Renew All Things In Grace

By The Flame of Love of The Immaculate Heart of Mary

The Movement of Grace

One of the great challenges we have when presenting the Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the assumption it is another of many Marian devotions or about the words of another mystic but The Flame of Love is not about the messenger nor the messages; it is all about grace. In fact, we refer to the Flame of Love as the Movement of Grace built upon the Movement of Mercy – the two great Movements given to the Church at this time for what the world needs most is Mercy and Grace.

This is why the Flame of Love is for everyone and not just those in the apostolate of the Flame of Love because grace is for everyone. The purpose of the Flame of Love is not to compete with other ministries but to strengthen every ministry in the Church, every person in the Church, every family in the Church, by a renewed commitment to a life of grace – to bring every person into such deep intimacy and union with Jesus by the effect of grace that the influence of Satan on our families, communities, country, Church, and world is driven out and souls are saved. In the vocabulary of the Flame of Love, this is called blinding Satan, i.e., so that he loses his influence over souls.

In giving the Flame of Love to the Church on April 13, 1962 through Elizabeth Kindelmann, a widowed mother of six and Secular Carmelite in Communist Hungary, Mary said this would be the greatest outpouring of graces since the Word was made flesh. She told us the Flame of Love of her Immaculate Heart is not a what but a who: Jesus himself. It is all about Jesus; it has always been about Jesus; it will always be about Jesus. She said this would be her greatest miracle ever – greater than Fatima or Lourdes because it is not be a miracle in one place in the sun or the water but a miracle in the depth of hearts – the miracle of making every family a sanctuary – a holy place filled with Jesus by the effect of grace and that, when the world sees Jesus fully present in countless lives around the world, it will finally take notice. Jesus, The Flame of Love, vibrantly alive in families by grace is the miracle.

Church Approval

It was impossible to properly investigate the Flame of Love in Hungary under Communism but, with its collapse, the investigation began. After a multi-year examination, His Eminence Péter Cardinal Erdő, Primate of Hungary, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, approved both the text of Elizabeth’s Spiritual Diary and the Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Movement and established it as a Private Association of the Faithful with Juridic Personality in the Archdiocese on June 6, 2009. Since then, the Movement has exploded around the world bringing a powerful force of renewal.

There is not much new in the Flame of Love. Instead, Mary calls us back to all the great practices of grace we have always had but have neglected, e.g., intense prayer, regular fasting, Mass, Adoration, vigil prayer, continual repentance, humility, a complete dedication to the salvation of souls, sacrifices for others, and embracing our sufferings in love for the salvation of others. In short, she calls us to live the life of grace so completely conformed to the love and life of Jesus by the effect of grace that even our everyday chores destroy the influence of evil.

Praying and Living the Gospel

The Flame of Love helps every member of the Church to understand the Gospel in a simple and tangible way. It makes the profound theology of salvation accessible to everyone in both prayer and practice. There are only three devotional elements proper to the Flame of Love.

Meditating Upon the Five Wounds of Jesus

Mary asked us to offer ourselves to the Heavenly Father through the wounds of Jesus and Jesus tells us to meditate upon His wounds. This roots us in the mercy of the God – the wellspring of all grace and salvation and focuses us on God’s selfless love as demonstrated on the cross. This is the beginning.

The Unity Prayer

Jesus Himself gave the Prayer of Union with Jesus saying it expresses His deepest desires toward us:

May our feet journey together;
May our hands gather in unity;
May our hearts beat in unison;
May our souls be in harmony;
May our thoughts be as one;
May our ears listen to the silence together;
May our glances profoundly penetrate each other;
May our lips pray together to gain mercy from the Eternal Father.

Jesus elsewhere explains that our feet must journey together to Calvary; our hands work together to gather souls; His human heart beats in rhythm with His divinity so, when our hearts beat with His heart, we partake of His divinity. This prayer is not just the heart of the Flame of Love; it is the heart of Christianity and deeply Eucharistic – the end goal of salvation – complete union with Jesus – the ultimate effect of grace. It is not us inviting Jesus into our lives but rather Jesus inviting us into His.

The Flame of Love Hail Mary

Our Blessed Mother asked us to continually implore her to spread the effect of grace of her Flame of Love over all humanity. It was so important to her that she used the Hail Mary to create a new prayer with great graces attached – the Flame of Love Hail Mary which concludes, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners; spread the effect of grace of your Flame of Love over all of humanity, now and at the hour of our death.” The effect of grace is the means to the end, viz., the Unity Prayer.

Connecting the Dots

The prayers outline the gospel. God, in His Mercy, grants His grace whose effect makes us one with Jesus and thus partake of the Divine Nature to think, feel, and act as God does. When Jesus is present in us by grace, Satan’s influence is broken and souls are saved – it’s the Gospel! We pray the Gospel.

Our prayers lead to a life poured out for others in union with Jesus as He continues to pour out His life for the salvation of souls. We live the Gospel and learn God’s love in the experience of our bodies.

This is what the Flame of Love does in a parish and a diocese. It makes the gospel come alive; it unleashes the power of grace. It renews the Church, our families, and our communities. This is the great Grace of the Flame of Love. Please welcome the Flame of Love into your diocese or parish.