The Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary

We only partially restored this holy card because as it is, it looks like a treasure map to us. It is like a scroll from the olden days which tells us of secret riches, which are the Hearts of Jesus and Mary and the life which grows from them and that they bring us.

At the top of this intriguing card it says in Italian, "Viva il cuore ss di Gesu e di Maria," which you might translate as "Long Live the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary", or "Long Be Exalted the Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary."

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is his interior life, which he invites us to share. The devotion began in the 1670s, when Jesus appeared multiple times to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a Visitation nun in France. In 1856 Pope Pius IX established the Feast of the Sacred Heart for the whole Church. That's when this devotion grew to huge popularity. At that time both of their hearts were called Sacred because, well, both of them are Sacred. But Mary's heart gradually became known as the Immaculate Heart so as not to confuse it with Jesus's, although the two are deeply intertwined as they are in this picture. (source: nationalshrine.org)

At the bottom of this card it says in Italian "Beloved everywhere is the heart of Jesus and Mary, " which is a lovely kind of Italian enthusiasm. Below that it says "With Permission of the Church," which means they got approval to print it probably from the local Bishop's office. Because of the deep yellowing we think this was a wood pulp paper from the 1870s, back when some of the world's best treasure maps were made.

** IMPORTANT ** THE IMAGE IS SMALLER THAN THE PAPER! There is a white border of about 0.5" inch for 5x7", 1.3" for 8.5x11", or 1.6" for 11x14" pictures. All Approx! Fine art printers do this because the images are almost never the same rectangular ratio of the standard paper sizes. It also gives the prints a finished look, and lets them look good in a frame without a matt.

- Acid-free paper
- Archival pigments, rated to last for generations.
- Cardboard backer
- Above story of the art
- Enclosed in a tight-fitting, crystal clear bag.

Thanks for your interest!

Thanks!
Sue & John

"In order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ, the Church needs art." ~ St. Pope John Paul II

Original image is out-of-copyright. Descriptive text and image alterations (hence the whole new image) © by Sue Kouma Johnson - CatholicArtAndJewelry.