The Heart of Mary Compared to the Heavens
August is the month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Our thoughts are turn spontaneously towards our admirable Mother at all times, but especially in these weeks leading up to the feasts of the Assumption (15 Aug) and of the Immaculate Heart (22 Aug). To help you prepare for this feast, we present the following meditation from Saint John Eudes wherein the Saint speaks of the Immaculate Heart of Mary as the Heaven in which Jesus has chosen to dwell. Since, as Saint John Eudes says, Jesus is Himself the Heaven of the Father, and Mary’s Heart is His heaven, should not we seek to make our heart a heaven for Mary — that is, a heaven to Jesus’ Own heaven — to make our heart Mary’s delightful dwelling place that, through her, our heart can be made the heaven of God? As our Lord said: “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21).
The Heavens as an Image of the Heart of Mary
Mary’s pure Heart is truly a heaven of which the sky over our heads is a mere shadow and image. It is a heaven exalted above all others, of which the Holy Ghost speaks when He says that the Savior of the World went out from a heaven surpassing all others in excellence, when He came on earth to redeem mankind: A summo caelo egressio ejus, His going out is from the height of heaven (Ps. 18, 7). As Our admirable Mother had formed her Divine Son in her Heart before conceiving Him in her womb, (St Leo the Great, Serm. I de Nativitate Domini) we can truly say that, having remained hidden in her Heart for a little while even as He had been in the Heart of His heavenly Father from all eternity, Our Blessed Savior emerged from it to manifest Himself to men. But just as He went forth from heaven and His Father’s bosom, without however relinquishing them: Excessit, non recessit; so also is His Mother’s Heart a heaven whence He came forth in such a manner that He nevertheless remained and will remain forever in it: “For ever, O Lord, Thy word standeth firm in heaven” (Ps. 118, 89).
Mary, Like the Heavens, is
The heavens are called the special work of God’s hands: “The heavens are the works of Thy hands” (Ps. 101, 26), but the Heart of the Mother of God is the unequalled masterpiece of His omnipotence, His unfathomable wisdom and His infinite goodness.
Mary, Like the Heavens, is the Abode of His Divine Majesty
God made heaven to be the particular abode of His Divine Majesty: “The Lord hath prepared His throne in heaven” (Ps. 102, 19). It is true that He fills both heaven and earth with His divinity: “I fill heaven and earth” (Jer. 23, 24) but heaven to a far greater degree than earth, for He has established there the fullness of His grandeur, power and divine magnificence: “Thy magnificence is elevated above the heavens” (Ps. 8, 2). In like manner, we can truly say of the Heart of the Blessed Mother of God that it is a real Heaven of the Divinity, of the divine attributes and of the Most Blessed Trinity.
Mary’s Heart as a Heaven All Ablaze
The Admirable Heart of Mary is an empyrean heaven, that is, a Heaven all fire and flames, ever burning with the fire and flames of celestial love, holier and more ardent than the love of the Seraphim and of the greatest Saints who dwell in the empyrean heaven.
Mary’s Heart is the Heaven of Heavens
Mary’s pure Heart is the Heaven of Heavens, created for God alone, because it is the priceless inheritance and rich portion of the Lord, who always possessed it most entirely: “The heaven of heaven is the Lord’s” (Ps. 113, 16). Yes, the most holy Heart of the Queen of Angels is the Heaven of Heavens.
Her Heart of the Heaven of Jesus
Jesus Christ is truly the Heaven of the Blessed Trinity. The Holy Ghost assures us that the fullness of the Divinity abides in Him: “For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead” (Col. 2, 9), and this same Jesus has forever fixed His dwelling in the Blessed Heart of His most worthy Mother.
In this way, the Heart of the Mother of Jesus can be said to be the Heaven of Heaven.
Her Heart is the Heaven of the Church
“[T]he Lord, dwelling in the Blessed Virgin Mary, as in a heaven, has turned the eyes of His mercy towards the earth, that is, towards sinners” (Ignotus in Ps. 101).
[T]he Admirable Heart of Mary is the Heaven of Heaven, because, as St. Bernard says, it contains the entire Church, which is called in Sacred Scripture the Kingdom of Heaven, and because all the children of the Church receive through Mary the life of grace. St. Paul assured the Christians of his time that they were in his heart (2 Cor. 7, 3), [and] St. Bernardine of Siena…tells us that the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, like a good mother, carries all her children in her Heart… I add that Our Lady will forever carry all the inhabitants of heaven in her inmost Heart, which becomes the Heaven of Heaven, and a true Paradise of the Elect, in which they find the fullness of delight and joy, due to the inconceivable love for each soul which consumes her maternal Heart. Thus the blessed will forever sing: Sicut laetantium omnium nostrum habitatio est in corde tuo, sancta Dei Genetrix (Our dwelling, as also that of all those that rejoice, is in thy Heart, O Holy Mother of God). O Holy Mother of God, thy boundless charity has so vastly extended thy maternal Heart that it has become like a great city, or rather an immense heaven, full of ineffable consolations and unspeakable joys for thy beloved children, whose happy dwelling it shall be for all eternity.
In Praise of the Heaven of Her Heart
O Heaven, more exalted, more extensive and more vast than all the heavens! O Heaven, enclosing Him whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain! O Heaven, filled with more praise, glory and love of God than the Heaven where eternal bliss resides! O Heaven, wherein the King of Heaven reigns more completely than in all other heavens! O Heaven, where the Most Holy Trinity dwells more worthily and accomplishes wonders far greater than in the empyrean heaven! O Heaven, in which divine mercy has established its throne and deposited its treasures, where it hearkens to the cry of the unfortunate and helps them in all their necessities! “O Lord, Thy mercy is in heaven” (Ps. 35, 6).
An Invitation
Let us draw nigh to this throne of grace and with great confidence present our requests to the Mother of grace and mercy. Through the intercession of her Heart, most exalted, yet most tender, we shall obtain the graces that we need to become pleasing in the sight of the celestial majesty of God.
You whose great happiness it is to be numbered among the true children of the Mother of pure love, rejoice! Your names are written in her maternal Heart! Lift up your eyes and your hearts to that beautiful heaven! It is there that your hearts will find light, strength, powerful aid in the battle of life, guidance and succor, and above all inspiration to love your Creator and Redeemer, the Lord of Heaven, strongly, purely and above all things.
–Saint John Eudes, The Admirable Heart of Blessed Virgin Mary