Missionaries of the Sacred

On December 8, 1854, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Fathers Jules Chevalier and Emile Maugenest completed their Novena to the Blessed Virgin, asking that she help them find a way to start the congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. Their prayer was answered on the same day with an unknown benefactor. According to Fr. Chevalier's promise, the Blessed Virgin was venerated in a special way by honoring her with the title Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. In addition to being the 154th anniversary of the founding of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, December 8, 2008 marks the 100th year of MSC mission in the Philippines. As part of the three-year preparation for the Jubilee Year of MSC presence in the Philippines, the Philippine Province visualized and created a Filipino image of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, which is now on a pilgrimage to all MSC Districts and Chevalier Family communities around the country.

The image of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart depicts a typical Filipina Mother who is very pious and tenderly loving as she cares for her children. To me, it is very helpful in deepening my relationship with Our Lady. This image of Our Lady receives varied reactions from different districts. Many wonder about the statue, which has  black skin, is so simple in stature,  and seems to lack the “holiness” aspect. But many also appreciate the beauty in her being natural and simple. They see a Mother who is poor – reflecting the struggle, suffering and poverty among the Filipino families of today – but also a Mother who is very prayerful, perseverant, forgiving, and tenderly loving in caring for her children. With it, I recall an experience of a traveling Filipina mother who was a seat away on the same bus with me. On another seat, I saw a two-year-old little girl sleeping on the lap of her father. Awakened from a deep sleep, the little girl started crying but could not articulate what she wanted. Not knowing what to do, the father tried to cuddle her and gave her some food from his bag, but the girl cried even louder. It was this Filipina mother seated nearby, who deeply understood her need and took off her coat and covered the child’s body in a most tender way to protect her from the cold wind, that stopped the little girl from crying.

Like that mother, the Filipina image for me is a perfect reflection of Our Lady who always understands us and and tends to our needs. Another memory I have is of a Filipino poster of a poor mother dressed in old, tattered and soiled cloths, holding in her arms her dirty, skinny, crying and hungry child, who after eating half of their one bread, continued crying in hunger until she gave him the other other half, leaving her nothing to eat. People asked “why such a poster?!” The artist’s answer: “It reflects the poverty of Filipino families, and at the same time, the self-giving character of the mother. A true mother is always ready and willing to sacrifice even the little she has just for her child.” The Filipina image of Our Lady is like the mother in the poster. Her admirable simplicity and poverty are vivid enough to tell us all that she loves us so much that she would not allow our prayers to be unheard by her Son and our almighty Father in heaven – even during the times when she can do nothing to attend to our needs – because her Son tells her to wait, for His time has not yet come. In this time and place of history, there is so much to appreciate and to hope for. We believe in Our Lady of the Sacred Heart for her unceasing love, care and concern for all of us and for humanity as a whole. She will never abandon us in our time of need.

See also Fr. Ricky's Song to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart