Day 18
Mary, lend me your heart
In today’s reflection, Fr. Gaitley invites us to focus on the Immaculate Heart of Mary — a heart that burns with love for Jesus and for each of us. Drawing from Mother Teresa’s spirituality, he emphasizes that Marian consecration is a true exchange of hearts. When we give Mary our hearts, with all our wounds, desires, and weaknesses, she gives us her heart in return — pure, faithful, and full of grace.
This exchange is not symbolic. It is deeply spiritual and transformative. Mary’s Immaculate Heart is perfectly united to the Heart of Jesus. To receive her heart is to gain a heart that knows how to love Jesus with perfect tenderness, obedience, and courage — even in suffering.
Fr. Gaitley reminds us that Mother Teresa would often pray, “Mary, lend me your heart.” She knew that her own heart alone was not enough to love Jesus as He deserved. So she turned to Mary — not to replace her love, but to perfect it.
We are called to do the same. When we consecrate ourselves to Mary, we entrust her with all that we are, and in return, she helps us love Jesus more completely than we ever could on our own.
Today, we’re invited to renew our surrender. To give Mary our whole heart and to ask, simply and humbly: “Mary, lend me your heart, that I may love Jesus with your love.”
