The Heart of Mary in the Bible
Turning to a good Lexicon of Scriptural Words, one notices the multitude of figurative meanings, idiomatic expressions, popular expressions, and even proverbs that have the word “heart” as a point of reference. The notion of the heart also occupies a central place in the religion, mysticism, and poetry of all peoples.In the common language of our time, we often find the heart and love combined, influencing each other according to a hierarchy of shades that often and voluntarily privileges the sentimental and emotional dimension, with particular attention to the female sphere: the heart evokes love above all. There are heart diaries, heart cases, and the heart has reasons that reason does not know, as Blaise Pascal said. But we also speak of the heart as the central part of something: the heart of the night, the heart of the winter, the heart of the problem, and so on. Thus, the heart evokes a multitude of meanings.If we now look at our specific topic, we see that in recent decades the devotion to the Heart of Mary has had the same acceptance as the devotion to the Heart of Jesus, despite the progress of biblical studies and some enlightened interventions by the Church’s Magisterium. Still, the opinion is widespread that these devotions are overly sentimental, with a tendency towards intimacy and somehow theoretical. Some also feel uncomfortable with the continuation of theologically questionable discourses about “reparation” and the various “promises” associated with these devotions. From all this, we deduce the need to clarify, first of all, what we mean by “heart” when we speak of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.The Heart of Mary in the Bible: The Hebrew *lēb/lēbāb* and Biblical Devotion to the Immaculate Heart
The *heart* in the Bible is a rich theological symbol with multiple meanings. In the Old Testament, we find in the heart the words *lēb* and *lēbāb*. The LXX translation primarily translates *lēb* with *kardía*.For the Hebrew culture, *lēb* represents the center of spiritual life, the interiority of man with its various feelings:courage:“And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord, and he further removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah.”“For you have not served the Lord with joy and good will in the abundance of all things.”
(Deuteronomy 28:47)
Joy:
“My bowels, my bowels! I am in pain! Oh, the pain in my heart! My heart beats, I cannot be silent! I hear the sound of trumpets and the noise of battle.”
(Jeremiah 4:19)
Affection:
“Then came the message to David, saying, ‘Every man in Israel is following Absalom.'”
(2 Samuel 15:13)
Anger:
“That the avenger of blood may not pursue the murderer, when he is heated, and catch him, for he is far away, and take his life, because he was not guilty of murder before.”
(Deuteronomy 19:6)
Disgust:
“My servants shall sing within their hearts with joy, and you shall be grieved with a troubled spirit, and shall cry out with a restive soul.”
(Isaiah 65:14)
The heart is the seat of understanding and knowledge:
“I will satisfy your desire. I will give you a wise and understanding heart, such as has not been before you or after you.”
(1 Kings 3:12)
But the heart can also be the source of foolishness and evil thoughts:
“The tongue of the righteous is like fine silver, but the heart of the wicked is unworthy.”
(Proverbs 10:20)
From the heart, then, comes the impulse to work:
«Moses called Bezalel, Oholiab, and all the skilled men whom the Lord had filled with wisdom, all whose hearts stirred them to undertake this work»(Ex 36:2)
to plan and desire:
«even if he does not plan it in his heart, or his heart does not conceive it, but he intends to destroy and uproot many nations»
(Is 10:7)
The heart, however, more than individual functions, in the Old Testament indicates the man with all his impulses. In short, the man in his entirety, all personality. Thus, for example, in the Psalms:
- «The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him; their hearts shall always be alive» (Ps 21:27).
- «My heart and my flesh may fail, but God’s rock is my inheritance forever» (Ps 72:26).
- «My soul is weary with longing; my heart and my body yearn for the living God» (Ps 84:3).
In the heart, therefore, the man positions himself before God, in faith:
«Hear me, you who know justice, people in whose heart is my teaching; do not fear the scorn of men, do not be discouraged by their insults»
(Is 51:7)
as in hardening:
«The Lord said: This people come to me with their words, and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; their fear of me is taught, not genuine»
(Is 29:13)
The distance from God and the hardening of the heart are overcome through conversion to God that takes place in the heart:
«O God, create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me; cast me not away from your face, and do not take your holy spirit from me»
(Ps 51:12, 19)
In the New Testament, the use of the word *kardía* aligns with the concept from the Old Testament. Indeed, the idea of the heart as the seat of interior life, the innermost core of the person where God reveals Himself to man, is even more clearly expressed in New Testament texts than in the Old. We must also note the proximity, in the New Testament, between *kardía* and *noûs*, meaning intellect or mind. Heart and mind are concepts that can be seen as parallel:> “Therefore their minds were closed, for it is only in Christ that they can be enlightened.” (2Cor 3:14)or repeated as synonyms:> “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:7)*Noûs* emphasizes *kardía* by highlighting knowledge and understanding. We can thus conclude that, both in the Old and New Testaments, the heart is the place where man encounters God, an encounter that becomes fully active in the human heart of God’s Son.When we explicitly speak of Mary’s *heart*:> “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” (Lk 2:19)and> “And Mary kept all these words in her heart.” (Lk 2:51)The words *conservar* and *meditar* translate to two Greek words meaning respectively: *conserve* and *gather* (*symballō*), *gather* and *meditate* (*diatēreō*). Thus, according to both contexts, the meaning is that Mary, reading the Scriptures that predicted what she witnessed, remembered all those words: not just the things, but the reality. She read the prophecies. She saw some of them fulfilled before her eyes. And now, in the depths of her consciousness, in her heart, she compares the events.When we speak of the *Heart of Mary*, we are using the biblical sense. As we have seen, *heart* in the language of Sacred Scripture means the *whole* of the human person, contrary to individual faculties and moments of the person. *Heart of Mary* means her *inner being* and *uniqueness*. The center of human existence, the confluence of reason, will, temperament, and sensitivity. Only in the *heart* does the person find their unity and internal direction of mind and heart, will and affectivity.The spiritual tradition of the Church emphasizes […] the *heart* in the biblical sense of the *depth of being*, where the person decides for or against God (*Catechism of the Catholic Church* 368). The heart is, therefore, the undivided soul, with which Mary loved God and her brothers and dedicated herself entirely to the work of salvation of the Son. Devotion to the *Immaculate Heart of Mary* is, therefore, a way of approaching this attitude of the heart, in which the *fiat*, *Be it done to you* from our Father, becomes the informing center of all existence.To deepen the biblical theology of the Heart of Mary and the devotion to the Immaculate Heart, consult the Apostolic Exhortation *Marialis Cultus* by Paul VI.For further study: explore *Mariology*, *Theology Mariana*, *Marian Apparitions*, and *Post-Graduate Studies in Mariology*.Graduate Studies in Mariology Do you want to deepen your formation in Mariology? Get to know the Graduate Program in Mariology from Locus Mariologicus – an academic formation that combines theological rigor, spiritual life, and the living tradition of the Church.Serious about studying mariology?
This article arises from the works in the Locus Mariologicus library. The Postgraduate Mariology program takes you to the same sources, with academic guidance: Scripture, the Fathers of the Church, and the Magisterium, from the first dogma to contemporary issues.
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