Message of the Superior General Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Prot. PS 133/2026

MESSAGE OF THE SUPERIOR GENERAL FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

Dear brothers,

As we celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our hearts turn with gratitude and affection to the Mother who has accompanied our Congregation from its very beginnings. During these days of novena, we have reflected on the theme “The Heart of Mary and the Word,” contemplating how God's Word was welcomed, treasured, pondered, lived, and proclaimed in Mary's life. Her Heart appears as the good soil where the Word found full acceptance and bore abundant fruit for the life of the world.

In this light, I invite you to contemplate the mystery of the Immaculate Heart from three perspectives.

From Mary's perspective, her Heart is wholly given to God. The Magnificat reveals a woman filled with the Word, who does not place herself at the center but rejoices in the greatness of the Lord who has done great things for her. Because her heart was open in faith to God's action, she was chosen to become the dwelling place of the Word and the Mother of the Savior.

From God's perspective, the Heart of Mary is the home of the Spirit and the place where the Word found complete welcome. It is the forge where the humanity of Jesus was formed and where God's dream for humanity began to take flesh. The Immaculate Heart reminds us that whenever the Word is received with faith in a human heart, God's love gives birth to new life and a renewed humanity.

From our perspective, the Heart of Mary is our home, our school, and our path. There, we discover ourselves loved and welcomed by God. There we learn to listen to the Word, treasure it, reflect on it, live it, and proclaim it. There, we are formed as disciples and missionaries. As sons of her Heart, we know that Mary does more than console us; she transforms us. In her Heart, Christ continues to be formed within us so that his life and Gospel may reach others through our mission.

Our Founder often contemplated Mary as the great formator of missionaries. He entrusted himself and the Congregation to her maternal care because he knew that only hearts formed by her could become “men on fire with God’s love.” Our General Chapters have repeatedly reminded us that, like Mary, we are called to be listeners and servants of the Word. When the Word dwells in our hearts, our communities become fertile soil that bears fruit for mission. Amid the challenges of our time, we are invited to return again and again to this school of the Heart.

As pilgrims on the synodal journey, may this feast renew our conviction that the Heart of Mary remains the forge where God shapes mystical and prophetic missionaries: men who listen deeply to the Word, allow themselves to be transformed by it, and proclaim it with passion and hope. Let us entrust ourselves once more to her maternal care so that Christ may live in us and, through us, continue to touch the hearts of God's people.

May the Immaculate Heart of Mary renew in each of us the grace to be rooted in God, open to the Spirit, and audacious in mission. May she teach us to sing our Magnificat with our lives and to bring the tenderness of God's love to all, especially those most in need of hope.

Fraternally in the Heart of Mary,

(Signed) Fr. Mathew Vattamattam, CMF

Superior General Rome, June 10, 2026