~~~ 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