Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Solemnity of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrated on the Saturday after the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi).
For the 2025 Liturgical Calendar this Friday, June 28th, 2025
What does the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary mean?
The Immaculate Heart of Mary signifies the great purity and love of the heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary for God. This purity is manifested in her “Yes” to the Father at the Incarnation, Her love for, and cooperation with, the Incarnate Son in His redemptive mission, and her docility to the Holy Spirit, enabling her to remain free of the stain of personal sin throughout her life.
Mary’s Immaculate Heart, therefore, points us to her profound interior life, where she experienced both joys and sorrows, yet remained faithful, as we, too, are called to do.
“Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did.”
– Saint Maximilian Kolbe
What is the history of the Immaculate Heart of Mary devotion?
The Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary celebrates the interior life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and above all, her virginal love for God the Father, her maternal love for her son Jesus, and her compassionate love for all persons. Two elements are essential to the devotion, Mary’s interior life and the beauties of her soul, and Mary’s virginal body.
In the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the attraction is the love of her Immaculate Heart for Jesus and for God. Also, love is formed from study and imitation of Mary’s yes to God as the Mother of Jesus. In this devotion, love is more the result, than the “object” of the devotion; the object being rather to love God and Jesus by uniting one’s self to Mary for this purpose and by imitating her virtues, to help one achieve this.
Christians were drawn to the love and virtues of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and this paved the devotion from the beginning. Early Christians had compassion for the Virgin Mary, and the Gospels recount prophecy delivered to her at Jesus’ presentation in the temple, and that her heart would be pierced with a sword.
And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.
Luke 2:19
Depiction of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Immaculate Heart of Blessed Virgin Mary is typically rendered in Catholic artwork as a bright red anatomical human heart that is pierced with a sword.
- The heart is pierced with a sword. Although this depiction only shows one, traditionally it was pierced with seven swords representing the Seven Sorrows of her life.
- The heart is surrounded by roses. Roses are known as the "queen of flowers" and symbolize Mary as the Queen of Heaven. Roses also depict hidden suffering in their thorny stems and are a connection to Jesus' crown of thorns.
- Atop the heart are lilies. The lily represents Mary's purity as the Virgin Mother of God.
You must never separate what God has so perfectly united. So closely are Jesus and Mary bound up with each other that whoever beholds Jesus sees Mary; whoever loves Jesus, loves Mary; whoever has devotion to Jesus, has devotion to Mary.
– Saint John Eudes
What are the seven sorrows of Mary?
1. The prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:25-35)
2. The flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15)
3. Loss of the Child Jesus for three days (Luke 2:41-50)
4. Mary meets Jesus on His way to Calvary (Luke 23:27-31; John 19:17)
5. Crucifixion and Death of Jesus (John 19:25-30)
6. The body of Jesus taken from the Cross (Psalm 130; Luke 23:50-54; John 19:31-37)
7. The burial of Jesus (Isaiah 53:8; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42; Mark 15:40-47)
How do the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary relate to each other?
The Servant of God Lúcia de Jesus Rosa dos Santos, one of the Fátima visionaries, said, “The work of our redemption began at the moment when the Word descended from Heaven in order to assume a human body in the womb of Mary. From that moment, and for the next nine months, the Blood of Christ was the Blood of Mary, taken from Her Immaculate Heart; the Heart of Christ was beating in unison with the Heart of Mary.”
Also, Jesus Himself appeared to Sister Lucia, saying, “I want My Church to . . . put the devotion to this Immaculate Heart beside the devotion to My Sacred Heart.”
Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Blessed Mary
IImmaculate Heart of Mary, my Mother, I come to you in childlike prayer.
I earnestly desire that all the people of the world may be brought back to the humble knowledge and love of the Sacred Heart of your dear Son.
I pray, dear Mother of my God, that the wonderful beauty and purity of your own Immaculate Heart may so win our souls that we may detest all sin and dedicate our lives to the honor and glory of the God who created us.
You revealed the secrets of your own sad heart at Fatima and begged for penance, prayer, and conversion of the world to God. What more can I do than unite my heart to yours in this great yearning? What can I add but the fervent prayer that all the world may listen to your pleading?
I give my heart to you, my heavenly Queen, and in confidence I leave to you what is best for me in answer to my prayer for love and reparation.
Immaculate Heart of the Mother of my God, I implore through your powerful intercession, the conversion of the hearts of men, complete victory over sin, and the return of the peace which you have promised.
Amen
Solemnities, Feasts and Memorials
"...the liturgy celebrated on fixed days bears the imprint of the newness of the Mystery of Christ."
