praises, and affections.[1] This consideration has engaged the sovereign pontiffs and head pastors of the Church to give the selfsame sanction to the pious practices instituted in honor of the sacred Heart of Mary as they give to those of the adorable Heart of Jesus, both within their proper limits. They both have equally their feasts and solemnities, both their associations, and those, too, equally enriched with the treasures of the Church, under the liberal dispensation of its governors. Many are the pious and virtuous souls who have drawn most signal fruit and advantages from these devotions.
Let us love and honor these two hearts so intimately united; let us go to the Father through the Heart of Jesus; let us go to the Son through the Heart of Mary. Let us render to God the Father, through the Heart of Jesus, what we owe to his infinite goodness and justice; and let us render to God the Son, through the Heart of Mary, what we owe to his mercy, and for all his benefits to us. We shall obtain everything from the Father and the Holy Ghost through the Heart of Jesus, and we shall obtain every thing from the Son through the Heart of Mary. It is customary with many pious persons to dedicate the first Saturday in the month to the particular honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as the first Friday is devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. To this end they hear Mass, and make a spiritual communion, if they cannot communicate sacramentally, to thank God for all the graces he has bestowed upon Mary, and for the tender affection with which he has filled her heart towards us. In the evening they visit
- ↑ What is very remarkable, Divine Providence so ordained, that the first church dedicated to tile Heart of Jesus, was also, at the name time, dedicated to the Heart of Mary. This was the church of the Reoiinairr le Coittances, in Normandy. In lfiSi. the Feasts of these Sacred Hearts were celebrated there with an octave, and a society devoted to them established, to which, in 1764, Pope Clement X. granted a Brief of Indulgences.
