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15th August - Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was proclaimed by Pope Pius XII on the 1st of November 1950. "Finally the Immaculate virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son’s Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians." Catechism of the Catholic Church 966. See also: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02006b.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assumption_of_Mary https://www.bartleby.com/210/8/151.html https://catholicsaints.info/assumption-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary/ https://www.christianiconography.info/goldenLegend/assumption.htm https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/2021/08/14/the-assumption-of-the-mother-of-god/ |
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19th August - Memorial at choice of St. John Eudes, Priest. Born - 14 November 1601, Ri, Normandy, Kingdom of France Died - 19 August 1680 (aged 78), Caen, Normandy, Kingdom of France Venerated in - Roman Catholic Church Beatified - 25 April 1909, Saint Peter's Basilica, Kingdom of Italy by Pope Pius X Canonized - 31 May 1925, Saint Peter's Basilica, Kingdom of Italy by Pope Pius XI Feast - 19 August Attributes - Priest's attire, Sacred Heart Patronage – Eudists, Order of Our Lady of Charity, Diocese of Baie-Comeau, Missionaries The founder of the Congregation of Jesus and Mary (Eudists), he was born in 1601 to a faming family in Ri in Normandy and was educated by the Jesuits at Caen. In 1623 he joined the French Oratorians and was inspired by Philip Neri. He remained with the order for twenty years being zealous in preaching, especially in the missions, and in the care of the sick during epidemics. In 1643 he founded his new congregation for the education of priests in seminaries – foundations were made at Coutances, Lisieux and Rouen. After his death in 1680 his work prospered and the houses became more numerous. He was canonized in 1925. O God, who wonderfully chose the Priest Saint John Eudes, to proclaim the unfathomable riches of Christ, Grant us, by the example of his teachings, that, growing in knowledge of you, we may live faithfully by the light of the Gospel. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Eudes http://www.liberius.net/livres/The_Sacred_Heart_of_Jesus_000000344.pdf https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05596a.htm https://catholicsaints.info/saint-john-eudes/ https://saintscatholic.blogspot.com/2015/08/saint-john-eudes.html |
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20th August - Memorial of St. Bernard, Abbot, Doctor of the Church. Born - c. 1090, Fontaine-les-Dijon, Burgundy, Kingdom of France Died - 20 August 1153 (aged 62-63), Clairvaux Abbey, Clairvaux (modern day part of Ville-sous-la-Ferté), Champagne, Kingdom of France Venerated in - Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Lutheranism Canonized - 18 January 1174, Rome, Papal States by Pope Alexander III Major shrine - Troyes Cathedral Feast - August 20 Attributes - Cistercian habit, book, and crosier Patronage - Cistercians, Burgundy, beekeepers, candlemakers, Gibraltar, Algeciras, Queens' College, Cambridge, Speyer Cathedral, Knights Templar Bernard was born in c.1090 at Fontaines, near Dijon, the third son of Tescelin Sorrel, a Burgundian nobleman and was educated at Châtillon-sur-Seine by secular canons. Aged just twenty-two with thirty-one companions he became a monk at the languishing and poverty-ridden monastery at Citeaux. Under Bernard’s influence the Cistercian Order was transformed and he eventually rose to become abbot of Clairvaux, a new foundation. After initial hardships, Clairvaux went on to make numerous other foundations in France and elsewhere including Rievaulx in North Yorkshire in 1132. At the time of Bernard’s death Clairvaux itself had some 700 monks. Although a member of an order that purported to practice seclusion from the world in chosen obscurity, Bernard became involved in Church affairs obtaining recognition for the Order of Templars at the Synod of Troyes and was responsible for putting together their rule and thus forming a dedicated body of knights to fight the Church’s battles in the Crusades whilst devoting themselves to the care of pilgrims and the sick. However, it is for his deep and lasting influence on monasticism that he is best known. On one hand he encouraged monks to devote themselves to mystic prayer through the ordinary framework of monastic observance while, on the other, developing the Cistercian Order into a mass movement of unprecedented expansion and renown. By the time of his death in 1153 there were about 500 Cistercian houses with over fifty in England and Wales. Unofficially his cult began during his lifetime. He was canonised in 1174 and was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1830. O God, who made the Abbot Saint Bernard, a man consumed with zeal for your house and a light shining and burning for your Church, grant, through his intercession, that we may be on fire with the same spirit and walk always as children of light. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_of_Clairvaux https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02498d.htm https://www.christianiconography.info/bernard.html https://www.christianiconography.info/goldenLegend/bernard.htm |
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21st August - Memorial of St. Pius X, Pope. Birth name - Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto Born - 2 June 1835, Riese, Treviso, Lombardy-Venetia, Austrian Empire Died - 20 August 1914 (aged 79), Apostolic Palace, Rome, Kingdom of Italy Previous post(s) - Archpriest of Salzano (1867–75), Chancellor of the Diocese of Treviso (1875–84), Vice-Capitular of Treviso (1879–80), Bishop of Mantova (1884–93), Patriarch of Venice (1893–1903), Cardinal-Priest of San Bernardo alle Terme (1893–1903) Motto - Instaurare Omnia in Christo (Restore all things in Christ) Feast day - 21 August, 3 September (General Roman Calendar 1955–1969) Venerated in - Catholic Church Beatified - 3 June 1951, Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City by Pius XII Canonized - 29 May 1954, Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, by Pius XII Patronage - Society of Saint Pius X, Archdiocese of Atlanta, Georgia; Diocese of Des Moines, Iowa; First Communicants; Diocese of Great Falls-Billings, Montana; Archdiocese of Kottayam, India; pilgrims; Santa Luċija, Malta; Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Missouri; Archdiocese of Zamboanga, Philippines; emigrants from Treviso; Patriarchy of Venice; Catechists; St. Pius X Seminary (Dubuque, Iowa) Born Giuseppe Melchiore Sarto in Riese in 1835 to a poor family the son of a postman and a seamstress. He was ordained in 1858 and through a succession of posts he rose to become Patriarch of Venice in 1893 and cardinal. At the conclave in 1903 following the death of Leo XIII he was elected pontiff after the tenth ballot. He took as his motto “To restore all things in Christ “ (Ephesians 1: 10). The effects of his pontificate on the modern Church were considerable – he has been hailed as a pioneer of the modern liturgical movement. He encouraged the frequent reception of Holy Communion and of the admission to it of children aged about seven. In the field of Church music he encouraged the use of Gregorian chant and classical polyphony. In the fields of Church administration he oversaw the reform of Canon Law (promulgated by his successor Benedict XV) and a reorganization of the Roman Congregations. In the field of Christian doctrine he condemned Modernism in the encyclical Pascendi and the decree Lamentabili. Despite his tireless efforts he was unable to prevent the outbreak of the First World War and died on the 20th of August 1914. The process of canonization was begun in 1923; he was beatified on the 3rd of June 1951 and canonized by Pope Pius XII on the 29th May 1954. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pius_X https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12137a.htm https://catholicsaints.info/pope-saint-pius-x/ https://saintscatholic.blogspot.com/2014/03/pope-st-pius-x.html |
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22nd August - Memorial of the Queenship of Blessed Virgin Mary. Venerated in - Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, some Lutheran churches, Eastern Orthodoxy Feast - 22 August (General Roman Calendar), 31 May (General Roman Calendar of 1960) Attributes - The Blessed Virgin Mary crowned by the Holy Trinity, crown of stars, flowers Patronage - Heaven, eternal salvation to humankind, redemption
Hail, O Queen of Heaven Enthroned! Queenship of Mary is a Marian feast day in the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church, created by Pope Pius XII. On 11th October 1954, the pontiff pronounced the new feast in his encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam. The feast was celebrated on May 31, the last day of the Marian month. The initial ceremony for this feast involved the crowning of the Salus Populi Romani icon of Mary in Rome by Pius XII as part of a procession in Rome. In 1969, Pope Paul VI moved the feast day to August 22, the former Octave Day of the Assumption in order to emphasize the close bond between Mary's queenship and her glorification in body and soul next to her Son. The Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Church states that "Mary was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory and exalted by the Lord as Queen of the universe, that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son" (Lumen gentium, 59). O God, who made the Mother of your Son to be our Mother and our Queen, graciously grant that, sustained by the intercession, we may attain in the heavenly Kingdom the glory promised to your children. See also: Ad Caeli Reginam - Encyclical by Pope Pius XII proclaiming the Queenship of Mary. https://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_pi12ac.htm https://zenit.org/2012/08/22/on-the-queenship-of-mary/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_of_Heaven |