Why is August dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary?
Philip Kosloski |
Aug 01, 2019
Originally the month of
August had a special feast of the Virgin Mary that was in response to World War
II and Fatima.
In the Catholic Church there
grew over time specific “devotions” that were assigned to each month of the
year. The month of June became associated with the Sacred Heart of Jesus
because the feast of the Sacred Heart always falls within that month.
August became known as a month
dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, but currently it is difficult to
know why this is the case. There exists no particular feast and the main
celebration in August is the Assumption of the Virgin Mary on August 15.
The reason why August became
associated with the Immaculate Heart of Mary is because of World War II and
the devotion of Pope Pius XII to Our Lady of Fatima.
The world was in turmoil in the
1940s and in 1942, 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 22, the octave day of
the feast of the Assumption. He did so that by her intercession 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 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 22. 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.
This designation of August is
not an “official” spiritual theme decreed by the Catholic hierarchy, but simply
an historical development that grew out of World War II and the message of Our
Lady of Fatima.
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