"France and the Hearts of Jesus and Mary"

On June 1, 1980, at Le Bourget airport in Paris, Pope John Paul II reminded France of her Christian vocation, at the service of the united Hearts of Jesus and Mary, as illustrated by the magnificent article "France and the Hearts of Jesus and Mary", published in the magazine “France Catholique” on September 16, 2020:

"In the 14th century, Jesus confided to Saint Bridget of Sweden: 'I can say that my Mother and I have worked out salvation with the same Heart, in a way almost with one Heart: I by the sufferings I endured in my Heart and in my body, and she by the sufferings and love in her Heart'". 

It was above all Saint Jean Eudes, another disciple of both Bérulle and François de Sales, who developed this mystical view of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, demonstrating the "reciprocal inclusion in love" of the two hearts: "If the first Christians were said to have but one heart and one soul," he said, quoting François de Sales, "it is even more true that the holy Virgin had one soul, one Heart and one life with her Son!"

Through Saint Therese of Lisieux, France was in a way confirmed in her vocation to bear witness to the love of the Heart of Jesus and Mary, but now under the sign of mercy and a desire for fraternity with all, including those living in the darkness of unbelief and despair.

On January 1, 1946, Jesus gave little Marcel Van (1) Saint John Eudes, canonized in 1925, as "patron saint of the year". Isn't the Kingdom of Love that of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary?

Source: www.france-cattholic.fr

(1) Marcel Van (1928-1959) was a Vietnamese Redemptorist brother. During his life, he reported receiving locutions and visions from Thérèse of Lisieux, Jesus Christ, and the Blessed Virgin Mary. His process of beatification was opened in 1997.