Our Lady of the Sacred Heart & The Ninth Promise of the Sacred Heart

[JS_Cortez]

The ninth promise the Lord gives about the devotion to His most sacred heart is “I will bless those places wherein the image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored and will imprint My love on the hearts of those who would wear this image on their person. I will also destroy in them all disordered movements.”

Do you think that a medal of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart would count as “wearing this image on their person” since she carries in her arms the Child Jesus and His exposed sacred heart?

 

[bpbasilphx]

Since the Sacred Heart of Jesus refers to Jesus Himself, somehow, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart doesn’t seem to mean anything but “Our Lady of Jesus.”

Can you please explain this?

 

[JS_Cortez]

No problem. I took this history from Catholictradition.org:

The devotion to Our Lady of the Immaculate Heart grew after the Apparition to St. Catherine Laboure, a Sister of Charity in the Rue de Bac, Paris, in November of 1830; this was the occasion for the Miraculous Medal of the Immaculate Conception. On one side of the Medal is the image of the Cross with Mary’s initial, M, on it and beneath the Cross there are two Hearts close by each other, one with thorns encircling it, and the other, pierced by a sword. This was the image of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart.

All of these great events were leading to the special devotion of Our Lady as Our Lady of the Sacred Heart as such, which came from 19th century France, in the diocese of Bourges. This region had suffered particularly during the brutality of the French Revolution. In 1854, a young priest, Fr. Jules Chevalier, who had been but a priest for 3 years, sought a remedy for the chaos and lack of religious piety and zeal, even faith itself, which had resulted from the Revolution. He was sure that the remedy only lay in “the Heart of Jesus.” Reflecting on the gravity of the French situation, he felt inspired to found the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, on the same day that Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8, 1854, which surely was no mere coincidence. The aim of the Congregation was to have a special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to give to Mary a very special honor.

Through the love Fr. Chevalier bore for the Sacred Heart, he made a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in Paray le Monial and prayed to the Saint to obtain for him a deep love for the Heart of Jesus. Three years later in May of 1857, he was moved to promote another title for Our Blessed Mother, that of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, saying:

“We would thank and glorify God for having chosen Mary among all creatures to form in her virginal womb the adorable Heart of Jesus … we ask this compassionate Virgin to lead us to the Heart of Jesus.”
Pope Pius IX was pleased by Fr. Chevalier’s efforts, expressing a desire to be a member of the Congregation itself, adding to his signature, “Pius IX who desires to love the Blessed Virgin Mary.” The devotion grew in Italy after that and by 1972 there were at least 45 Italian Bishops who have promoted the Devotion to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.

In short, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, is a title for the Virgin Mary as she leads us to the heart of her Son. A google image search brings up a few pictures depicting her with this title as she holds the Child Jesus with His sacred heart exposed. One painting that comes to mind is done by Antonio Ciseri.