Come join us, at Holy Mass, as we
reflect on the Word of God
and feed on the Bread of Life
When we look at the liturgical calendar we see that the major Marian feast in August is the
Assumption on August 15.
Eight days later we celebrate the
Queenship of Mary.
Yet,
August is the month of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart. This is due to historical events and a change in the Liturgical calendar after Vatican II.
The association of August with the Immaculate Heart is a fairly recent development, stemming from the World War II era. The pope at the time, Venerable Pope Pius XII held a deep devotion to Our Lady of Fatima who in 1917 told the shepherd children “[Jesus] wants to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart.” Although Catholics throughout the ages venerated Our Lady’s heart, Pope Pius had long desired to make this devotion more universal and considered establishing a feast day to promote it throughout the Church.
At the beginning of his pontificate, the world was engaged in a war in which many atrocities were occurring and the Church was suffering under the attack of Modernism. Amid the widespread turmoil of the 1940s, the Pope chose to consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in hopes of bringing “peace among nations, freedom for the Church, the conversion of sinners, the love of purity and the practice of virtue” (Decree of May 4, 1944. Catholic Culture).
This same Pope also defined the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin as a dogma of the Faith.
He also made his long-held hope a reality by designating August 22 as the Feast of the Immaculate Heart. The initial establishment of the feast in August is likely the reason for the month’s dedication to Our Lady’s Heart. However, after the Liturgical changes of Vatican II, the feast was moved to the Saturday following the Feast of the Sacred Heart. It was replaced in August by the
Feast of the Queenship of Mary, also promoted by Pope Pius XII. Despite the feast day changes, the month of August remained dedicated to
The Immaculate Heart of Mary. - covenantcatholic.org
