​"Be not afraid; my Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and your safe way to God."   

~ Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, 1917.

 

   Just as June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and July is dedicated to His Most Precious Blood, the month of August is dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, though there exists no particular feast, and the main celebration in August is the Assumption of the Virgin Mary on August 15th. The physical heart of Mary is venerated because it is the seat of her love (especially for her divine Son), her virtue, and inner life. Such devotion should be an incentive to a similar love and virtue in each one of us.

    This devotion has received new emphasis in this century from the visions given to Lucy Dos Santos, oldest of the visionaries of Fatima, in her convent in Spain, in 1925 and 1926. In these visions, Our Lady asked for the practice of the Five First Saturdays to help make amends for the offenses committed against her heart by the blasphemies and ingratitude of the world - a practice which parallels the devotion of the Nine First Fridays in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. August became associated with the Immaculate Heart of Mary during the events surrounding World War II and further prompted by the devotion of Pope Pius XII to Our Lady of Fatima. The world was in incredible turmoil in the 1940s and particularly in 1942, when it was not at all certain that the Allies would win the war. Pope Pius XII responded to the requests of Our Lady of Fatima and consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on October 31, 1942.

 
    When the war continued, Pius XII again turned to the Immaculate Heart. On May 4, 1944, Pope Pius XII established the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on August 22nd, the Octave Day of the Feast of the Assumption. He did so that by Her intercession there may be obtained “peace among nations, freedom for the Church, the conversion of sinners, the love of purity and the practice of virtue.” This remained the day dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary up until after the Second Vatican Council. After the revision of the General Calendar, Pope St. Paul VI decided to switch the feasts of the Immaculate Heart and the Queenship of Mary. The feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was joined to the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (celebrated on the Saturday following the feast of the Sacred Heart, typically in June) and the Queenship of Mary was moved to August 22nd. This was in part to recognize the fact that Mary’s Queenship is closely connected to that of Her Assumption into Heaven.

    Even after the switching of the feasts, many Catholics continued to celebrate August as a month dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as they felt her message at Fatima needed to be heard in a more extended way. There is no better example of the Christian life than that offered by Mary. Throughout the month of August, on those weekdays when there are no other feasts, we will offer special votive Masses to deepen our devotion to Mary's Immaculate Heart in the hopes that we may join the Mother of God in drawing closer to Christ. May we, by our Immaculate Lady's intercession, come to Christ through Mary, just as Christ came to us through Her for the salvation of the world.

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O Most Immaculate Heart of Mary,

Pray for us!

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Oremvs Pro Invicem!

Father Albert Beltz, KHS, Pastor​​

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