May is the Month of Our Lady!

Each month in the Catholic calendar is dedicated to a particular intention and this month, it is Our Lady. It is sad Catholics have gotten away from this unifying theme each month. We have largely forgotten that we are the Body of Christ on earth, all as one. Many are focused on their own parishes, not even having any knowledge of what is going on in the parishes around them, nevermind the larger picture. Each month, I will be discussing the focus for that month (I’m not known for being perfectly timely, as I have many domestic responsibilities, family in need and my own health issues-my hubby and I are empty nesters, but I still have lots on my plate-please be patient with me when I am flaky).

So how can we honor the Mother of God this month? I never claim to have all the answers and I always encourage others to be self-empowered and use their own creativity. What I would suggest, as I’ve been saying a lot these days, is to re-commit ourselves to daily Rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart in all the requests of Fatima (which we will be discussing in the coming days in detail). Please think of how you can devote yourself to her this month with your family. God will certainly look upon the world with greater mercy if He sees there is love for His Beloved Mother!

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday in the new. Let us never feel abandoned by God, even in dark moments. If you are feeling depressed, just say “I give myself to Thee” and commend it all to Him. Our priest gave a wonderful homily this morning over the internet (where they can see everything-hmmmmm). He said you should never let anything take your joy away. We have Christ and the Good News of the New Covenant-anything less than joy is an insult to Him. He explained that when we are caught up in the cares of the world, our joy can be taken away, but we must keep our eyes on the Eternal. What a great and consoling message at this time.

Following are some notable feasts this month (some old, some new). If you have been following me for several years, you know I have a particular interest in the Doctors of the Church. I always say, if you wish to read one book of each Doctor, it will take 35 years! This month, we have 5 Doctors of the Church. My husband and I read about one of them per month in the book, The 35 Doctors of the Church: https://www.tanbooks.com/thirty-five-doctors-of-the-church.html?___SID=U This month, we are focusing on Saint Robert Bellarmine, whose feast is May 13th. I once read his “Hell and Its Torments” and was forever changed. Have a blessed month of May!

May 3-Good Shepherd Sunday (new), Sts. Philip & James the Less

May 9-St. Gregory Nazianzen, Doctor

May 10-St. John of Avila, Doctor

May 13-OUR LADY OF FATIMA* (take a look at the World Apostolate of Fatima site https://www.bluearmy.com/ for prayers and info), St. Robert Bellarmine

May 15-St. Isidore the Farmer (Nomen Christi Apostolate counts him among our patrons), St. Dymphna, patron of mental disorders (many are experiencing anxiety right now)

May 16-St. Simon Stock, seer of the Brown Scapular, another of Our Lady’s requests (good time to be wearing it!)

May 18-20-Minor Rogation Days-trad custom-prayer and penance

May 21-ASCENSION OF THE LORD-check your diocese if this is a Holy Day of Obligation

May 24-ASCENSION OF THE LORD (new)

May 25-St. Bede the Venerable, Doctor (new)

May 27-St. Bede the Venerable, Doctor (old)

May 30-Vigil of Pentecost

May 31-PENTECOST, The Visitation, The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary (what a wonderful triple feast!)

*Nomen Christi Apostolate is dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima

Picture above is from my own yard-I believe our home has protection!

October is the Month of the Holy Rosary!

First of all, the major features of this month of October in the Roman Catholic Church are:  Dedication to the Holy Rosary given to St. Dominic, the celebration of the centennial of the final apparition at Fatima, the great Miracle of the Sun seen by thousands and a general focus on pro-life issues, the first Sunday of the month being dedicated to this cause....the annual "40 Days for Life," a Christian initiative, overlaps with the month of October-it began September 27th and extends till November 5th-this involves a three-point approach:  Prayer & Fasting,  Constant Vigil and Community Outreach.  Think about getting involved-these efforts have saved many lives!

We also have the trad feast of Christ the King, last Sunday of October and several Marian feasts, including Our Lady of the Rosary, corresponding to this month's theme.  We celebrate only one Doctor of the Church this month, St. Therese, probably (but I haven't researched this) the youngest of all the Doctors, only reaching the age of 24-what an accomplishment for such a young woman to attain a distinction reserved in all 2,000 years of Church history, for only 35 people!  We also honor several saints of the Gospel, companions of Christ, this month, along with one of the writers of the Gospel, Saint Luke.

So there are many things to think about in the coming weeks-if you can't do it all, pick one thing and devote yourself to it.  That is the beauty of being a Catholic-it is such a rich and varied tradition, there is something for everyone!  Here is sampling of this month's feasts:

10/1-St. Therese of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church, 1897/Respect Life Sunday

10/2-Holy Guardian Angels

10/3-St. Therese of Lisieux (trad)

10/4-St. Francis of Assisi, 1226

10/5-St. Faustina Kowalska, Seer of the Divine Mercy, 1938-pray the chaplet!

10/6-First Friday

10/7-First Saturday/Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary-what a day to celebrate the First Saturday devotion, in the month of the Holy Rosary and also the month of the final Fatima apparition-remember, this devotion was given to Sister Lucia!

10/8-Our Lady of Good Remedy

10/11-Divine Maternity of Our Lady

10/12-Our Lady of the Pillar

10/13-CENTENNIAL OF THE MIRACLE OF THE SUN AT FATIMA, PORTUGAL-the final Fatima apparition-Don't forget our Holy Hour right here on the blog!  What special gift would you like to give Our Lady on this joyful day?  My gift will be to spend the day at the World Apostolate of Fatima Blue Army Shrine in New Jersey-Mass will be said by Bishop Frank Caggiano, Bishop of Bridgeport, CT-he is the very first clergy member I met with in Brooklyn 4 years ago, to discuss Nomen Christi Apostolate and we had a great meeting!  Maybe I'll see you there?

10/16-St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Seer of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 1690/St. Gerard Majella, 1755-patron of pregnant women

10/17-St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (trad)

10/18-St. Luke the Evangelist

10/21-St. Ursula & Companions, Martyrs, 4th Century-legend states she had up to 11,000 companions martyred with her, perhaps even more, but no one knows for sure what the actual number was

10/22-Pope St. John Paul II, 2005/St. Mary Salome, Mother of Saints James & John, Apostles

10/24-St. Raphael the Archangel-patron of travelers & the blind

10/28-Saints Simon & Jude, Apostles

10/29-Christ the King

10/31-All Hallow's Eve-pray for those who perform occult practices on this day in direct response to Holy Church's devotion to the saints in Heaven....and for reparation for these sins

September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows

Prophecy of Simeon + Flight into Egypt + Loss of the Child Jesus + Way of the Cross + The Crucifixion + Descent of the Body of Christ + Burial of the Body of Christ

We honor Our Lady's sorrows this month-she suffered so much to bring us Our Savior!  Let us find ways this month to show our thanks and love for her.  There is a chaplet of her Seven Sorrows, which can be purchased, or you can even pray it on regular rosary beads.  What a wonderful devotion to pray with your family this month!

What are some other features of the liturgical month of September?  As the season of Autumn begins, we celebrate the Ember Days of September, for a fruitful harvest.  This is a great traditional Catholic time to do creative seasonal crafts with kids or anything else you can think of which would be in keeping with the spirit of the Ember Days.  We celebrate 5 Doctors of the Church, including St. Hildegard, one of the few women Doctors-a great lover of nature, which resonates with the mission of Nomen Christi Apostolate.  We also honor 3 20th-century saints, including St. Teresa of Calcutta, who was canonized one year ago! 

Wishes for a blessed month of September-may we all grow closer to Christ in the next 30 days....AND DON'T FORGET OUR FATIMA FAMILY HOLY HOUR ON THE 13TH!

9/1-First Friday

9/2-First Saturday-what a great year to perform the First Saturday Devotion!

9/3-Pope St. Gregory the Great, Doctor of the Church, 604/Pope St. Pius X, 1914

9/5-St. Teresa of Calcutta, 1997

9/8-Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

9/11-Let us never forget that terrible day 16 years ago!  We pray for the souls of the departed and all those affected by this crime against humanity!

9/12-Most Holy Name of Mary

9/13-Centennial of the Fifth Apparition at Fatima, Portugal/St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church, 407

9/14-Exaltation of the Holy Cross

9/15-Our Lady of Sorrows/Seven Sorrows of Our Lady

9/17-St. Robert Bellarmine, Doctor of the Church, 1621/St. Hildegard of Bingen, Doctor of the Church, 1179/Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi, 1224

9/19-Our Lady of La Salette/St. Januarius & Companions, Martyrs, 304-St. Januarius is the saint whose blood liquefies in Italy several times per year-when it fails to liquefy, it signals a upcoming local disaster

9/20-Ember Wednesday in September-day of prayer and penance, trad meat at one meal

9/21-St. Matthew, Apostle, Evangelist

9/22-Ember Friday in September

9/23-Ember Saturday in September-trad meat at one meal/St. Pio of Pietralcina, 1968

9/24-Our Lady of Ransom

9/27-St. Vincent de Paul, 1660

9/29-Archangels Michael, Gabriel & Raphael

9/30-St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church, 420

August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Today is the feast of St. Alphonsus de Ligouri, who died in 1787 and is a Doctor of the Church. 

The 2nd is the trad feast of St. Alphonsus and the "historical" feast of Our Lady of the Angels-many wonderful Marian feasts to come this month!  Think about how we may honor her Immaculate Heart this coming month.  The feast of her Immaculate Heart is the 22nd, along with her Queenship-what a glorious day!  Of course we also have the Assumption.....the Seven Joys and several other feasts in honor of Our Lady.

It is interesting to note that during this Marian month, we also have....St. Dominic, who gave us the Holy Rosary, St. Maximilian Kolbe, so devoted to Our Heavenly Mother, St. Joachim, her dear father and St. Monica, another famous mother.  We also celebrate 3 Doctors of the Church, 2 saints killed at Auschwitz, one year apart, 2 patrons of gardening (we like them at Nomen Christi!) and the luminous Transfiguration of Our Lord.  Wishing you all summer blessings and don't forget about our Fatima Family Holy Hour, which falls on a Sunday this month!  Here is a sampling of upcoming feasts....

8/4-First Friday/St. John Vianney (The Cure of Ars), 1859 (I saw his heart once!)/St. Dominic, Seer of the Holy Rosary, 1221

8/5-First Saturday/Our Lady of the Snows

8/6-Transfiguration of Our Lord

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

8/9-St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), 1942

8/11-St. Clare (Chiara), Foundress of Poor Clares, Companion of St. Francis of Assisi, 1253/St. Philomena, 304

8/12-St. Clare (trad)

8/13-Centennial of the Fourth Apparition at Fatima

8/14-St. Maximilian Kolbe, Martyr of Charity during Hitler regime, 1941/Vigil of the Assumption

8/15-THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, Holy Day of Obligation (please pray for my son's safe trip back to school today-ty!)

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

8/20-St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Doctor of the Church, 1153

8/21-Our Lady of Knock, 1879/Pope St. Pius X, 1914

8/22-Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary/Immaculate Heart of Mary

8/23-St. Rose of Lima, Patroness of South America, 1617

8/24-Our Lady, Health of the Sick/St. Bartholomew, Apostle

8/26-Our Lady of Czestochowa

8/27-Seven Joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary/St. Monica, Mother of St. Augustine, 387

8/28-St. Augustine of Hippo, Doctor of the Church, 430

8/29-The Passion of St. John the Baptist

8/30-St. Fiacre of Brie, Patron of gardeners, 670/St. Rose of Lima, Patroness of gardeners....also! (trad)

June is the Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

My son is home from college...he was just remarking on my strangeness.  He said, "I wouldn't have you any other way, except a little bit different."  Yay.  This is the summer I have to look forward to.

Holy Church dedicates this month to Our Lord's Sacred Heart, His actual LOVE for us!  It is a Love which must be reciprocated.  And we know the way to reciprocate it...by conforming to His Holy Will.  The feast of His Sacred Heart is the 23rd, and the very next day is the feast of His Mother's Immaculate Heart!  They cannot be separated-they are of one fiber.  In addition, we have Corpus Christi and the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus this month.  A great month to perform Sacred Heart devotions and read up on the life of Saint Margaret Mary.

If you have not celebrated the Five First Saturdays, if you start this month, you'll still complete them during the six-month Fatima apparitions time frame.  Of course, this devotion was given to Sister Lucia, the oldest of the Fatima seers, who lived to a ripe old age, while the other two died very young.  We have the glorious feast of Pentecost and the Ember Days during Pentecost Week-let us offer these days for the coming season of summer, to be safe and fruitful for all the world.

Four Marian feasts (five if you count the 13th) and four Doctors of the Church, we honor this month.  Again, we will celebrate our Fatima Holy Hour on the 13th-stay tuned to the Home Page for more details.  Contact us if you would like an email reminder....think about asking your pastor if you can do this Holy Hour in church....I've already been there-you can expect him to say OK only if you will be doing it with a parish group you are already active with.....and please let us know if you participate-you may add your voice to our comments on the 13th-we would love to hear from you!  Here is a sampling of this month's feasts....Happy June!....

6/2-First Friday

6/3-First Saturday (good time to start the First Saturday Devotion, during this Fatima Centennial!)/Vigil of Pentecost (trad no meat)

6/4-Pentecost (commencing Pentecost Week)

6/7-Ember Wednesday After Pentecost (trad meat at one meal)

6/8-Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces

6/9-Ember Friday After Pentecost

6/10-Ember Saturday After Pentecost (trad meat at one meal)

6/11-Trinity Sunday

6/13-100th Anniversary of the Second Apparition at Fatima/St. Anthony of Padua, Doctor of the Church, 1231 (pray for our culture to find its sanity-my son is in college-you won't believe how bad the gender thing has gotten-the stories he tells me are truly stomach-turning...he even knows someone who demands to be referred to as "It!")

6/14-St. Basil the Great, Doctor of the Church, 379 (here's a thought-if you read one book of each of the Doctors of the Church per year, it would take 35 years!...kind of makes you think twice when you pick up a book, huh?)

6/15-Corpus Christi

6/18-Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ/St. Ephrem of Syria, Doctor of the Church, 373

6/20-Our Lady of Consolation

6/22-St. Thomas More, Martyr under Henry VIII, 1535

6/23-Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (Solemnity-no penance)/Vigil of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist

6/24-Immaculate Heart of Mary/Nativity of St. John the Baptist

6/27-Our Lady of Perpetual Help/St. Cyril of Alexandria, Doctor of the Church, 444

6/28-Vigil of Sts. Peter & Paul

6/29-Eucharistic Heart of Jesus/Sts. Peter & Paul

6/30-First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church/Commemoration of St. Paul

This blog features both old and new feasts.

May is the Month of Our Lady

Here I am, punctual as usual!  (Yes, that was a joke.)  Actually, my life has had a number of ups and downs lately.  Let me explain what you are looking at above....

This is my beloved Blessed Mother statue in my yard, which I have had for about 17 years.  There is a whole story associated with this statue that is too much to go into right now-maybe some other time!  Let's just say it has a mysterious history.  You may be able to see faint tears coming down from the eyes, which developed after I purchased it.  The flowers, my husband gave me yesterday to console me on the passing of my beautiful black & white Cardigan Welsh Corgi, named Obi.  I had an extremely close bond with this dog and I have been beside myself for the past week after having to make that gut-wrenching decision that most pet owners eventually have to make.  I never knew how hard it would be. 

I decided to share my flowers with Our Lady and give them to her for her month of May.  Nomen Christi Apostolate has been dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima and I am very excited about the 100th Anniversary coming up as well-May 13th!  It is Mothers Day weekend and also a Saturday, which of course, is the day of the week associated with Our Lady.  Coincidence?  The rosary you see around her neck I purchased yesterday when walking around Huntington Station, NY, while my car was being serviced.  I was walking through a Latino neighborhood and found that rosary for $3.00.  I feel it was a little gift from Heaven as well, for my grief.  I have not been blogging the past month because my dog was so sick, all I could think about was taking care of him.  We tried to save him, but he was old and not responding to treatment.  If his little doggie soul goes on, I have commended it to Saint Francis, to take care of until we can be reunited in Heaven.  Call me crazy, but I believe love makes all things possible.  Who are we to put limits on God?

I also have been busy with a brand new concept which I am writing a book about and am not yet ready to announce.  So, you'll just have to keep coming back if you want to know what it is....unless I scrap the whole idea, which is always a possibility-but I don't think I will.  I've learned that not every idea is a good one, but I think I've hit the jackpot on this one.  It will take time to develop, so don't expect anything soon.  Ok....hint....its a "Life Improvement" program to help people achieve balance in their lives.  I am using myself as the initial guinea pig right now.  If all goes well, I will then do workshop trials which you may be able to participate in.  I'll keep you posted....

As usual, I have picked some of the feasts I find interesting in the month ahead....here goes...and have a blessed Month of May (please see prayer on Home page)!  (If you want to do something on behalf of the loss of my dear dog, please pray for someone somewhere who is grieving with a loss and has no one to turn to.  Thank you, my friends.)

5/1-St. Joseph the Worker/St. Peregrine, 1345-patron of cancer patients

5/2-St. Athanasius, 373-Doctor of the Church

5/3-Sts. Philip & James the Less, 61, 62/Finding of the Holy Cross

5/4-St. Monica, 387-mother of St. Augustine/Feast of the Holy Shroud

5/5-First Friday

5/6-First Saturday (great time to start this devotion which was instituted by Our Lady of Fatima!)

5/7-Good Shepherd Sunday

5/9-St. Gregory Nazianzen, 389-Doctor of the Church

5/10-St. John of Avila, 1569-Doctor of the Church

5/11-Sts. Philip & James the Less (trad)

5/13-100th Anniversary of the First Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima, Portugal/St. Robert Bellarmine, 1621-Doctor of the Church/Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament

5/14-St. Matthias, 65 (Mothers Day-pro-life intentions)

5/15-St. Isidore the Farmer, 1130 (we like him!)/St. Dymphna, 7th C-Martyr for purity, patron of mental disorders

5/16-St. Simon Stock, 1265-Seer of the Brown Scapular (another devotion associated with Fatima)

5/22-Rogation Day (see previous post)

5/23-Rogation Day

5/24-Rogation Day/Our Lady Help of Christians

5/25-Ascension Thursday/St. Bede the Venerable, 735-Doctor of the Church

5/27-St. Augustine of Canterbury, 604/St. Bede the Venerable (trad)/Our Lady Queen of Apostles

5/28-Ascension of Our Lord/St. Augustine of Canterbury (trad)

5/30-St. Joan of Arc, 1431

5/31-Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary/Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

April is the Month of the Holy Eucharist

The Church dedicates this month to Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament.  It is a time to renew our appreciation for this great privilege.  It is easy, when we receive Him every week, to begin to take this for granted.  But we must guard against this, lest the precious Body of Christ be taken from us!  How can we deepen our love and devotion to the Holy Eucharist this month?  We may receive Him more frequently, we may perform any of the many Eucharistic devotions, we may visit Him in Adoration, we may begin the Nine First Fridays Devotion (given to Saint Margaret Mary, which requires that Holy Communion is received on nine consecutive first Fridays), we may make reparation to Him for all the outrages against this great Sacrament (see prayer on Home page from the LItany of Reparation to Our Lord in the Blessed Eucharist)...just a few ideas! 

What other unique features does this month of April bring to us?  It is a month of special weeks:  the traditional Passion Week, Holy Week and the joyful Easter Week.  We celebrate 3 Doctors of the Church, 2 20th Century saints (both Italian women!) and the Major Rogation Day, a traditional day of prayer and fasting, very similar to the Ember Days, but with a different origin.

After our 40 days of penance and the contemplation of Our Lords terrible sufferings, may be all celebrate a happy and holy Easter Sunday.  What a great joy!  Isn't it wonderful to be Catholic?  Here's a sampling of this month's feasts:

4/1-First Saturday-Our Lady of Fatima requested that we observe the First Saturdays

4/2-Passion Sunday, commencing Passion Week

4/4-Saint Isidore of Seville, 636-Doctor of the Church

4/7-First Friday/Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary-say the Seven Sorrows Chaplet, it's a wonderful devotion!

4/9-Palm Sunday, commencing Holy Week/Saint Mary of Cleophas, 1st Century

4/10-Saint Ezechiel, 6th Century BC-Old Testament Patriarch

4/11-Saint Leo the Great,461-Doctor of the Church/Saint Gemma Galgani, 1903

4/12-Spy Wednesday

4/13-Holy Thursday

+++ EASTER TRIDUUM +++

4/14-Good Friday-fast and abstinence

4/15-Holy Saturday/Easter Vigil

4/16-Easter Sunday, The Solemnity of Solemnities, commencing Easter Week-Happy Easter!/Saint Bernadette, 1879

4/21-Saint Anselm, 1109 (Easter Friday is a solemnity, therefore no penance is required)

4/23-Divine Mercy Sunday-Saint Faustina, pray for us!  What a beautiful day of devotions!/Quasimodo Sunday

4/25-Saint Mark, 74/Major Rogation Day-great day to do special prayers and crafts with children relating to the season of Spring

4/26-Our Lady of Good Counsel

4/28-Saint Louis de Montfort, 1716/Saint Gianna Molla, 1962

4/29-Saint Catherine of Siena, 1380-Doctor of the Church

4/30-Saint Catherine of Siena (trad)

this blog provides both new and traditional feasts

March is dedicated to Saint Joseph and....it's Lent!

Saint Joseph's feast is March 19th (and the 20th this year) and this month is also dedicated to him.  How can we honor Saint Joseph this month?  You can say the short prayer on our Home page and perhaps memorize it....and share it with others!  Of course there are many other wonderful prayers and devotions to Saint Joseph.  Also, if you don't have a statue of him in your home, now might be the time to get one.

Lent has commenced, the beautiful yearly time of spiritual renewal that we all need-how wise is Mother Church!  The photo above is the window in my dining room....my husband made fun of me last weekend when I decorated the window-he said, "Some people, they're always putting the Lent decorations up early!"  I don't know what's funnier, the fact that I put them up early or the fact that I put up Lent decorations.  So, I know you all know about no meat on Fridays, but do you know that traditionally, meat was eaten only at one meal each day of Lent (except Sundays)?  I have never successfully kept to that before, but I am going to try this year....the real issue is forgetting, so I have marked my calendar to remind myself and am hoping for the best.  Dear Lord, guide us in observing a holy Lent, which is pleasing to Thee and may we be that much closer to Heaven at the celebration of Thy glorious Resurrection!

And...we have the Ember Days of Lent as well.  This is a time of prayer and penance for the coming season of Spring (we can pray for Saint Isidore's intercession, whose feast is the 22nd), a Christianized version of pagan customs.  On these days, I love to read the masses in the traditional missal.  It is sad the Ember Days have largely been lost-this is what I mean when I say it is time to create new traditions-be creative with it!

What else is going on this month?  We have three Doctors of the Church, three people involved in Christ's Crucifixion and death, several Marian feasts and Saint Patrick's Day.  Saint Gabriel's feast is appropriately, the day before the Annunciation.  It is also interesting to note that the Annunciation and the feast of Saint Dismas fall on the same day, giving us a perspective from Our Lord's conception to his death.  And let us not forget to retire from our penance and be joyful on Laetare Sunday....remembering that its really all about the Resurrection and an eternity in Heaven!

3/1-Ash Wednesday-Fast and abstinence

3/3-Saint Katharine Drexel, 1955

3/6-Saints Felicitas & Perpetua, Martyrs, 203

3/7-Saints Felicitas & Perpetua (new)/Saint Thomas Aquinas,"The Angelic Doctor," Doctor of the Church, 1274

3/8-Ember Wednesday in Lent

3/10-Ember Friday in Lent

3/11-Ember Saturday in Lent

3/12-Saint Gregory the Great, Pope, Doctor of the Church, 604/Saint Theophanes the Chronicler, 817

3/15-Saint Longinus, Pierced the Heart of Our Lord

3/17-Saint Joseph of Arimathea, Provided the Tomb for Christ/Saint Patrick, Patron of Ireland, 461

3/18-Our Lady of Mercy/Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, Doctor of the Church, 386

3/19-Saint Joseph

3/20-Saint Joseph (new, transferred)

3/22-Saint Isidore the Farmer, 1130

3/23-Our Lady of Victories

3/24-Saint Gabriel the Archangel

3/25-The Annunciation of Our Lord/Saint Dismas, "The Good Thief"

3/26-Laetare Sunday

(this blog provides new and traditional feasts)

February is the Month of the Passion of Our Lord

Holy Church dedicates this month to Our Lord's Passion on that fateful Good Friday....such a terrible day, yet the day which wrought our Redemption.  So how can we remember and honor His suffering this month?  We honor His Passion every Friday by some act of penance and every Lent through various exercises and devotions.  How then, does the month of February distinguish itself?  Well, that is up to you.  We are at such a juncture in human history, in the history of the Church, when we need to take the bull by the horns and create new traditions that will last perhaps, till the end of time (which, by the way, may not be too long from now). 

So let's examine this month a little more closely....LENT begins exactly on March 1st, creating a nice clean cut between February and March!  That means the 2 1/2-week Time of Septuagesima, our preparation for the rigors of Lent, begins about halfway through the month.  What a great time to begin our commemoration of the Passion of Our Lord.  I'm not going to give you any ideas.  I assume if you are reading this blog, you must be intelligent enough to come up with something!

Shrove Tuesday also presents a wonderful opportunity to do a special meditation on the Passion...it is also the feast of the Holy Face of Jesus, given to Saint Veronica in the very midst of His suffering.  I also am a proponent of doing penance on this day, to atone for the over-indulgences (a nice way to put it) that go on during Mardi Gras celebrations.

Some unique features of this month:  a few feasts which call the New Testament to mind (Presentation, Chair of Saint Peter, Saint Matthias, Holy Face), 2 Cyrils and feasts pertaining to Lourdes and Fatima-the 2 most spectacular approved Marian apparitions of all time.

Here is a sampling of some upcoming feasts....I will begin to give the years associated with the saints, so we can have a better understanding of historical context....

2/2-Presentation of Our Lord (Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary/Candlemas)

2/3-Saint Blaise, 316-invoked for throat disorders

2/9-Saint Cyril of Alexandria, 444

2/11-Our Lady of Lourdes, 1858

2/12-Septuagesima Sunday (warning that Lent is coming!)/Seven Holy Founders Order of Servites, 1233 (trad)

2/14-Saints Cyril & Methodius, 869, 885/Saint Valentine, 269 (make reparation for sins against chastity on this day!)

2/17-Seven Holy Founders Order of Servites, 1233 (new)

2/18-Saint Bernadette, Seer of Lourdes, 1879 (lesser feast-it appears this date was chosen for its proximity to the date of the first apparition at Lourdes, but interesting to note there were in fact, 18 apparitions in total)

2/19-Sexagesima Sunday (even closer to Lent!)

2/20-Blesseds Francisco & Jancinta Marto, Seers of Fatima, 1919, 1920

2/22-Chair of Saint Peter

2/23-Saint Polycarp, Martyr, 166

2/24-Saint Matthias, Apostle-replacer of Judas

2/26-Quinquagesima Sunday (are you ready yet for Lent???)

2/28-Shrove Tuesday/Holy Face of Jesus

January is the Month of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (Nomen Christi) ~ Happy New Year!

[this post has been edited since publishing]

This is a bit late due to computer issues, but here we go....

Our year commences with a month which Holy Church dedicates to the Holy Name of Jesus.  A Name which is so often disrespected in our culture, a sin against the Second Commandment of God, Lord have mercy.  How do we respond when those around us take this Name in vain?  It is in these moments when our friendship with Christ is truly tested.  Do we allow entertainment in our home which freely disregards the holiness of God's Name?  What effect does this have on us?  What effect does it have on our children?  Perhaps we can all do better in these matters in the coming year.  If we defend Christ before man, He will defend us before the Father!

Here are some of the notable feastdays of this month:

1/1-Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary/Circumcision of Our Lord (trad)

1/2-Most Holy Name of Jesus (trad)/Saint Basil the Great

1/3-Most Holy Name of Jesus (new)

1/4-Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

1/5-Saint John Neumann

1/6-Epiphany of Our Lord (trad)/Saints Caspar, Balthasar & Melchior, the Three Wisemen (non-standard)/First Friday

1/7-First Saturday

1/8-Epiphany of Our Lord (new)/The Holy Family (trad)

1/9-Baptism of Our Lord (new)

1/13-Baptism of Our Lord (trad)

1/15-Our Lady of Prompt Succor/Saint Paul the First Hermit

1/16-Our Lady of Refuge (non-standard)

1/18-Chair of Saint Peter at Rome (non-standard)

1/19-Saint Canute

1/21-Saint Agnes, Martyr

1/23-Espousals of the Blessed Virgin Mary (non-standard)

1/24-Saint Francis de Sales (new)

1/25-Conversion of Saint Paul

1/27-Saint John Chrysostom

1/28-Saint Thomas Aquinas "The Angelic Doctor"

1/29-Saint Francis de Sales (trad)/Saint Gildas the Wise (non-standard)

1/31-Saint John Bosco