Mary's Immaculate Heart The Meaning of Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

IN CONNECTION with the extension of the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to the universal Church, our Holy Father, Pope Pius XII, pointed out that beyond serving as a memorial and reminder of his solemn consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart in the Basilica of St. Peter, December 8, 1942, the feast might, with the assistance of her in whose honor we celebrate it, be instrumental also in preserving peace among all nations and liberty for the Church of Christ; and further, with the repentance of sinners, it might be a strengthening of the faithful in the love of purity and the practice of virtue.1 Without question the observance of the Feast of the Immaculate Heart is today a highly significant celebration in the liturgical year. In view of the dogmatic implications of the feast, the various statements of the Holy See, and the response everywhere on the part of the faithful to the devotion to Mary's Heart, the significance of both the feast and consecration of the world, and the importance of the devotion to the Immaculate Heart itself are readily recognized. It was the devotion to the Sacred Heart which in previous decades guided a cold and erring world back toward the love of Christ and the acknowledgment of the Kingdom that is rightfully His. It would seem that again the grace of God is poured forth abundantly on a war-torn and pagan world, and men, through a devotion to the Mother of God, the ''Hope of the World,'' are once more offered an opportunity for eternal salvation in the love and service of Mary and her divine Son. In the devotion to the Immaculate Heart which prompts men to imitate the virtues of the Blessed Mother we see a true blending of love and sacrifice, the very core and spirit of the Christian life. Through a devotion to her Immaculate Heart Mary will certainly form in us the likeness and virtues of her Son, and seeing more perfectly His image in us, she will love Him anew in us; and we, resembling our blessed Lord the more, will profit greatly from this closer union with Him. Our nearness to Mary is a measure of our union with Christ and an indication of the supernatural value of our lives. In uniting ourselves to Mary we necessarily draw near to our blessed Lord.