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Mary pondered them in her heart

(Lk 2:19)

            Valentine’s Day is always a special day for many of us. It is a day to send greeting cards and flowers to our loved ones. It is a day for lovers. As the Filipinos would say it, “Ito ang araw ng mga puso” (This is the day of the hearts). My brothers and sisters, this Valentine’s Day, I would like to share with you my reflections on that one heart that is full of love for all of us – the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

            Catholic devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary has its roots in the Scripture. In the Gospel of Luke there are two occasions during which Mary is reported to have “pondered or treasured things in her heart.” The first occasion is during the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem when the shepherds made known what the angels had told them: So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart (Lk 2:16-19). The second occasion is during the finding of the child Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem: After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart (Lk 2:46,51).

            Since the earliest days of the Church, Christian scholars and theologians have pondered on these two events, focusing on verses 19 and 51, “Mary treasured all these things in her heart.” These events involving Jesus, first as an infant and later as a young adult, which have led Mary to “ponder in her heart,” show that Mary is living out God’s call to motherhood and discipleship. She ponders in her heart the significance, first, of what the shepherds have told about the angelic messages, and second, of the priority which Jesus has given to his duty toward his Father. These two events contain an important revelation – the Messiah has come to fulfill the task given by the One who has sent Him. And Mary ponders this in her Immaculate Heart.

            Reflecting on these Lucan verses, many Christian writers, such as Origen and St. Peter Canisius, have come to consider the heart as the seat of intellectual life. Similarly, Catholic theologians have come to regard the Heart of Mary as “the core of her sensitive and spiritual life.” And thus begun the long tradition of Catholic devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

            An outward sign of devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the wearing of the brown scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. On 16 July 1251, the Blessed Mother appeared to St. Simon Stock, the Superior General of the Carmelite Order, and told him, “Take this scapular: it shall be a sign of salvation, a protection in danger and a pledge of peace. Whoever dies wearing this garment shall not suffer eternal fire.” Since then millions of Catholics all over the world have worn the brown scapular with reverence. It has served as a visible mark of their love for the Blessed Mother and confidence in the Immaculate Heart’s generous and loving pledge of protection. For many Catholics, it has become a sure sign of salvation. As St. Therese of the Child Jesus once remarked, “I am so happy that you are wearing the blessed Scapular; it is a sign of predestination.”

Many miracles have been associated with the wearing of the brown scapular. The scapulars of St. John Bosco and St. Alphonsus were found perfectly preserved although everything else in their tombs had turned to dust. When the remains of Pope Gregory X were exhumed in 1839, over 500 years after his death, his scapular was also found perfectly intact. It has been reported that there are over 300 books written to record and report the innumerable miraculous events associated with the brown scapular.

During the miracle of the sun in Fatima on 13 October 1917, the Blessed Virgin appeared to Lucia as Our Lady of Mount Carmel holding out the brown scapular to the world. Many years later, in 1951, Sister Lucia was asked why in her view Our Lady appeared with the scapular in the last vision. She replied, “She meant that all Catholics should wear the scapular as part of the Fatima message. One could not follow this message unless he or she wore the brown scapular.”

In 1951, during the commemoration of 700 years of the scapular, Pope Pius XII wrote the following words addressed to the faithful: “Take this scapular which Our Lady has given as a sign of consecration to her Immaculate Heart. Go out and convince the world that it must be dedicated to the Blessed Virgin if it will find peace. Go out and through this scapular re-dedicate families to the Holy Mother of God, who has shown her graces so abundantly through this scapular.”

Pope Pius XII also said, “Upon the Mystical Body of Christ, Our Lady bestowed the same motherly care and fervent love with which she fostered and nurtured the Infant Jesus in the cradle.” Since the Mystical Body of Christ is the Church and we, the faithful, are the Church, this statement of Pope Pius XII has a wonderful message for all of us. The message is this: just as Mary in Bethlehem wrapped the child Jesus in swaddling clothes to shield Him from cold and harm, the Blessed Mother is also offering to clothe us with the Scapular to protect us from hell and evil.

Finally, when Jacinta, one of the three children of Fatima, sensed that she had but a short time to live, she told Lucia, “I am going to heaven soon, but you must stay here to make known God’s wish to establish in the world devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Do not be afraid to tell it. Tell everyone that God gives us all graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, so that everyone may ask her. Make it known that the Sacred Heart of Jesus wishes that the Immaculate Heart of Mary be honored with him. People must ask for peace through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for God has confided the peace of the world to her.”

My brothers and sisters, on this “day of the hearts”, let us offer our own hearts to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Let us profess our love to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Let us continue with zeal our community’s First Friday Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. And then allow me further to encourage you to wear the brown scapular as a sign of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. As St. Louis de Monfort said, “The more a soul is consecrated to Mary, the more it is consecrated to Christ.” This Valentine’s Day, let us ponder all these things in our hearts. When we do, we will hear God’s voice in our hearts, urging us to honor the Immaculate Heart of the Mother of God who will lead us to Jesus, our only Savior and Lord.     

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