Knights of Saint Benedict

BASIC CATECHISM ON THE ALLIANCE OF THE TWO HEARTS (Part 2)

(by Two Hearts Media Organization for the Alliance of the Holy Family International)

ALLIANCE OF THE TWO HEARTS AND THE MAGISTERIUM

1. Are there existing papal teachings on the Alliance of Two Hearts?

    Yes. And we owe to His Holiness John Paul II the renewed interest on the theology of the Two Hearts. In 1985 alone, he dedicated twelve Angelus messages on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, culminating in a marvelous exhortation inviting us to unite with the "definite alliance" of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

2. Are there other popes in the past who promoted the Two Hearts in the Church?

    Yes. Aside from John Paul II, Popes Pius IX, Pius X, Pius XI, Pius XII, John XXIII and Paul VI, did their share in promoting the Alliance of the Two Hearts.

3. What was Pius XI's main contribution to the Two Hearts?

    It was during Pius XI's pontificate that a specific mandate was given to the Universal Church to practice the Two Hearts' Communion of Reparation. This appeared in his encyclical: Miserentissimus Redemptor in 1928.

4. What was Pius XII's main contribution to the Two Hearts?

    Pope Pius XII, in his encyclical on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Haurietis Aquas, mentioned the inseparable linkage of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. He alluded to Mary, particularly to her spiritual maternity, as the most precious gift of the Sacred Heart and invited the Christian family and the whole human race to unite their devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus closely with the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

5. What was Paul VI's contribution to the Two Hearts?

    Pope Paul VI transferred the Feast of the Immaculate Hearts of Mary from August 22nd to the Saturday of the 3rd week after Pentecost, the day after the Feast of the Sacred Heart, thus ending the liturgical dissociation and starting a structural and liturgical correlation - a joining of the Two Hearts into Alliance.

ALLIANCE OF THE TWO HEARTS AND THE SACRED SCRIPTURES

1. Are there Scriptural bases for the Alliance of the Two Hearts?

    Yes. The Alliance of the Two Hearts of Jesus and Mary is well-founded in Scriptures both in the Old and New Testaments.

2. What are the bases of the Alliance of the Two Hearts in the Old Testament?

    In Genesis 3:3, the covenant was offered to Adam and Eve. It was renewed through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. But the Israelites were never faithful. In Ezekiel 36:24 and Jeremiah 31:31-33, God made known His wish to establish a new covenant with His people. He promised to give them a new spirit and a new heart. With this heart, renewed in spirit, the covenant will reach its perfection.

3. What are the bases of the Alliance of the Two Hearts in the New Testament?

    In Luke 1:26-38, God's new covenant with man began in the person of Mary who represents humanity. The covenant was manifested at the wedding at Cana (John 2:1-12) when Jesus gave the choicest wine to humanity through the intercession of Mary who resounded the formula of the old covenant "Do whatever He tells you" (John 2:5, cf. Exodus 18:19). It was during the passion and death of Jesus that Simeon's prophecy was fulfilled (Luke 2:35). The same alliance was sealed at the foot of the cross in Calvary when Mary was named the Mother of the Disciple, Mother of the Church (John 19:34).

4. Is there any biblical reference which shows the union of Jesus and Mary as persons?

    As persons, Jesus and Mary are united in and through the Will of the Father. The "fiat" of both the Mother and the Son is very clear evidence of this union. Jesus uttered "Fiat voluntas tua" (Luke 22:42) and Mary answered God's messenger "Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum" (Like 1:38). These two Lucan texts show clearly that the Will of the Father is the meeting point of their union.

5. What place does the Alliance of the Two Hearts occupy in the Sacred Scriptures?

    If the covenant is the core of the Scriptures, and Jesus and Mary personify the fulfillment of the covenant between God and man surpassing all previous covenants, then, the Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary occupy a central place in Sacred Scriptures.