AUGUST
Immaculate Heart of Mary
During the month of August, the Church honors the Immaculate Heart of Mary—the heart pierced by sorrow, yet triumphant in its perfect love for God. Discover the meaning of this powerful devotion, its urgent connection to the messages of Fatima, and how to practice the First Saturdays devotion for peace and salvation.
A Refuge for Sinners and a Path to God
The Heart of Our Mother
After we honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus in June, the Church in August draws our devotion to the heart that beat in perfect, sorrowful, and loving unison with His: the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This devotion is not just to her physical heart, but to her interior life: her boundless love for God, her purity (Immaculate), her virtues, and her maternal sorrows.
Her heart is the model of a perfect "yes" to God. It is the heart of a mother who "kept all these things, pondering them" (Luke 2:19), from the joy of the Annunciation to the profound sorrow at the foot of the Cross.
This devotion was given a powerful new urgency by Our Lady of Fatima in 1917. She revealed her heart, pierced by thorns, to the shepherd children, explaining that these were the "thorns with which ungrateful men pierce me at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude." She asked for a specific devotion of reparation to console her heart and, through it, to bring peace to the world.
INVOCATION
Immaculate Heart of Mary, refuge of sinners, pray for us!
INVOCATION
Immaculate Heart of Mary, refuge of sinners, pray for us!
How to Honor the Immaculate Heart
Honoring Mary's heart is a sure way to be led to the heart of Jesus. Here are the primary ways we are called to this devotion:
The First Saturdays Devotion
This is the most important practice, requested by Our Lady at Fatima.
See below.
Consecration
Consecrate yourself, your family, or your home to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This is an act of total trust, placing yourself under her motherly protection.
Imitate Her Virtues
The greatest devotion is to imitate her profound humility, her purity of heart, and her immediate, trusting obedience to the will of God.
The First Saturdays Devotion
It consists of, for five consecutive first Saturdays of the month, fulfilling these four conditions with the intention of making reparation to her heart:
Go to Confession
within 8 days, before or after
Receive Holy Communion
Pray five decades of the Holy Rosary
Keep Mary company for 15 minutes by meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary
Our Lady promised to
"assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation"
all who practice this devotion.
A Closing Thought
In a world of turmoil and sin, Our Lady's message at Fatima is a profound source of hope. She gave us her heart as a "safe refuge" and a sure path to God. In the end, she promised, "My Immaculate Heart will triumph."
A Closing Thought
In a world of turmoil and sin, Our Lady's message at Fatima is a profound source of hope. She gave us her heart as a "safe refuge" and a sure path to God. In the end, she promised, "My Immaculate Heart will triumph."