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.