MARY'S ASSISTANCE WITH THE SACRED HEART

Our blessed Lady is the Mother of baptized Christians; she is charged to develop in them the life of her divine Son which they receive in baptism. The Book of Special Grace shows us the solicitude of this devoted Mother. Whether it is to develop His life in us or to renew it, it is to the Heart of her Son that she always leads us. Better than the Apostles, she understood those words at the Last Supper: "I am the vine, you the branches; he that abideth in Me beareth much fruit" (Saint John 15:5).

One Saturday while they were singing the Mass, Salve Sancta Parens, Mechtilde saluted our Blessed Lady, begging of her to obtain for her true holiness, and the glorious Virgin answered her: "If thou desirest true holiness, keep near my Son, who is holiness Himself and who sanctifies all things." Mechtilde asked how she was to carry out this advice, and our Lady answered with great kindness:

Keep before thee His holy infancy, that thereby His innocence may supply for all the actions and omissions of thy infancy.

Keep before thee His fervent youth, which was so full of love, that it alone would suffice to enkindle the furnace of divine love; by it the lukewarmness and idleness of thy youth shall be repaired.

Keep before thee His divine virtues, which will ennoble and elevate thy actions.

Keep also my Son before thy eyes in directing to Him all thy thoughts, words and actions. He who did all things perfectly will efface all that is imperfect in them.

Rely also on Him, as a spouse relies on her husband; she is fed and clothed at his expense, and for love of him she cherishes and honours his family and friends.

The soul must be nourished by the Word of God, as by the choicest food; it must be clothed and adorned carefully with what pleases Him.

With the example of His virtues, we should strive to imitate them. We should make His family our own that is, His Saints love them, praise God on their account and incite them often to praise Their Beloved with us.

In this way the soul will also be holy according as what is written, With the holy thou wilt be holy (Psalm 18:26), in the same way as a queen is queen because she participates in the dignity of the king.

To keep with Jesus, that is the secret of all holiness; to keep with Jesus in all the vicissitudes of our life, with Him in the mysteries of His infancy, of His youth, of His life and death, of His Resurrection and Glory. Happy is the one who understands this secret! He will soon attain, and without great efforts, to a Christian life even in its perfection.

It is certain that some day or other great obstacles may arise on the narrow way that leads to Heaven, but the Sacred Heart will be with us to enable us to overcome them.

There is, above all, one that we shall escape easily, if we remain constantly faithful to Him, according to our Lady's recommendation, and that is, taking pride in ourselves. The Heart of Jesus throws so much light on our soul and its imperfections that we shall escape this natural satisfaction and pride and the indolence which results from it.

 
 
THE WATERS OF ETERNAL LIFE

The servant of God was one day forced to complain to our Blessed Lady of an obstacle she thought would prevent her progress in the service of God. The Blessed Mother said to her: "Go and present thyself to my Son respectfully."

She then prostrated herself at our Saviour’s feet, and on rising she saw upon His breast what appeared to her to be a very brilliant mirror; and from this there seemed to come forth other mirrors which covered the whole of His sacred Person. She understood this to mean that all the members of Christ in their various operations shine before us like mirrors, and that all these operations proceed from the love of His Heart.

His feet, which are His desires, burn for us; He must see how cold are our desires for spiritual things, and how helpless for human things.

The knees of Christ are for us mirrors of humility. They were bent so often for us in prayer, and also when He washed His Apostles feet. In this we can recognize our pride, which prevents us from humbling ourselves, though we are but dust and ashes.

The Heart of Christ is for us a mirror of the most burning love where we may see clearly the coldness of our own hearts towards God and our neighbour.

The mouth of Christ is for us a mirror of sweet words, full of praise and thanksgiving. We can recognize by it the worthlessness of our words and the omissions of which we are guilty in divine praise and in prayer.

The eyes of our Lord are for us the mirrors of divine truth; in them we may see the darkness caused by our unfaithfulness, which prevents us from knowing the truth.

The ears of our Lord are for us the mirrors of obedience, for He was always ready to obey God His Father and to listen to our prayers.

The baptized soul must therefore love the Sacred Heart of Jesus, if it wishes to live the divine life of which it received the seed in the waters of baptism.

From this Sacred Heart flow the waters of eternal life.

Mechtilde saw these precious waters rush out and flow over souls. She called them now a river, then a stream, and again a spring; but the river, the spring and the stream were able to purify all souls.

The river, she says, flows from the Heart of Jesus, inundating souls, penetrating them entirely, chasing away sadness and spreading around the joy of the City of God.

The little stream from the Heart of Jesus hides itself in the baptismal waters in order to flow over all those who receive spiritual regeneration.

The humble spring of living and limpid waters flows gently from the Sacred Heart into souls full of love for Him.  
 

 
 

 
 

 

OUR FATHER, WHO ART IN HEAVEN, I implore You, O Heavenly Father: pardon the poor souls in Purgatory, for they did not love You like their Lord and Father, who by Your love and generosity You adopted as your children, and they have not given You the love due to You but who instead, have cast You out of their hearts with their sins, where You wanted to dwell for ever. In reparation for these faults I offer You that love and that honor, which Your Only Begotten Son has given you during His early life, and all his works and acts of penance with which he has cleansed and expiated the sins of all men. Amen.

HALLOWED BE THY NAME, I implore You without ceasing, O Most Clement Father: forgive the poor souls, for they did not always know to respect and honor Your Holy Name, but often uttered it with their lips in a vain and superficial manner, living a sinful life making themselves unworthy of the name "Christian". In reparation for those sins I offer to You all the honor which Your beloved Son has rendered to You while on earth by His words and deeds, thus fittingly glorifying Your Name. Amen.

THY KINGDOM COME; I implore you, O Most Clement Father: pardon the poor souls because they did not always ardently desire Your Kingdom, where only true peace is found; the place of true rest. In reparation for the superficiality in achieving Good, I offer You the Most Holy Desires of Your Son, with which He seeks, desires and wants those souls to be also co-heirs of Your Kingdom. Amen.

THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN; I implore you, O Most Clement Father: forgive the poor souls, for they did not submit their will to Yours and have not always tried to realize it in all things, but instead often lived according to their own likes, in their own fashion, working and behaving against Your Desire. For their disobedeience I offer You a perfect union of the most loved Heart of Your Son with your Most Holy Will and Its profound submission, as I offer You the perfect conformity of the Heart, full of love, of Your Divine Son with Your Holy Will and the most profound submission which He showed in obeying You unto death on the Holy Cross. Amen.

GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD; I implore you, O Most Clement Father: pardon the poor souls in Purgatory, for they many times received the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist without a vivid desire, without attention, without ardent love, and even unworthily, and with great lack of care when receiving it. For all these sins I ofer You the great Sanctity and Devotion of Jesus Christ, Your Son, as well as His ardent Love, with which He has given us this Good so adorable. Amen.

FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US; I implore You, O Most Loving Father: forgive the poor souls in Purgatory, all the sins of which they have been guilty, for the Seven Capital Sins and, above all, for not having loved their enemies and for not wanting to forgive them. For these sins and reparation for these faults, I offer You the outstanding Holiness and Offer you the most loving prayer that Your Son sent to You from the Holy Cross, for all His enemies. Amen.

AND LET US NOT FALL INTO TEMPTATION; I implore you, O Most Clement Father: pardon the poor souls because many times they have not put up any resistance to their temptations and their passions, but instead have followed the malignant enemy and have satisfied the desires of the flesh. In reparation for all the varities of these faults and sins I offer You His Most Holy Life, His Work and Sorrows, His Suffering and His Most Bitter and Cruel Passion and Death. Amen.

BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL; and from all punishments through the Infinite Merits of Your most beloved Son and lead us, together with all the souls in Purgatory, into Your Kingdom of Eternal Glory. Amen

SAINT MECHTILDE’S pious custom was to recite five Hail Marys before receiving Holy Communion, and these were her intentions:

At the first Hail Mary, she reminded our Lady of the solemn hour when she conceived a Son in her virginal womb, at the word of the Angel, and drew Him to her from heaven by her profound humility. She asked her to obtain for her a pure conscience and profound humility.

At the second Hail Mary, she reminded her of the happy moment when she took Jesus for the first time into her arms and first saw Him in His Sacred Humanity. She prayed to Mary to obtain for her a true knowledge of herself.

At the third Hail Mary, she begged our Lady to remember that she had always been prepared to receive grace and had never placed any obstacle to its operation. She begged Mary to obtain for her a heart always ready to receive divine grace.

At the fourth Hail Mary, she reminded our Lady with what devotion and gratitude she received on earth the body of her well-beloved Son, knowing better than anyone the salvation to be found there by mankind. Mechtilde begged her to obtain that her heart might be filled with worthy feelings of gratitude. If men knew the blessings which flow for them from the body of Jesus Christ, they would faint with joy.

At the fifth Hail Mary, she reminded our Lady of the reception given to her by her divine Son when He invited her to take her place near Him in heaven in the midst of transports of joy.