While the “Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” is an awesome mystery, which is hard for at least some, or perhaps many of our brothers and sisters in Christ to understand, He is Jesus Christ!
We know fire is both destructive and purifying as it causes destruction of property and refined metals. We associate fire with Hell, as in “the fires of Hell.” As applied to a flame, I think of the sanctuary lamp near the tabernacle, which indicates the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist reserved in the tabernacle after Holy Communion. Jesus says of himself: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12). This passage clarifies the Flame of Love as a Person; not an object, who was born of His Immaculate Mother.
We who are Jesus’ followers recognize the Blessed Mother as our spiritual mother accept the truth that we are responsible to spread the Flame of Love because we have the Flame! While many of us do not remember the day we were baptized, we may have the baptismal candle, which had been lit from the Paschal Candle during the ceremony. During the baptismal ceremony, the priest (or perhaps the deacon) presented the candle to our parents or perhaps a godparent and said “Receive the Light of Christ. Parents and godparents: this light is entrusted to you to be kept burning brightly. This child of yours has been enlightened by Christ. He/she is to walk always as a child of the light. May he/she keep the flame of faith alive in his/her heart so that when the Lord comes, he/she may go out to meet Him with all the saints in the heavenly kingdom. Perhaps the Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is not too hard to understand. Living our faith and witnessing to Christ, whose love inflames us, is enlightening.