“Our Lady of the Sacred Heart” is a special devotion to Our Blessed Mother Mary promoted by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC), the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (FDNSC), the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart (MSC) and the congregations and communities who share the Charism, Spirituality and Mission of Fr. Jules Chevalier, founder of the MSC and the FDNSC. Her feast is celebrated every last Saturday of May. This year, 2025, her feast falls on May 31st.
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The title “Our Lady of the Sacred Heart” was given by Fr. Chevalier to Mary to honor her in a very special way. This title shows that Our Lady “is intimately united to the mystery of the Heart of her Son, and because through her we come to Him showing us His Heart, the source of infinite love that brings birth to a better world” (MSC Constitutions). The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart says: “Mary gave Jesus his humanity. In this special relationship, Mary becomes for all time, the woman closest to the Heart of Jesus.”
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The MSC, through their founder, Fr. JULES CHEVALIER, have always regarded the Blessed Mother Mary as their foundress. In his time, while contemplating on the Sacred Heart of Jesus before a world he knew was beset by the modern evils of Egoism, Indifferentism and Relativism, Jules Chevalier saw in the Heart of Jesus the remedy to these modern evils: God’s compassionate love symbolized by the Heart of Jesus. From the wounded side of Jesus, Jules Chevalier saw a new world emerging: water and blood, Spirit and Life, Justice and Peace! Fr. Jules and his first companions then did a novena to the Blessed Mother, praying for signs to grant their desire to found a group that would be called Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It was in December 8, 1854, the day of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, that the MSC was born in Issoudun, France.
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To honor Mary for this wonderful event of the birth of the MSC, Fr. Jules gave her the title OUR LADY OF THE SACRED HEART. “La Dame du Sacre Coeur”. Despite the controversy arising from the meaning associated with “la dame” in that time, Fr. Jules insisted on the title as mirroring the special bond in the relationship between the “lady” and the “knight”. The lady would always grant the knight whatever he asked for; the knight would always give his all, his life, in the service of the lady. In this imagery, Mary is the lady; Jesus the knight. One may not miss the significance of Fr. Jules’ family name: a Chevalier.
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For the MSC, Mary “has known the unfathomable riches of Christ; her whole being was filled with his love; she leads us to him, pointing to his Heart, the source of boundless love that gives birth to a new world.”
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There are three images that depict Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. The first, unique, original and favorite of Fr. Jules, shows Mary standing behind Jesus, as the twelve-year old child found in the Temple, standing for his Father’s teachings. The left hand of Jesus points to His Heart, the other to His Mother’s. The gaze of the Mother is towards her son, while her hands are stretched out to humanity, to the world, to all creation. It is a relationship between a woman and a young man, conscious of the will of His Father. The second image is that of Madonna with child, Mary carrying Jesus in her arms. This was a common portrayal of the Blessed Mother and Child at that time. Mary is offering the heart of the child Jesus to humanity, an affirmation of her maternal support to the mission of love and compassion of her son in the world: Jesus’ left hand is pointing to his heart in Mary’s hand; his right hand to his mother. The third image, modern version, is that of Mary at the foot of the Cross. Standing by the side of Jesus, Mary’s left hand is raised towards Jesus’ wounded side, while the other is directed down towards the world, the ground. Mary receives the graces of blood and water from the Heart of Jesus, and pours them down to the world; the right hand of Mary receives the cries of the world, for justice and peace, and raises them to the Heart of Jesus.
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Mary, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Hope of the Hopeless, pray for us! Our Lady of the Sacred Heart is attentive to human needs and aspirations everywhere for love and compassion, mercy and justice, truth and freedom, liberation and peace, among the poor and the little ones, in all the victims of injustice and violence. The devotion to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart is an active participation in the creation of a new heart for a new world of “water and blood, Life and Spirit, Justice and Peace, Hope and Salvation” that flow from the pierced Heart of Jesus.
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In Rome, a shrine has been dedicated to her honor: the Shrine of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. It is a “Church-Sanctuary .. constructed over the walls of the stadium of Domitian where in the 10th century the Benedictines of the Abbey of Farfa constructed an oratory consecrated to St. Andrew. From 1450-1458, it was set aside for the Spanish Nation, with lodgings and hospice for pilgrims, as well as a hospital founded and managed by Alfonso Paradinas of Seville.” This time it was dedicated to Sts. James and Ildephonsus. “In 1500 this church.. on the Piazza Navona..became the National Spanish Church, for the spiritual care of the strong Spanish community.” The church was a majestic work of art and a “monument for posterity.” In 1700, when the power of Spain declined, “the church was abandoned, and the works of art were taken away to the Spanish Church of Sta. Maria del Monserrato in Rome or sent to Spain. In 1829, the church building was reduced to a storage area for timber. In 1878, when the shop was auctioned by the Administration of the Pontifical State, Fr. Jules Chevalier, enthusiastically acquired it.”
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Fr. Jules Chevalier entrusted the task of restoring the church to architect Luca Carmini. When it was finally done, the church was then dedicated to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. It was consecrated on the 7th December 1881, eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, this time, under the direction of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.
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The Church-Shrine of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Rome is “In the Piazza Navona, on the ruins of the empire of the Caesars, surrounded by the splendor of Renaissance and Baroque art.” She stands in the heart of ancient Rome, 200 meters from the Palazzo Madama, the current seat of the senate of the Republic of Italy. Art, politics and history surround the oasis of peace”, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, right there in the heart of the Eternal City. (Quotes are from the brochure of the Shrine.) This shrine of Our Lady has triumphed over a history of power and powerlessness, of artistic wealth and deprivation, of church conflicts and resolution.
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The Chevalier Family of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, together with their lay associates, are inviting us all to Mary, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. Let us go to her now. – Fr. Ben, MSC
Fr. Ben Alforque, MSC