I prefer this picture of Mater but will look up one of Our Lady of Carmel, too. I learned to love this feast of Our Lady during my twenty years in Chile as it is the patronal feast of Chile. I owe so much to Our Lady who is always there for us with her ability to see what we need and to intercede for us. She tells Jesus, "They have no wine" or whatever it is that we need...then she always tells me to do whatever Jesus tells me.
Pope Benedict XVI said:"In silence we journey inward...leaving behind the roles which conceal our real selves. In silence we bide and abide and become aware of the abiding reality." Mary certainly kept silent and pondered in her heart.
Here is one more quote from Johann Tauler, a 14th century mystic who had devotion to the Sacred Heart:
What more could he still do for us, that he has not done? He has opened his very heart to us, as the most secret chamber wherein to lead our soul, his chosen spouse. For it is his joy to be with us in silent stillness, and in peaceful silence to rest there with us...He gives us his heart entirely, that it may be our home. He desires our hearts in return that they may be his dwelling place."
Sometimes we are conscious of being in the Heart of Jesus; at other times the focus is on the Heart of Jesus dwelling in us. I found the Tauler quote (and the one from Benedict XVI) on p. 77 in David Richo's The Sacred Heart of the World: Restoring Mystical Devotion to Our Spiritual Life, a book I keep on my prayer shelf.
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