August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart / Marian Triad of the Months Begins

August is a very Marian month!  Let us see why…

We begin on the 2nd, the first Saturday, with an opportunity to offer reparation to the Immaculate Heart we celebrate this month.  If you can’t do 5 Saturdays in a row, according to the Communion of Reparation devotion, that’s okay.  Go whenever you can at a parish near you that offers this important act of love for Our Lady, an antidote to these crazy times.  See Fr. Edward Broom’s short video below for an explanation of this devotion.  He holds up a picture of Our Lady with her Immaculate Heart and also mentions Saint Augustine, who we honor on the 28th…

DEVOTION OF THE FIVE FIRST SATURDAYS

On the 15th, we remember the glorious Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a holy day of obligation (with a vigil).  It is on a Friday, but since it is a solemnity, no penance is required.  On the 5th, we celebrate Our Lady of the Snows, which refers to a miracle in Italy.  On the 22nd, we have a beautiful double Marian feast, with the Queenship in the post-con and the Immaculate Heart in the trad.

And we’re not done yet, as there are several saints associated with Our Lady, who we honor in August.  Saint Dominic of the Holy Rosary’s feast is on the 4th and the 8th.  Saint Maximilian Kolbe, who received a vision of the Mother of God as a child, is celebrated on the 14th.  Her illustrious father, Saint Joachim, is the 16th.

The Transfiguration of Our Lord, the 4th Luminous Mystery, is the 6th. 

As for the theme of the Immaculate Heart, here is a well-written, comprehensive page at Covenant Catholic.  Following are some edited excerpts:

[From] Preparation for Total Consecration to the Immaculate Heart, according to Saint Maximillian M. Kolbe, by Fr. Matthias M. Sasko.  A day-by-day guide for 33 days of preparation for Consecration.

1.      Consecrate yourself and your home to The Immaculate Heart of Mary and pray The Shorter Act of Daily Consecration each day. 

2.      Keep an image of the Immaculate Heart in your home.

3.      Pray daily the Litany of the Immaculate Heart or the Prayer to the Immaculate Heart.

4.      Contemplate what Mary pondered in her heart as you pray the Mysteries of the Rosary and meditate on the events of her life and the life of Jesus.

5.      Memorize or meditate on Scripture verses and places in the Catechism that highlight the Immaculate Heart of Mary. (Luke 2:19, 2:51)

6.      Begin this August to go to Confession and Mass on the Five First Saturdays of the month, keeping the request of Our Lady of Fatima.  

7.      Learn and sing the “Salve Regina” [Hail, Holy Queen] with your family or friends.

St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar, ordered his entire ministry to the praise and glory of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In response to the ever more militant Luciferian force of the Freemasons against the Church, he established a spiritual army called the Militia of the Immaculata to win souls for the Queen of Heaven. St. Maximilian consecrated all its activity to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart and worked to spread devotion to Her Miraculous Medal. He carried a pocketful of them at all times and called them his spiritual “bullets.” St. Maximilian believed and taught, “If anyone does not wish to have Mary Immaculate for his Mother, he will not have Christ for his Brother.”

Something we do here at Nomen Christi Apostolate, is the Marian Triad of the Months and the Christological Triad of the Months.  There are 3 consecutive months which Holy Church dedicates to Our Lady:  August of the Immaculate Heart, September of Our Lady of Sorrows and October, Our Lady of the Rosary.  The purpose of this exercise is to meditate on these 3 aspects of the Mother of God and to see how they might interrelate, during this 3-month time of the Church year…with the guidance of the Holy Ghost.  You may share any insights you receive and we may post them.

Other notable feasts this month, in both the trad and post-con calendars:

1st-Saint Peter in Chains

11th-Saint Clare (Chiara, Clara) of Assisi, Foundress of the Poor Clares, Companion of Saint Francis

12th-Saint Clare (trad)

23rd-Saint Rose (Rosa) of Lima, Patroness of Gardeners

24th-Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

27th-Saint Monica, Mother of Saint Augustine

28th-Saint Augustine of Hippo, Bishop & Doctor of the Church

29th-Passion of Saint John the Baptist

30th-Saint Rose (trad)

Homeschooling Activities for August

1)       Draw a picture of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

2)      Write an essay on the life and death of Saint Maximillian Kolbe.  5 paragraphs:  Introduction, childhood, ministry, death, conclusion.

3)      Read the Gospel accounts of the Transfiguration and compare them:  Matthew 17:1, Mark 9:1, Luke 9:28.

August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

“And after six days Jesus taketh unto him Peter and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart: And he was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow. And behold there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking with him. And Peter answering, said to Jesus: Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. And as he was yet speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them. And lo, a voice out of the cloud, saying:

This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him.

And the disciples hearing, fell upon their face, and were very much afraid. And Jesus came and touched them: and said to them, Arise, and fear not. And they lifting up their eyes saw no one but only Jesus. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying: Tell the vision to no man, till the Son of man be risen from the dead.”

Matthew 17:1-9

We commemorate the glorious Transfiguration of Our Lord on the 6th of this month, in the trad and the new calendars.  Though not a Holy Day of Obligation, it is still a wonderful day to attend Mass, recite a devotion such as a litany, or pray the Luminous Mysteries, which contain the Transfiguration.

Holy Church devotes the next 3 months to our Blessed Mother.  August celebrates her Immaculate Heart, September her 7 Sorrows, and October the Holy Rosary (along with sanctity of life issues).  At Nomen Christi Apostolate, we call this the “Marian Triad of the Months,” and we encourage meditation upon these aspects of Mariology, along with devotions.  If we can see how Our Lady’s heart ties into her sorrows and the Rosary, this would be a path for us to understand and love her more.  We are so indebted to her, this is least we can do.

We celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the 15th, a Holy Day of Obligation and one of the Glorious Mysteries.  This feast also has a vigil.  Other Marian feasts of August:  Our Lady of the Snows (which refers to a miracle in Italy combined with the dedication of Saint Mary Major Basilica) on the 5th, Our Lady of Knock on the 17th and the Queenship of the BVM & the Immaculate Heart on the 22nd (double feast, yay!).  Marian-related feasts are:  Saint Dominic, seer of the Rosary on the 4th & 8th and Saint Joachim, father of the BVM the day after the Assumption, the 16th.

What better way to honor the Immaculate Heart of Mary, than to begin the Fatima Devotion of the First Saturdays “Communion of Reparation” (this month, that is the 3rd)?  This is for the purpose of offering reparation to her much-offended heart of incomprehensible love, and for general atonement.  In this time of increasing tensions between nations, we would do well to consider the words of Sr. Lucia:

“Whether the world has war or peace depends on the practice of this devotion, along with the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This is why I desire its propagation so ardently, especially because this is also the will of our dear Mother in Heaven.”

Sister Lucia, Fatima Seer, 1939

If your parish does not offer the First Saturdays, why not think about meeting with your pastor and getting it started?  Pray on it!

Here are some other notable feasts coming up, note St. Monica and St. Augustine, mother and son, are 1 day apart:

Saint Alphonsus Liguori-1st & 2nd

Saint John Vianney-4th & 8th

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)-9th

Saint Clare (Chiara) of Assisi-11th & 12th

Saint Maximilian Kolbe-14th

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux-20th

Saint Rose of Lima-23rd & 30th

Saint Bartholomew, Apostle-24th

Saint Monica-27th

Saint Augustine-28th

Passion of Saint John the Baptist-29th

Saint Fiacre of Brie (non-standard)-30th

Saints Rose & Fiacre, patrons of gardeners, pray for us!

What is the purpose of paying attention to feastdays?  It is part of our Catholic Faith that is sadly being lost.  If we are attentive to these days, it can have the following benefits:

1)      Encourage us to attend Mass more frequently.

2)      Renew our interest in the saints.  Provide a chance to teach our children about them.

3)      Increase our prayer and devotional life.

4)      Provide opportunity for reading Holy Scripture.

5)      Give us a greater love for and knowledge of the Catholic Faith.

6)      Help us to think creatively about practicing the Faith.

7)      Provide grace and bring us closer to the Kingdom of Heaven!

We provide both trad and new feasts.

Wonderful Prayer....

In this month of the Immaculate Heart, here is a prayer an internet friend shared with me:

Prayer To The Immaculate Heart of Mary

O Heart of Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, Heart most worthy of love, in which the Adorable Trinity is ever well-pleased, worthy of the veneration and love of all the Angels and men. Heart most like to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, of which thou art the perfect image, Heart full of goodness, ever compassionate toward our miseries, deign to melt our icy hearts and grant that they may be wholly changed into the likeness of the Heart of Jesus, our Divine Savior. Pour into them the love of thy virtues, kindle in them that divine fire with which thou thyself did ever burn. In thee, let Holy Church find a safe shelter. Protect her and be her dearest refuge, her tower of strength, impregnable against every assault of her enemies. Be thou the way which leads to Jesus and the channel through which we receive all the graces needful for our salvation. Be our refuge in time of trouble, our solace in the midst of trial, our strength against temptation, our haven in persecution, our present help in every danger, and especially in the hour of death, when all Hell shall let loose against us its legions to snatch away our souls at that dread moment, that hour so full of fear whereon our eternity depends. Ah then, most tender Virgin, make us to feel the sweetness of thy Motherly Heart and the might of thine intercession with Jesus, and open to us a safe refuge in that very fountain of mercy, whence we may come to praise Him with thee in Paradise, world without end. Amen.

From The Raccolta

I wanted to get some pics of my small garden up, but too much work right now….here are some of our wild raspberries….don’t they look yummy? That is the Authentic Life-get up, pick your breakfast, eat! And nothing is like fresh-picked:)