From April 28 to June 20, thousands of Canadians participated in the 54-Day Rosary Novena praying for our nation. June 22 is a significant day in the history of devotion to Our Lady in Canada.
On June 22, 1888, Blessed Frederic Janssoone officiated at the consecration ceremony of the small church which housed the statue of Our Lady of the Cape at Cap-de-la-Madeleine, today Trois Rivieres, Que. That same evening, Father Frederic, Father Desilets, and a layman, Pierre Lacroix, were praying to Our Lady in the church. They then witnessed the “miracle of the eyes.” The statue of the Virgin, whose eyes are usually lowered, looked straight ahead for several minutes.
Pierre Lacroix’s testimony reads:
“I went into the shrine at about seven o’clock in the evening, accompanied by Vicar-General Luc Desilets and the Reverend Father Frederic. I was walking between the two of them, helped by them. After praying for a while, I looked up at the statue of the Blessed Virgin which was facing directly towards me. As I did so, I saw most distinctly the statue with its eyes wide open in a most natural manner. It was as if it was looking out over our heads towards Three Rivers.
“I examined this closely without saying anything. Then Vicar-General Desilets, leaving his place on my right, went across to Father Frederic and I heard him say, ‘Do you see it?’
“‘Yes,’ said Father Frederic, ‘the statue has its eyes open, hasn’t it? But can this really be true?’
“I then told them that I had seen the same thing. And I make this solemn declaration believing it in conscience to be true and knowing that it has the same force and effect as if made upon oath.”
Canada was consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on June 22, 1947, during the Marian Congress in Ottawa.
The Congress took place from June 17 to June 22 in 1947 to mark the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Diocese of Ottawa. The event attracted about 200,000 pilgrims. The Catholic Register described it thus: “For six days and nights, 24 hours a day, priests celebrated Mass, beginning a new one every half hour. One hundred priests were available to hear confessions until 3 a.m. – and found the 15 confessionals built at Lansdowne Park were not enough.”
The “crowning act” of the Congress was the consecration of Canada to the Immaculate Heart on June 22. Here is a portion of the consecration text drafted by Pope Pius XII: “as the Church and the entire human race were consecrated to the Sacred Heart of thy Divine Son, so that by placing all hope in Him, He might become for them the pledge of Victory and Salvation, so do we now and forever consecrate ourselves to thy Immaculate Heart, O Blessed Mother and Queen of the World, that thy love and thy protection may hasten the triumph of the Kingdom of God, and all nations, at peace with one another and with God may proclaim thee blest and chant with thee from pole to pole, the eternal Magnificat of glory, love and gratitude to the Heart of Jesus, in Whom alone may be found the blessings of truth, of life, and of Heavenly Peace, Amen.”
An effective way to honour the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the First Saturday devotion taught by Our Lady of Fatima.
In reparation for the sins against the Immaculate Heart, we are asked to:
1. go to confession
2. receive Holy Communion
3. pray five decades of the Rosary
4. keep Our Lady company for 15 minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary.
Our Lady promised to assist all those who will practice the devotion of the First Saturday on five consecutive months with the graces necessary for salvation at the hour of their death.
May the First Saturday devotion foster the triumph of the Immaculate Heart in Canada.
加拿大尊敬聖母
由4月28日至6月20日，數千加拿大信眾，參加了54日玫瑰經九日敬禮，為本國祈禱。歷史上，6月22日一向是加拿大特別恭敬聖母的日子。
1888年6月22日，真福斐德肋.楊溯納祝聖了一所小聖堂，內裡恭放了一尊海角聖母像。當天黃昏時分，斐德肋神父、迪仕靂神父和一位名叫伯鐸.勒罣的平信徒，在那尊聖母像前祈禱時，他們同一時間見證了那原是目光下垂的聖像，雙眼變成直視，為時數分鐘。
伯鐸.勒罣的證詞寫道：「那天黃昏約七時，迪仕靂副主教和斐德肋神父伴著我進入聖堂，我走在他們兩位中間並被他們扶助。祈禱了一陣子，我抬頭看看在面到着我的那尊聖母像。當我看着時，我清楚地見到聖母像自然的張大眼睛，有如越過我們的頭頂，直視三河。」
「我再定眼看清楚，不發一言；是時，迪仕靂副主教從我右邊的位置離開，走到斐德肋神父那邊，我聽到他說：『你看到嗎？』斐德肋神父弱聲答道：『看到了！那聖像張大了眼睛，是嗎？會是真的嗎？』我便告訴他們我亦看到同一情景。我謹此衷心鄭重聲明，我憑良心相信這是真實的，並知道這聲明有誓言一樣的效力與效果。」
1947年6月22日，加拿大在渥太華的聖母大會上被奉獻給聖母無玷聖心。
聖母大會由1947年6月17日至6月22日舉行，以慶祝渥太華教區成立一百周年，吸引了二十萬人到來朝聖。一個天主教的出版形容：「連續六個晝夜、每日二十四小時，相隔每半小時，有神父主持彌撒；百位神父聽告解直至凌晨三時，而置在肋斯豋公園的十五個告解亭實在不敷應用。」
6月22日，大會「聖母加冕」程節，把加拿大奉獻給聖母無玷聖心。教宗庇約十二世撰禱文，部份如下：「一如教會和全人類曾被奉獻給妳聖子的至聖聖心，把所有希望都寄托於祂，讓祂成為他們勝利與得救的保證。同樣，我們現在和永遠將我們自己奉獻給妳的無玷聖心 ── 噢真福母親、普世母后，願妳的慈愛和護佑，促進天國的勝利，並讓各國人民在與天主和彼此的和睦中，稱妳為有福的，並從這地極到那地極，與妳同聲詠唱永恒的謝主曲以歸光榮、愛慕和感謝與耶穌聖心 ── 唯獨在祂內才能找到真理、生命及天上平安的恩賜。亞孟。」
花地瑪聖母教導我們，有效敬禮瑪利亞無玷聖心的方法，就是在每個月的首瞻禮七（星期六），特別為罪人賠補聖母無玷聖心：
- 辦妥善的修和聖事；
- 善領聖體；
- 誦唸五端玫瑰經；
- 陪伴聖母聖心默想玫瑰經奧蹟十五分鐘
聖母答應，任何人一連五個首瞻禮七敬禮聖母無玷聖心，都會賞給他臨終時所需要得救的聖寵。
但願藉善作首瞻禮七敬禮能促進無玷聖心在加拿大的勝利。