By Rev. Joseph J. C. Petrovits, J.C.B., S.T.L.
I. There is no statement in the writings of Blessed Margaret Mary which would help to solve the question. She does not discriminate between the two kinds of love. Indeed, no man reading her autobiography could point out a place or a reference which could be interpreted as a definite indication of the uncreated love. To all appearances such a problem never occurred to her. Even Christ Himself, if viewed in the light of the words spoken during His repeated revelations, as recorded by her, fails to intimate whether such two loves are to be considered as a motive of the Devotion. If one were called upon to pass a judgment, having at his disposal the works of Blessed Margaret Mary as the only evidence, he would unhesitatingly pronounce in favor of the exclusion of the uncreated love. It would, however, not be difficult to cull some passages which might be construed as involving the idea of the uncreated love. To assert that she excluded such a love from the Devotion, on account of having failed to give a clear expression to it would be a mistake. She was not endowed with the keen intellect of a speculative theologian, whose tendency is to elucidate even the most minute details in connection with a certain doctrine. In her mind it was a devotion in which, through the symbol of the Heart, the love of Christ was to receive a special worship. This was all Christ demanded. It remained for the Church to determine specifically the nature and full extent of that love, on the fundamental principles of Christology. Perhaps the most comprehensive expression Blessed Margaret Mary gave to the idea of this love is found in one of her letters quoted by Bishop Languet. " This amiable Heart'' she says, " has an infinite desire to be known and loved by its creatures, in whom it wishes to establish its empire, as being the source of all good." The notions that we are His Heart's creatures, and that it is the source of all good, may be interpreted as referring to the uncreated love, but even then the evidence is far from conclusive, and passages of this nature are extremely few in her writings.
