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Saturday, June 12, 2010

The Sacred Hearts of Christ and the Virgin Mary



Vitus Felix Rigl (German, active 1743 - 1779)
A Study for a Frontispiece: The Trinity and Saints surrounding the Sacred Hearts of Christ and the Virgin Mary, a Coastal Landscape Below
Black chalk, pen and gray ink, brush and gray wash, highlighted with lead white (partly oxidized)
16 1/4 x 11 1/8 in. (41.3 x 28.3 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York


"We see symbolised in the heart of Mary her maternal love, her singular sanctity and her central role in the redemptive mission of her Son.

It is with regard to her special role in her Son’s mission that devotion to Mary’s Heart has prime importance, for through love of her Son and of all of humanity she exercises a unique instrumentality in bringing us to him.

The act of entrusting to the Immaculate Heart of Mary that I solemnly performed at Fatima on May 13, 1982, and once again on March 25, 1984 at the conclusion of the Extraordinary Holy Year of the Redemption, is based upon this truth about Mary’s maternal love and particular intercessory role.

If we turn to Mary’s Immaculate Heart she will surely help us to conquer the menace of evil, which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today, and whose immeasurable effects already weigh down upon our modern world and seem to block the paths towards the future.

Our act of consecration refers ultimately to the heart of her Son, for as the Mother of Christ she is wholly united to his redemptive mission.

As at the marriage feast of Cana, when she said "Do whatever he tells you", Mary directs all things to her Son, who answers our prayers and forgives our sins.

Thus by dedicating ourselves to the heart of Mary we discover a sure way to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, symbol of the merciful love of our Saviour."

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