Commemoration of Blessed Marie de Jésus Deluil Martiny, Virgin
Adoration, Reparation, and Spiritual Motherhood
Among the models of holiness proposed in the Congregation for the Clergy's remarkable Letter of 8 December 2007, Adoration, Reparation, and Spiritual Mother for Priests, is Blessed Marie de Jésus Deluil Martiny (1841-1884). Today is the liturgical commemoration of Blessed Marie de Jésus, marking her martyrdom at the hands of a French anarchist, on 27 February 1884.
Our God Draws Near to Us
When I meditated these words of Moses at Vigils this morning -- "No other nation has gods that draw near to it, as our God draws near to us whenever we pray to Him" (Dt 4:7) -- I related them to the mission of Blessed Marie de Jésus in the Church. She was graced with a burning awareness of the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist, in the Sacrament of His Love. So ardent was her zeal to draw souls close to the Heart of Him who draws near to us in the Blessed Sacrament, that she became known, while yet a young woman living in the world, as the Zelatrice of the Sacred Heart.
The Guard of Honour of the Sacred Heart
Even before founding the Congregation of the Daughters of the Heart of Jesus, Marie Deluil Martiny spent herself promoting a movement known as the Guard of Honour of the Sacred Heart. The movement still exists today with its international headquarters at the Visitation Monastery in Paray-le-Monial, France.
The Divine Wound
Marie de Jésus explained the movement in these words:
"The Guard [of Honour of the Sacred Heart], the Work in itself, was placed by the Infinite Love of our Master at the entrance of the Wound of His Divine Heart. There, it calls souls, unites them, calls them together, preaches to them, if one may say so, pushes them, and draws them into the interior of the Divine Wound . . . it leads them there, and introduces them therein, after having, so to speak, opened to them the door of this sacred refuge . . . Souls, entering this safe abode are sprinkled, washed, whitened, purified, healed, and supernaturalized by a most efficacious application of the Blood and Water that came forth from the Divine Wound.
But Jesus wants even more: this is the new step that Our Lord desires to make the souls He has chosen to this end take: they must enter by the gate of the City of God, that is into the Heart of Jesus by the Divine Wound; therein will be their world, their dwelling, their place of rest."
The Daughters of the Heart of Jesus
The second phase of Marie Deluil Martiny's life was a flowering of the first. After a long preparation in prayer, she opened the first house of the Society of the Daughters of the Heart of Jesus at Berchem near Anvers in Belgium on June 20, 1873. The new foundation was characterized by a burning desire to console the Heart of Jesus, and by a mystical participation in His victimal priesthood, patterned after that of His Holy Mother at the foot of the Cross.
Divine Jealousy for Sacerdotal and Consecrated Souls
Mother Marie de Jésus wrote: "They will live from that life of suffering love that was the intimate life of the Heart of Jesus; they will penetrate the most tender secrets of His love: the Eucharist, the Church, His divine jealousy for sacerdotal and consecrated souls."
Priests: Sacrificers and Victims
"What a calling! The Work must give to Christ souls who offer themselves as a sacrifice of Love, these will be "the victims of Love that Jesus asks for," by the Holy Eucharist. The Host has become indispensable to my life; I should wish never to leave it for the sake of sacerdotal souls [priests]. Too many of them are satisfied with being Sacrificers and exercise their sacred functions without steeping them enough in the Priestly Spirit, that is, without themselves becoming truly Victims at the same times as Sacrificers, and so God wills that legions of souls who are truly Victims offer themselves as humble supplements for what certain priests are lacking in the Priestly Spirit. Their example is Mary, the Mother of Jesus."
Offering for Priests
"To offer yourself for souls is beautiful and great," wrote Mother Deluil Martiny, "but to offer yourself for the souls of priests is so beautiful, so great, that you would have to have a thousand lives and offer your heart a thousand times. . . . I would gladly give my life if only Christ could find in priests what he is expecting from them. I would gladly give it even if just one of them could perfectly realize God's divine plan for him."
The Blessed Virgin Mary United to the Victimal Priesthood of Her Son
Marie Deluil Martiny presents the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Mother of Christ the Victim Priest and of all who are called to follow Him in the way of His Victimal Priesthood. By her most intimate and perfect participation in the Victimal Priesthood of her Son, the Blessed Virgin Mary is both Coredemptrix and Mediatrix. She is the Virgo sacerdotalis, sacerdotal, not by virtue of sacramental ordination, but by virtue of her unique and entire adhesion to the Sacrifice of Christ.
Violent Death and Glory
When on February 27, 1884, Mother Marie de Jésus was murdered in the garden of the monastery she had founded at La Servianne, her family property, her last words were, "I forgive him . . . for the Work, for the Work for Priests," that is, for the Institute she founded.
"Our Lord," she said, "has put into my soul that the souls of the future institute will be like that parcel of the Host that melts in the chalice; they will all melt and disappear in the Blood of Jesus." The Congregation she founded, the Daughters of the Heart of Jesus, continue her charism of liturgical prayer, reparation, and adoration, with a particular maternal solicitude for priests. Pope John Paul II beatified Mother Marie de Jésus Deluil Martiny on October 22, 1989.
His Excellency, Bishop Edward J. Slattery of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa, Oklahoma has given
Father Mark a special mandate to live under the Rule of Saint Benedict in adoration before the Eucharistic Face of Jesus, offering thanksgiving, intercession, and reparation for all his
brothers in Holy Orders. In this way, Father is preparing the foundation of the new Diocesan Benedictine Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle. Father Mark is available to the
priests and deacons of the Diocese for spiritual and sacramental support in their pursuit of holiness. He is also charged with the spiritual formation of women who desire to dedicate themselves to spiritual motherhood in favour of priests.
Her scapular appears to have the shape of a chasuble - do you know anything about that?
+Dear Father,
It's been a while since I've had the chance to visit your blog, so I just now saw this. This so appeals to me-Adoration, Reparation, Spiritual Motherhood. May God's will be done in me!
Once in awhile I come across something that is so edifying that once I'm done reading it I suddenly realize that my body was motionless and my mouth was stuck open as if I need to say something but can't find the words. This post did exactly that.
Whenever I see something that is done "for priests" I think of how fortunate I am to know a wonderful lay woman who daily prays all seven hours of the Liturgy of the Hours. She offers these hours for priests who for unknown reasons don't pray the hours at all.
Dear Father,
For several years already I've been doing Adoration, Reparation and Spiritual Motherhood for Priests. How much I would like to be part of God's legion of souls who are humble supplements for what some priests are lacking. I want to be pushed by Jesus into the Divine Wound of His Sacred Heart so much..
I have a few spiritual sons, but nothing is official. I started with my Archbishop in Rome and others priest have been added later. Is this okay Father ?
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It's not easy for me to post in your blog , I always get an error message .
Thank you for this, Father. I have loved her since hearing Father Horgan speak about her on a series on EWTN.
Blessed Marie de Jesus, please pray for the Holy Father and for all Priests.
The gardener who killed her was a freemason. Watch the abundant life week of 3/9/09 to learn about former freemasons and their religion, temples, altars and to whom they give their religion. St. Max Kolbe said to pray the prayer that circles our Mother Mary's "miraculous medal" - the Immaculate Conception medal given in 1830 in Paris to St. Catherine Labouré: "Oh, Mary conceived without sin pray for us who have recourse to you" and St. Max said to add "and for those to do not have recourse to you, for the enemies of the church and those most recommended to you." St. Max Kolbe said we should say this after each decade of the Rosary. (After the Angel of Fatima Prayer: "Oh, My Jesus forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy Mercy. Amen."
I just consecrated my parish associate pastor a few months ago to the Precious Blood of Jesus without knowing all of this. I did not even know there was a Feast or the month of July was dedicated to the Precious Blood of Jesus and he just started his new post as Pastor. Who is that that is quoted - it sounds like it is the Blessed Mother. Can you tell me where it is from? Thank you. THis means a great deal to me. God bless you and Mary keep you.