From the desk of the Tar Heel disciple:
August 7, 2025
Many Catholics are accustomed to seeing the months of May and October through “Marian eyes.” Traditional “May crownings” of statues of the Blessed Mother in the fifth month of the year and emphasis on the rosary during the tenth month are deeply ingrained in many Catholic hearts and families. August might also be considered as privileged time of renewed devotion to and veneration of the Holy Mother of God, especially in light of the various feast days observed throughout the month.
The most obvious feast in the month of August is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrated throughout the Catholic world on August 15th. It is a holy day of obligation, on which Catholics are expected to celebrate the feast by assisting devoutly at the holy sacrifice of the Mass. This observance celebrates the firm belief of Catholics that Mary, the holy Mother of God has been assumed into heaven, body and the soul, having completed the course of her life on earth. Where she has gone, as a kind of “first fruits” after the resurrection and ascension of her Divine Son, we, members of the Body of Christ, hope to follow.
Eight days after that glorious feast, on August 22nd, the Church now commemorates the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On the previous liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church, this day was commemorated as the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which is now observed on the Saturday following the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Earlier in the same month, on August 5, the church celebrates the (optional) Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. This magnificent church in Rome (where Pope Francis was recently buried) was the first church in the ancient city dedicated to the Blessed Mother. It took place only a few years after the Council of Ephesus (431) had declared Mary to be the “God-bearer” or, in Greek, the Theotokos, in opposition to the heresy of Nestorius. The very existence of the basilica gives witness to the ancient devotion to the Virgin Mary by the ancient Church.
Though not on the universal calendar of the Church, the feast day of St. Mary of the Angels is observed in many places on August 2, including at Assisi, Italy, where the little church under that title, rebuilt by the labor of St. Francis and his companions still stands. She is also venerated under the same title as the Patroness of Costa Rica.
Clearly, August, along with May and October, can well serve as a time of rekindled and intensified devotion to the holy Mother of God!
