May 30th, Feast of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart - A Different Celebration in 2020
Greetings to the Chevalier Family and beyond on this patronal Feast.
Somebody remarked that with Pentecost Sunday, this weekend is the Feast of Our Lady of Pentecost – the words and image are there in the Acts of the Apostles, Mary with apostles and disciples in the upper room, anticipating, hoping for the coming of the Spirit.
This is covid-19 year and we extend our prayers to those infected with the virus. Our hearts to out to our US confreres who have the virus, Brother George Farkas, Brother Joe Tesar, Father John Paul. Below is a picture from the MSC house in Center Valley for praying for our confreres.
And a special OLSH prayer in times of Coronavirus.
Jules Chevalier invoked Mary with the title "Our Lady of the Sacred Heart" and the devotion to Mary with that title spread rapidly in all continents. A confraternity with that name was founded and reached 18 million members in 1891. The Congregation of Sisters founded by Father Chevalier are called "the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart". The feast of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart is celebrated nowadays on the last Saturday of May.
The purpose of this devotion, according to Father Chevalier, is to honour Mary "in her relationship of ineffable love which exists between her and the Sacred Heart of Jesus."
This is a very rich mystery with many aspects, for Mary was the Mother of Christ and also his partner in the work of redemption. On Calvary Our Lord gave her as Mother to the disciple he loved, that is, to all of us, and Mary saw how the Heart of her Son was pierced and how blood and water flowed from it.
In John 7:37 Christ referred to his heart as the source of living water, that is, of the Spirit. The source was opened on Calvary, and when Our Lady prayed with the Apostles in the Cenacle, the Spirit was poured out over them and they started to preach (Our Lady of Pentecost): the Church came to life. As Mother of the Church Our Lady continues to obtain life for all of us.
The National Shrine of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
Artist, Richard Campbell
The National Shrine of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart is situated in the parish of Randwick in Sydney. The website opens with a power point presentation of a wide range of images of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. The site has prayers and articles on the devotion and the theology behind it.
