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Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Today is set aside by the Church to honor not only her love, but the purity and surrender of her heart. With June being the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, it's easy for Him to get all of the attention...and indeed, He should receive our full attention and worship! That is why today we celebrate the heart that shaped His life, and which ought to shape our lives every single day.
One of my quiet prayers at Communion comes from St. Louis de Montfort in True Devotion: “Immaculate Mother, lend me your heart.” The great Marian Saint recommends that we ask Mary to lend us her heart so that we might receive Him with her dispositions.
When I pray this prayer, my mind tends to focus in particular on Mary receiving the Body of Christ after His death on the Cross; I can only imagine the pain that she felt, and sprinkled into that pain the most complete joy - because of course, she knew why it was all happening.
My own heart is divided, distracted, full of pride or sloth or lust or wrath. But hers isn’t. Her heart is pure, singular, and always completely disposed to Jesus. When she received Him (first in her womb, then from the Cross, and later in the Eucharist) she received with perfect love, humility, and awe.
That’s why we ask for her help. Not because Christ isn’t enough, but because He gave us His mother to teach us how to love Him better.
As we return to Ordinary Time from the onslaught of feasts following Pentecost, may we remember that every “ordinary” Mass, every quiet Communion, is a place where Heaven touches Earth -and where Mary stands beside us, whispering, “Let it be done to me according to your word.”
May we learn to receive Him with her heart.
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