Revealing Our Troubled Hearts to Mary

…and you yourself a sword will pierce, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. – Luke 2:35

Do you ever find yourself burdened by worrying, ruminating over events and words of the past, or anxiety over things to come? Do your troubled thoughts ever overwhelm you? I can relate, and if so, this reflection is for you!

Did you know that Mary has a very special role in our salvation as mediatrix of all graces (CCC 969)? Yes, God gave Mary the utmost privilege of aiding Him in the distribution of grace! As Jesus’s sinless mother, and through her own acceptance of suffering, she is a powerful conduit of God’s grace. Mary’s Immaculate Heart–pierced with a sword–is part of God’s plan to deliver His grace and love to us. She also can help us sort through our cluttered, troubled minds.

O Mary, Virgin Mother, and Heaven’s Gate, Through You salvation came to us; Every grace to us streams forth through Your hands,  And faithful imitation of You only will sanctify me. St. Faustina

In this Sunday’s Gospel passage, Simeon told Mary that her heart would be pierced “so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:35). Mary’s heart was opened by the sword of suffering so that her children’s thoughts could be uncovered. Her children are you and me! When we allow ourselves to bring our worries and needs to Mary, she helps us to process them. Though God’s grace, the thoughts of our hearts are revealed, laid open.

Mary can relate to our sorrows because of her own suffering at the foot of the Cross. Her maternal heart is sorrowful, yet it is marvelously full of love for God and for us. St. Jerome wrote, “Even while living in the world, the heart of Mary was so filled with motherly tenderness and compassion for men that no one ever suffered so much for their own pains, as Mary suffered for the pains of her children.”

Mary always points away from herself to Jesus, and it’s no different in this case. When we reveal our troubled hearts to Mary, she in turn reveals them to her Son, the Word of God (John 1:1). As St. Louis de Montfort said, we go “to Jesus through Mary.” Jesus, the Word, is the one who can heal and help our worried minds and hearts. He also allows us to fully understand ourselves: “Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

Contemplating this, I wonder why so often I dwell on my thoughts without bringing them to Mary and Jesus in prayer. Instead I find myself muddling though on my own instead of calling out in prayer for help. I can get caught up in a trap of anxiety or stress instead of focusing on getting the true help I need for the sorrows of this world. Lately, I have been meditating on the Seven Sorrows of Mary, and I find that the closer I stay to Mary in her earthly sorrows, the closer I find her near to me in my own and the more I am able to bear my own suffering with grace, strength, and love.

Mary, thank you for suffering the Seven Swords of Sorrow for me. Help me to bring my thoughts, cares, concerns, and trials to you so that you can hand them over to your Divine Son.

For reflection: “Mary’s function as mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power. But the Blessed Virgin’s salutary influence on men originates not in any inner necessity but in the disposition of God. It flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on his mediation, depends entirely on it and draws all its power from it. It does not hinder in any way the immediate union of the faithful with Christ but on the contrary fosters it.” (Lumen Gentium, 60)