History of the Marian Title

In 1857, at Issoudun (France), Father Jules Chevalier, whose beatification cause has been introduced, gave the Most Holy Virgin this new name. For him, that title indicated that Mary was preferred among all women by the loving Heart of God, that she was destined to be the mother of mankind, to lead them to the Heart of her Son, and that, in sum, she is our powerful advocate before the Heart of her Divine Son.

This new title implies two of the protagonists of the Mystery of the Incarnation: Jesus and his Mother. Mary is invoked as Our Lady and Christ is contemplated under the symbol of the Sacred Heart. We are thus drawn into the heart of the mystery of faith. "Is not Mary the one who helps us enter into the mystery of Christ and the Church?" would be said by the Second Vatican Council.

We are in the heart of the Gospel which reveals to us the intimacy of Mary and Jesus: the Annunciation, the Nativity, Cana, the Cross and later the Cenacle..

Father Jules Chevalier

...Pronouncing this name, we thank and we glorify God, because He chose Mary, from among all creatures, to form in her virginal womb the adorable Heart of Jesus. We recognize that by means of this special title, in a way, all the other titles of Mary are summarized, the ineffable power that the sweetest Savior has granted her over his adorable Heart. We plead to this compassionate Mother that she will lead us to the Heart of her Son… Since the power of Mary exceeds that which our weak reason can conceive, and Jesus always listens to His Mother´s humble supplications and prayers, we will entrust to her the success of difficult and despairing causes...

Holy Mary is Mother, Guide and Company in our spiritual life, and She helps us understand better and better the intimacy of her relationship with her Son from the Incarnation to her Assumption into Heaven.

Holy Mary of the Heart of God

God, in his Three Divine Persons, loves the Most Holy Virgin as no other created being. And Holy Mary loves God the Trinity like no other creature loves Him. No one like Holy Mary of the Heart of God, has a such a relationship with each one of the Three Divine Persons; only God himself prevails. Because of this, the love of and for the Most Holy Virgin helps us this way, in a unique manner, to grow in love for the Most Holy Trinity.

 

Prayer and the Memorare to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart

What is essentially implied by the title of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart is the power of Mary over the Heart of her Divine Son. This is what allows Mary to become the most powerful intercessor. And thus she is also named "Advocate of difficult and desperate causes."

All those devoted to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart also rejoice in an "official prayer" addressed to her. We call it the prayer of the "Memorare" (Father Julio Chevalier) It is a beautiful prayer of supplication that millions of people pray daily throughout all continents and is considered as a powerful prayer of intercession.

There is a more modern version that is also called a "Memorare" (Father Jean Tostain, MSC)and that attempts to express the same, but under the theological optic of Vatican II. (the version of the Daughters of Holy Mary of the Heart of Jesus)(

REMEMBER

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, the ineffable power which thy divine Son has given thee over His adorable Heart. Full of confidence in thy merits, we now implore thy protection. O heavenly treasurer of the Heart of Jesus, of that Heart, Which is the inexhaustible source of all graces, and Which thou mayest open when thou pleasest, in order to distribute among men all the treasures of love and mercy, of light and salvation, which It contains, grant us, we beseech thee, the favors we solicit... (ask for the graces you desire to attain)

No, we cannot meet with a refusal, and since thou art our Mother, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, favorably hear and grant our prayers. Amen.

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, pray for us! (Repeat with fervor three times)

REMEMBER

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, the great things the Lord has done for you. He chose you for his Mother. He wanted you by his cross. He gives you a share in his glory. He listens to your prayer. Offer him our prayers of praise and thanksgiving: present our petitions to him…. (ask for the grace you would like to receive)

Let us live like you in the love of your Son so that his Kingdom may come. Lead all men to the source of living water that flows from his Heart, spreading over the world hope, salvation, justice and peace. See our trust in you; answer our prayer, show yourself always our mother. Amen.

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, pray for us! (Repeat with fervor three times)

The Image

We do not know if Fr. Jules Chevalier had visions or revelations. This is why when he thought of the Image, he was not reproducing something previously seen, as is the case of visionaries of apparitions of the Most Holy Virgin. Thus, Fr. Chevalier, beyond esthetics, strived to explain the meaning of the new title, greatly insisting on the privileged relationship between Mary and Jesus. Do you want to know how he came up with it and how he had the first Image made?

The First Image

Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón de Issoudun

It is an image of the Immaculate with outstretched hands, signifying the river of graces that reach us through her. She looks downward toward Jesus and also toward her children, the faithful, as a welcoming gesture toward her son, whom she presents to us. In front of this image, there is another, the one of the Christ Child, pointing with his left hand to his own Heart and with his right to his Mother, as if saying: "Through my Mother, the treasures of my Heart will be poured out." The Child, at the approximate age of 12, seems to be saying: "If you want the graces of which my Heart is the Source, come to my Mother. She has the key, as treasurer, and can distribute the treasures that it contains as she pleases."

First in 1861, he asked Mr. Leopard Lobin, a glass artisan, to construct a stained glass window in the chapel. Later, when he was able to enlarge the Sanctuary of the Sacred Heart, he ordered a grand statue 1.70 m tall with the same representation for the altar of Our Lady. It was made out of white marble from Carraca by a well-known sculptor, Jules Blanchard, and was finished in 1868. She was crowned on the 8th of September, 1869 with the Pontifical Brief of Pope Pius IX in the presence of twenty thousand pilgrims, thirty bishops and six hundred priests.

The Second Image

Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón

It represents the Virgin with the Child in her arms. She shows us the Heart of the Son, and, likewise, the Child opens his arms, as if desiring to encompass the entire world.

The Third Image

Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón

It is an image of Mary standing with her little Son in her arms and holding his Heart. Jesus is pointing with one hand to his Heart and with the other is directing us to his Mother. The representation of the intimate relationship between them cannot be more perfect: "Come to Me through her, who is the owner of my Heart."