heart of Mary ever Virgin, you are full of grace.
You are the dearest daughter of the heavenly Father,
the tabernacle of the Word made Flesh,
and the beloved home of the Holy Spirit.
You are the wonder and delight of angels,
of saints, and of men.
I offer you my deepest reverence.
With great love and thanksgiving I consecrate myself,
body and soul, to you this day,
and will never take back my word.

You are the marvel of God's creation;
a Virgin's heart, yet a Mother's too,
with a mother's love of Jesus and of men.
Dear Mother, fashion in my heart a child's true love of you.
Fill me with your own bright virtues:
simplicity and innocence,
meekness and courage,
and unfailing devotedness
to Jesus Christ.

Since I belong to you then, holy Mother,
save me from my enemies,
from the world, from Satan, from myself.
Keep me always in your sinless Heart
to make my poor heart more and more
like your Heart and the Heart of Jesus.

Dear, merciful Mother,
look with a mother's love and pity on the poor,
sinful, suffering children of the whole human family.
Our Holy Father Pius XII has consecrated them to your Immaculate Heart.
Do not turn them away.
Remember the cruel pain your heart
suffered for their salvation with Jesus Christ on Calvary.
Save them by His precious Blood.
Draw them out of the darkness and despair
of their sin and misery into the light, peace,
and holiness of the Church.

Then with the angels and saints,
may they join us in singing the everlasting Magnificat of praise,
gratitude, and love to your tender
and Immaculate Heart,
and to the adorable and merciful Heart of Jesus.Amen.

St Bernard of Clairvaux

"Let us not imagine that we obscure the glory of the Son by the great praise we lavish on the Mother; for the more she is honored, the greater is the glory of her Son. There can be no doubt that whatever we say in praise of the Mother gives equal praise to the Son."

-Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Father and Doctor of the Church

Saint Maximilian Kolbe

“Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did.”
– Saint Maximilian Kolbe

Saint Louis Marie de Montfort

"All true children of God have God for their father and Mary for his mother; anyone who does not have Mary for his mother, does not have God for his father."
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True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin

"Mary has the authority over the angels and the blessed in heaven. As a reward for her great humility, God gave her the power and mission of assigning to saints the thrones made vacant by the apostate angels who fell away through pride. Such is the will of the almighty God who exalts the humble, that the powers of heaven, earth and hell, willingly or unwillingly, must obey the commands of the humble Virgin Mary. For God has made her queen of heaven and earth, leader of his armies, keeper of his treasure, dispenser of his graces, mediatrix on behalf of men, destroyer of his enemies, and faithful associate in his great works and triumphs."
-Saint Louis Marie de Montfort, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin: Part 28

On the Blessed Virgin Mary

"We never give more honour to Jesus than when we honour his Mother, and we honour her simply and solely to honour him all the more perfectly. We go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek - Jesus, her Son."
-Saint Louis Marie de Montfort