August is Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

~~~ immaculate heart of mary, pray for us! ~~~

Whatever our difficulties and sorrows may be, we have been given, by Our Lord Himself from the Cross, the most wonderful of Mothers! Let us this month, flee to her in all our need and honor her Most Immaculate Heart, so desiring of reparation. This is a fabulous time to start the “Communion of Reparation 5 First Saturdays,” instituted by Our Lady of Fatima. The feast of the Immaculate Heart is celebrated on the 22nd, along with the Queenship of Our Lady-what a beautiful double Marian feast! Of course, we also have the Assumption, a holy day of obligation, on the 15th, along with several other feasts of Our Lady this month. August gives us 3 saints with particular love for Mary: Saints Alphonsus, Dominic and Maximilian Kolbe. In addition, we celebrate the father of the Blessed Virgin, the day after the Assumption. Let us not forget the Transfiguration of Our Lord, the 4th Luminous Mystery, on the 6th.

We honor both Saint Teresa Benedicta and Saint Maximilian Kolbe, who met their deaths at Aushwitz, Kolbe one year earlier. We also have Saint Rose of Lima and Saint Fiacre, both patrons of gardeners on the 30th!

We have spent the past year giving the titles (names attributed to them) of all 35 Doctors of the Church. We will now begin to provide one of their best-known works with each noted feastday. This month, we honor 3 of the most superlative Doctors! Saint Alphonsus has been noted as the most popular writer of all time (including Shakespeare)…Saint Bernard is quite possibly the most prolific miracle-worker of all time…and Saint Augustine has been called the “Doctor of Doctors,” his Confessions being the most widely read spiritual book for 1,000 years.*

Here are some notable feasts this month from both the old and new calendars:

8/1-St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church, Founder of the Redemptorists, author The Glories of Mary

8/2-St. Alphonsus Liguori (trad)

8/4-St. John Vianney / St. Dominic, Seer of the Holy Rosary

8/5-OUR LADY OF THE SNOWS

8/6-First Friday / TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD

8/7-First Saturday

8/8-St. John Vianney (trad) / St. Dominic (new)

8/9-St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Jewish convert, killed at Aushwitz

8/11-St. Clare (Chiara) of Assisi

8/12-St. Clare (Chiara) of Assisi (trad)

8/14-St. Maximilian Kolbe, martyred at Aushwitz / VIGIL OF THE ASSUMPTION

8/15-THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY (Holy Day of Obligation)

8/16-St. Joachim, Father of the Blessed Virgin

8/17-OUR LADY OF KNOCK

8/20-St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Doctor of the Church, author Canticle of Canticles

8/21-St. Pius X, Pope of the Eucharist

8/22-QUEENSHIP OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY / IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

8/23-St. Rose of Lima, Patroness of Gardeners

8/24-St. Bartholomew, Apostle

8/27-St. Monica, Mother of St. Augustine / SEVEN JOYS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY (non-standard)

8/28-St. Augustine of Hippo, Doctor of the Church, author Confessions

8/29-Passion of St. John the Baptist

8/30-St. Rose of Lima (trad) / St. Fiacre of Brie, Patron of Gardeners (non-standard)

* Source: The 35 Doctors of the Church Buy it!

Image courtesy acatholiclife.blogspot.com

October: Month of the Holy Rosary / Respect Life

Traditionally, October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary and more recently, to the sanctity of human life. We can easily see the connection between Our Lady, who bore the Savior, and the precious life in the womb (and all the vulnerable). We can also easily combine the two, by reciting the Rosary diligently this month, for the intention of life. As the world unravels, all the more important it is to seek God’s mercy through prayer…and to participate in whatever pro-life activities we can this month.

Most importantly, we celebrate the traditional feast of Christ the King on October 25th. Below is a listing of additional notable feasts. There is only one Doctor of the Church, Saint Therese of Lisieux, who extraordinarily acquired this title after spending only 24 years on this earth. We have a feast for the Guardian Angels and also St. Raphael the Archangel. We have 2 Marian feasts, along with the 103rd anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun on the 13th (don’t forget our Fatima Holy Hour!). Also, two 20th century popes and several great visionaries, including St. Faustina Kowalska (this is the first year of her feast, which was announced in May!). Our month concludes with All Hallows Eve, the Triduum of Death.

1-St. Therese of Lisieux, Doctor, “Doctor of the Little Way of Spiritual Childhood & Merciful Love” (new)

2-First Friday / The Holy Guardian Angels

3-First Saturday / St. Therese of Lisieux (trad)

4-St. Francis of Assisi

5-St. Faustina, Seer of the Divine Mercy

7-OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY

8-St. Bridget of Sweden

11-DIVINE MATERNITY OF OUR LADY / Pope St. John XXIII

16-St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Seer of the Sacred Heart (new)

17-St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (trad)

18-St. Luke, Evangelist

22-Pope St. John Paul II

24-St. Raphael the Archangel

25-CHRIST THE KING

28-Sts. Simon & Jude, Apostles

31-All Hallows Eve (not a feast, though evening prayer prior to All Saints Day, is part of liturgical observance)

Please don’t laugh at my photography…it's conceptual!