Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory and priests of the Archdiocese of Atlanta concelebrated the Lenten first Friday vigil Mass with the members of the Alliance of the Two Hearts at 9 p.m. on March 3 at St. Peter Chanel Church. As is customary, this first Friday Mass was particularly devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Each month the members of the Alliance of the Two Hearts gather at vigils around the metropolitan Atlanta area to pray to repair the sins of themselves, their families, their communities, the country and the world. In prayer they unite their hearts with the hearts of Jesus and Mary.

The 1 a.m. Mass on March 4, later that evening, held in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, was a traditional Tridentine Latin solemn high Mass celebrated by Father Laurent Demets, FSSP, of St. Francis de Sales Church, Mableton.

The alliance’s mission encourages devotion to Jesus and Mary in the form of vigils held on the first Friday and Saturday of each month. The weekend vigil held at archdiocesan churches addresses Our Lady of Fatima’s request for communions of reparation on first Saturdays to help bring about peace and unity where there is division. First Fridays are a traditional day of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

In 1936, Sister Lucia, one of the child seers at Fatima, communicated that it was Jesus’ desire to have the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of his Mother put alongside the devotion to his most Sacred Heart.

The Alliance of the Two Hearts offers a plan for, not a mere devotion to, a lifestyle of prayer and reparation. Members of the alliance believe that this lifestyle is a means to promote the sanctification and unity of the family, the church and society, based on the four elements of the rosary, reconciliation, Eucharist and holy hours of Adoration. People come together as one family, united in spirit and intent, at these monthly prayer vigils, which include all four of these basic elements.

In 1999, Virginia Loggiodice attended her first vigil at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta. Loggiodice, a native of Venezuela, had always been drawn to the shrines of the Sacred Heart of Jesus found in most churches in her native country. When she saw the pictures of Jesus and his Mother, side by side, and beckoning to their hearts, she realized that she had been in love with the devotion to the Lord’s heart all of her life. Since then her “life has been spiritually transformed.” She experiences every vigil as “an oasis of peace” flooded with the “directly felt presence of Jesus and Mary.”

Omar Loggiodice, her son, attended the same 1999 vigil and also became an ardent supporter of the Two Hearts apostolate. He organized the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at St. Catherine of Siena Church, Kennesaw, and continues to support the total consecration of one’s life to the hearts of Jesus and Mary, as he studies for the priesthood at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Maryland.

Andrew and Carol Geppert from Dahlonega, parishioners at St. Luke Church, drive the distance from the north Georgia mountains to Holy Spirit Church in Atlanta each month, so that they can actively participate in the vigils held there. The vigil community at Holy Spirit has been learning the rosary and other prayers in Latin, as they have been inspired by the almost monthly celebration of a traditional Tridentine Latin Mass at 1 a.m. for Mary.

The April vigils of the Alliance will be held at Holy Spirit Church, Atlanta; St. John the Evangelist Church, Hapeville; St. Marguerite D’Youville Church, Lawrenceville, in Polish; St. Peter Church, La Grange; and St. Monica Church, Duluth; and St. Catherine of Siena Church, Kennesaw, will begin a monthly vigil in Spanish.