This providential devotion is not new and the Clerics Regular Minor (the Adorno Fathers) have the consolation of having introduced it to Rome for the first time. The Clerics Regular Minor have a particular reason to rejoice for the increased and renewed devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, due to the prodigious apparitions of Fatima and the consequent consecration of the human race made to Her by the Supreme Pontiff himself.

It was precisely a century ago that the aforementioned veneration was solemnly inaugurated in the parish church of San Lorenzo in Lucina, then the residence of the General Curia of the Clerics Regular Minor. Father Ferdinando Papi, CRM was the Parish Priest and Father Gioacchino Meli, CRM was the Superior General. They were two chosen souls who were filled with Wisdom and zeal. It was dear to them to continue and broaden the traditions of the Order, which from its birth (1588) by means of its best children, advocated the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin and obtained, among the first, the faculty of the Holy See to celebrate the divine office and Mass in her honor.

A PIOUS ASSOCIATION TO HONOR THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY was established in San Lorenzo in Lucina and a booklet was printed entitled “Statuti dell’unione del S. Cuore di Maria Santissima” ("Statutes of the Union of the Sacred Heart of Mary Most Holy") and published in 1812. Many members joined this solidarity and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary increased.

O Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

I offer You my prayers, works, joys, sufferings of this day,

in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world.

I offer them for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart:

the salvation of souls, the reparation for sin, the reunion of Christians;

and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father this month.

Amen

Luke 2:19 - "Mary kept in mind all these things, pondering them in Her Heart."

Luke 2:35: - "Your own soul a sword shall pierce, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."

Luke 2:51: - "…His Mother kept all these things carefully in Her Heart."

I shall speak·to your heart, 0 Mary, I shall speak to your heart so pure, Sovereign of the universe, and I shaIl offer my veneration from the depths of my soul. From the depths of my heart I shall greet your immaculate heart which, the first in this world, was worthy to receive the only Son of the Supreme Gad, coming forth from the bosom of the Father.

(Greetings.) Hail, singular shrine, that God has sanctified for Himself in the Holy Spirit. Hail, holy of holies, that the Sovereign Pontiff has consecrated by his ineffable entrance. Hail, ark of sanctification that contains the writing of the finger of God. Hail urn of gold that contains the heavenly manna, filled with the delights of the angels. Hail, royal court, the true Solomon's house of cedar, whose sweet fragrance surpasses aIl the woods of cedar. Hail, couch of gold, the most agreeable rest for the desirable beloved whose head is of perfect gold. Hail, room filled with a heavenly perfume, bringing the precious spices of aIl the virtues and graces. Hail, enclosed paradise, wherein the cunning seducer of Eve had never dared to crawl. Hail sealed fountain, whose secrets the violator of hearts has never tasted, not even by the slightest sip. To whom do we compare you, to what do we assimilate the beatitude of your heart, 0 Mary? By what words do we worthily greet the intimate sweetness of your chaste breast?

Eckebert of Schonau, 1120 -1184