The Immaculate Heart of Mary

The feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was yesterday in the Pauline Rite. That's one of the few things that I think the reformers got exactly right. Corpus Christi on a Thursday is as it should be -- a commemoration of the day of its institution, Maundy Thursday. And then the feast of the Sacred Heart is both the octave day of Corpus Christi and a Friday, in commemoration of the day Our Lord's Sacred Heart was pierced with a lance. And this is immediately followed by the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and it also occurs on Saturday, the old devotional day of Our Lady.

The Inn does get rather exercized about most of the Pauline reform. But credit where credit is due. This conjunction of feasts is well-thought out and has lovely Catholic devotional resonances.

[I actually planned on mentioning Our Lady's feast on the day. But I used all my time looking for a good illustration. I never found one I liked. We have a nice plaque of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the den but it doesn't photograph well. Maybe next year.]